Skip to main content

YOUR CHILDREN, NOT YOUR OWN

Emmanuel Okom
  It is a common yet flawed assumption that children belong to their parents. Many, particularly in African societies, operate under the illusion that biological connection equals ownership. But let us pause for a moment and reflect – who among us can claim ownership of another’s soul? Who among us chose their own entry into this world? The truth is as old as time itself: we do not own our children; they are God’s, lent to us for a time, to be raised and nurtured, not possessed and manipulated. The Divine Custodianship of Parenthood Children are not commodities to be controlled, coerced, or commanded at will. They are gifts from the Almighty, entrusted into our care for a fleeting season. Psalm 127:3 reminds us, “Lo, children are a heritage of the LORD: and the fruit of the womb is his reward.” The language is clear: they are a heritage, not an acquisition. Parents are custodians, not owners. In Genesis, when God blessed humanity with the ability to multiply, He did not ...
Post a Comment

NIGERIAN COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION AND THE CONSPIRACY AGAINST MOBILE NETWORK INTERLOCUTORS

Emmanuel Okom

The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) is tasked with regulating the telecommunications sector, ensuring fair pricing, quality service, and consumer protection. Hence, among others, the NCC is to esure:

·         Consumer Protection: Ensuring that mobile users receive quality service, fair pricing, and protection from exploitation by telecom providers.

·         Quality of Service (QoS) Monitoring: Enforcing standards to ensure network operators provide reliable voice and data services.

·         Tariff Regulation: Preventing excessive charges and ensuring competitive pricing for mobile services. (see the NCC's Consumer Protection Regulations.)

These obligations align with the NCC’s mission to create a robust, consumer-friendly, and competitive telecommunications industry in Nigeria, yet, rather than standing as a shield for the average Nigerian against exploitative mobile network providers, the NCC appears to have become a willing pawn in a grand conspiracy – one designed to bleed users dry while enriching a select few.

 Service Failures: The Endless Robbery of Mobile Users

For years, Nigerians have endured substandard network services – dropped calls, poor data connections, and excessive charges for services that barely work. Complaints flood online forums, social media, and consumer rights platforms, but the NCC remains eerily silent. The Consumer Code of Practice Regulations 2007 explicitly mandates that telecom operators must ensure service reliability and promptly address complaints. Yet, users continue to suffer, losing billions annually to inefficiencies and hidden charges while the NCC looks the other way. 

 Why? The answer is not far-fetched: "You exploit the user and give us our share of the booty." The NCC’s silence suggests that it is not merely incompetent but actively complicit in this systematic extortion. 

The 50% Tariff Hike: A Conspiracy in Broad Daylight

In January 2025, Nigerian mobile users were hit with a 50% tariff increase, the first in over a decade. Telecom operators had lobbied for a 100% increase, citing inflation and operational costs, but the NCC "graciously" approved half of their demand – still an outrageous hike for citizens already struggling with economic hardship. (Source)

 The question is: if the NCC exists to protect consumers from exploitative pricing, why did it fail to shield Nigerians from this crushing burden? The answer lies in the power elite, many of whom are major stakeholders in telecom companies. These individuals, who control both the government and private industries, are deaf-eared to the cries of the masses because every extra naira squeezed from poor users funds their extravagant lifestyles – private jets, luxury mansions, and billion-dollar offshore accounts.

 Silencing the Masses: The Slave Has No Say Against His Master

Nigerians, through labour unions like the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), immediately condemned the tariff hike as an insensitive and exploitative move. (Source) Protest plans were set in motion, yet the NCC, rather than addressing the grievances of millions of Nigerians, remained mute, as though waiting for orders from its masters.

 Worse still, while implementing the hike, mobile networks silently removed customer bonuses and promotions, ensuring that Nigerians pay significantly more while getting significantly less. What was our crime? Perhaps it was daring to complain about poor services, a mistake that has now cost us dearly. (You may also want to read:THE PRICE OF FREE SPEECH IN THE TINUBU GOVERNMENT, where dissent  is met with stiff punishment. )

 Conclusion: A Pawn in the Hands of Shylock Leaders

The NCC, rather than being a protector, has become an accomplice in systematic consumer exploitation. It serves not the people but the vested interests of political elites and telecom moguls, ensuring that the hardworking poor toil endlessly to fatten their pockets. The pattern is clear: extract as much wealth as possible from struggling citizens while providing nothing in return.

If this is not a grand conspiracy, what else could it be? The question is no longer whether Nigerians are being exploited – it is how long they will tolerate it before demanding accountability.

                                                                                OKOM, Emmanuel Njor (PhD)

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

NIGERIA’S KAKISTOCRACY: THE REIGN OF MEDIOCRITY AND THE GHOSTS OF COLONIAL DOMINATION

Emmanuel Okom
The Absurd Paradox There is something disturbingly absurd about the Nigerian story. How does a country blessed with millions of educated citizens, thousands of professors, and countless men and women of God find itself perpetually ruled by mediocre leaders – individuals whose credentials and moral capacities often fall far short of the demands of modern governance? It is a paradox that mocks the very notion of enlightenment, a tragedy that blurs the line between divine punishment and historical misfortune.   The Colonial Blueprint and the Culture of Mediocracy Since 1914, when the British yoked together diverse nations into one fragile colonial creation, Nigeria has been caught in a web of deliberate underdevelopment and leadership inversion. The most unprepared often ascend the throne, while the best minds retreat into silence, prayer, or cynical detachment. We have become a land where mediocracy is celebrated and excellence exiled – a country where those who can govern refuse to ...
Post a Comment
Read more

WHEN A CLEANER EARNS MORE THAN A PHD HOLDER: THE NIGERIAN EDUCATION SCAM

Emmanuel Okom
Introduction In Nigeria today, it has become painfully evident that education no longer pays. The irony is loud and clear: a person who has laboured through the grueling academic ladder – first degree, Master’s, and PhD – often finds themselves poorer than someone who sweeps office floors in other African countries. Across Africa and beyond, janitors and cleaners are treated with greater financial dignity than Nigerian scholars. This is not to smear the reputation of the janitors, or ridicule the honest cleaners; rather, it is to highlight the shameful undervaluing of academic excellence in Nigeria. When a PhD holder lives in debt, and a cleaner in South Africa, Kenya, or Ghana lives in dignity, something is tragically wrong with our system. It reveals, in the very depth, the misplacement of priorities in the country, and the endemic corruption that continues to perforate the socio-economic fabric of the Nigerian state.  Table  1 and 2 below reveal frighteningly the dispar...
Post a Comment
Read more

THE APOTHEOSIS OF ANARCHISM IN NIGER-AREA: THE LEGISLATIVE PROPOSAL FOR EVERY NIGER-AREAN POSSESSING A GUN

Emmanuel Okom
  In what appears to be a tragicomic spiral of our national reality, some legislators in Nigeria are now seriously contemplating the legalisation of firearms for every adult citizen. What is their justification? To enable Nigerians defend themselves – yes, defend themselves – against what is now a state-sanctioned silence in the face of Fulani terrorism and unrelenting banditry.   The very suggestion that Nigerians should arm themselves marks not only a new low in legislative desperation, but it also signals the first full-blown stage of the collapse of the Nigerian state – what we might now call the descent from Nigeria to Niger-area , a crumbling caricature of a republic once paid for in the blood of nationalists and visionaries.   A Gun for Every Citizen? It is no longer hearsay. Senator Ned Nwoko recently moved to sponsor a bill that would legalise gun ownership for every Nigerian adult, citing the need for self-defence. He is not alone. Other voices in the ...
Post a Comment
Read more