It was earlier in the month when the CBN governor proposed that Nigerians should start paying tax on phone calls. It was met with negative reactions and this only further proved that Nigeria is governed by people who have absolutely no idea how to properly run this country. Normally, recharge cards are sold “VAT inclusive” and many of us fail to understand why the CBN governor suggested that horrible idea. Paying tax for making calls made with recharge cards you’ve already been taxed for?
Anyway, the country is in recession thanks to the many idiotic economic decisions our government has taken so far. The economy is in shambles, they’ve successfully ruined it. The power sector has been ruined since the beginning of time and it’s going to remain that way for a long time to come.
The next sector to be ruined is our dear technology sector. The government has made a lot of bad decisions already and the masses end up paying the price. It appears policies are made in Nigeria based on trial and error, not practically-proven concepts. Remember when a university professor suggested that self-made programmers and developers are quacks? NCC has issued a directive that the four major telecommunications company should increase the cost of data and this becomes effective from December 1st.
The end of a good era
The last one year has been pretty good. I’ve been able to connect at will without bothering about data usage and this has really helped. Data has become very affordable, Nigerians are becoming more connected and we have been ranked as the country with the highest internet penetration in Africa. High internet penetration is synonymous with advancement in technological development, more people are getting online, Nigerians are beginning to harness the power on internet connective for the greater good, but NCC doesn’t want this.
We took a step forward, now we have to take five steps backward.
Level playground?
According to its letter to mobile operators, NCC is issuing this directive “in order to provide a level playing field for all operators in the industry, small operators and new entrants to acquire market share and operate profitably. Small operators and new entrants are hereby exempted for the price floor for data services.”
Of course, a “level playing field” is a lot more important than technological advancement and growth of new technology companies who rely on this cheap internet services. A “level playing field” is also more important than the poor services some of these telecommunications companies offer. Glo’s sluggish network in many locations and Spectranet’s dubious data deduction remain.
NCC’s priority shouldn’t be a level playing field for new entrants in the sector, but a sane atmosphere where Nigerians get value for money and telcos deliver quality service.
Now that another “trial and error” policy is out to make Nigerians’ life harder, we are just going to wait for them to blame the past administration when it all goes to shit.
