Ahead of a potential pronouncement from the Senate concerning the lingering illegal money transfers allegation slammed on MTN, Nigeria’s Minister of Communications, Abdur-Raheem Adebayo Shittu, has screamed out to the hallowed chamber lords to look before leaping.
In what can be described as an astonishing turnout, Shittu wished for the Senate to troubleshoot unemployment deluge as well as preserve Nigeria’s attractiveness to Foreign Direct Investors (FDIs) by guarding against emotional pronouncements that will scare away MTN.
Only a few days ago, the Minister told Reuters that, “Nobody will say that MTN is not important to Nigeria – we must encourage them, we must not scare them away from Nigeria.” Such comments from a serving Minister is tacit policy stating the intent and position of the government in a season of seething recession. And for a drowning man, any grip is a lifeline.
Categorically, these are the government’s first statement on the latest investigation into MTN, indicating the government does not want to see the South African company punished unduly in Nigeria, its biggest market, if the latest allegations prove to be true.
Recently, it can be recalled that MTN is seemingly building a bank of mephitic records in Nigeria; the latest alleged illegal repatriation of $13.92bn profits from Nigeria between 2006-2016 is following closely on the heels of a dispute over unregistered SIM cards where top-shelf mediations and deliberations influenced the government to agree to a reduced settlement on the issue by nearly 70% from $5.2 billion to $1 billion.
As a result of this, MTNN CEO, Sifiso Dabengwa, infamously resigned in the wake of the record fine in November 2015. A fourth issue is the hangover of Nigerian consumers’ repugnance towards MTN over the telco’s “unapologetic” poor service delivery. Despite the “elite attack” from the Senate, the support for MTN from the masses is infinitesimal.
To the ongoing repatriation saga, the duo of Paschal Dozie, Chairman of MTN Nigeria Communications and substantive CEO, Ferdi Moolman both told the Senate during a hearing session that MTN did not break Nigeria’s currency transfer rules.
And Adebayo Shittu’s sympathy for the MTN eggheads was unwavering when he said, “They have a right to repatriate their profits as long as it is legitimately done. Any time MTN is suspected of breaking the law it will be investigated, though the facts against them must be established beyond reasonable doubt. Everyone who is in business will have ups and downs. You don’t throw away the baby with the bathwater. The presumption is that they are innocent and we pray they remain innocent.” Concluding, perhaps, with a tone of finality, Shittu said, “They (MTN) must stay.”
Interestingly, “FDI must stay” is the gospel of President Muhammadu Buhari on his frequent globe-trotting missionary journeys. Specifically in Nairobi, Kenya, last year, at a bilateral meeting with Japanese Prime Minister, Shinzo Abe, on the sidelines of the sixth Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD) in Nairobi,
Buhari reassured that, “Existing and prospective foreign investors and investments in Nigeria are secured and would be fully protected.” The president outlined several steps taken by his administration to secure the country and ease doing business in Nigeria. He also told the Japanese leader that, “As a government, we know our responsibility, which is to secure the environment and all local and foreign investments. “It is clear to us that lenders and investors will not fund projects in insecure environments. We realize that we have to secure the country before we can efficiently manage it.’’
Already, it is public knowledge that MTN has invested over N3.2 trillion in our economy and thus deserves much respect especially as a corporate citizen. Since 2001, MTN is officially recorded to have contributed over N1.6tr to government coffers through taxes, levies and regulatory payments, providing jobs for nearly 1,000,000 Nigerians, directly and indirectly.
Also, the MTN Foundation has spent over N18bn through CSR in almost every local government in Nigeria. They’ve disbursed over $3.5bn worth of businesses through adverts and sponsorships, and patronage of Nigerian hospitality industry and contractors.
Ruminating on the impact a shock decision by MTN could have on the nation, its people and the economy, many experts are irked by the treatments meted out to the telco.
Bismarck Rewane, a frontline economic analyst, has warned about the implication of the continued ‘harassment’ of Nigeria’s leading telecommunications provider, MTN Nigeria by the Federal Government, adding that this could discourage inflow of foreign investments into the country. He said this as the Guest Speaker at the Media Independent Practitioners Association of Nigeria (MIPAN) 2017 Business Outlook session which held at the Renaissance Hotel, GRA Ikeja.
“Since we are harassing MTN, nobody is going to invest. Hounding of MTN is not a good thing, because it is sending a negative signal. We need to ensure that we send the right signals to encourage investment rather than to discourage investors”, Rewane who is MD/CEO, Financial Derivatives Company Ltd, said.
More so, from Rotimi Fawole’s position in his opinion piece in the Guardian of Tuesday, January 24 – “The issues seem fairly clear and free of controversy…at this time when the Presidency is working hard at improving FDI flows…. It is hoped that…the current quiet around the MTN matter is a permanent one” – it seems various commentators on television, radio, newspapers and social media are in spiritual kinship with the Minister of Communications, Abdur-Raheem Adebayo Shittu, President Muhammadu Buhari and Bismark Rewane.
