By Adetunji Ayobrown
Yello! You are currently barred from making calls…’, is definitely horrid, an unwanted, even unpleasant first text or SMS message to be received by anyone; any day, not to talk of early hours of a weekend, especially on a morning like this. Thank God, it was a good Friday I got previous day, while looking forward to a sweet and better Saturday morning. But unfortunately, my expectations never came to being instead I got fired and blocked and cut away from the rest of the world. ‘Please, note you will not be able to receive calls, access the internet or send/receive SMS’. The mobile company excuse for punishing innocent Nigerians was because of nothing but their (MTN) highhandedness and inefficiency; SIM registration/update of my details of which I had done on many occasions with the service provider which could not be verify became a nightmare. This is talking about my Subscriber Identification Module (SIM) we put in the mobile phone to access communication services, mine which is as old as MTN days in Nigeria.
So, it is true that I have been making illegal calls in Nigeria or how else would anyone describe my situation? What a bad way to start an early promising weekend morning. But without minding the stress I may be subjected to or go through, I headed straight to their office to meet a terrible reception, which added salt to my injury that Saturday, from the receptionist who became an opposite of her title.
After listening to news and then suddenly this; “I don’t know much about the interior ministry”. These words were credited to Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, newly appointed Minister of Interior, what the man knows about the ministry are not beyond what he read in the newspapers. Sometimes all you need is yourself. For many, parental tutelage and mentorships are no longer the norm these days as against what it was in the past. But when life shuts a door it opens a window, so jump, has been my philosophy. Yes, Aregbesola may neither be the minister of communication, nor head of National Communication Commission (NCC) but he is the new minister-in-charge of our national internal security, so who use what line should be at his beck and call whenever from the service providers.
The minister, who with others was inaugurated last week said this when he visited the ministry he will be heading while addressing its officials. Truly and behold, Aregbesola admitted openly that he had no idea of the ministry’s policies and operations, which many think is no big deal. How well and quick he is able to learn on the job will either give him the thumb up or otherwise.
Maybe Mr President is applying the symbolism of the judiciary that ‘justice is blind’ that is why he is turning blind eyes to many things and allow water to find its level. After all, a round peg may not necessarily fit the round hole if the best much be achieved’, was what came to mind after assignment of portfolio to the new ministers.
Hitherto, Aregbesola’s statement on his limitation with regard to the new portfolio, with MTN and other service providers like many more telephony companies running and making big money in the country without up-to-date information of their customers, is rather unfortunate. The matter is a case for the new Minister to take note of. He should make it a point of duty to compel those operators through whatever government parastatal or agency responsible for their monitoring to up their ante in providing satisfactory services to the end users. Non-performance of such services within our nation’s air space is a threat to our national security. That a GSM operator does not know who uses its channel and equipment is not good for a nation that wants to adequately and effectively man its national and international borders.
On the issue of security of lives and properties, the Minister of Interior is tasked with providing complementary internal security and other auxiliary services within the Nigeria nation. His concern is to maintain internal security which was why the ministry was created in 1957. Management of National emergencies; the ministry must formulate and implement policies related to border management and supervising the national immigration system, among other functions which include granting of Nigerian citizenship, passports, consular and immigration services. Like many, I would rather say if not for what to say, how would a former chief of staff in a state like Lagos, former governor of a state like Osun said he knows nothing about internal security of the nation. To be more is to know more, perhaps he is of that school of thought.
Best trick of every magic was my conclusion after much analysis of his words. After all, never seem to be in hurry, Aregbesola knew hurrying betrays a lack of control. Have your audiences look the other way where the trick within the trick happened when they were not looking; it is obvious that the distraction would make them what and how you wanted it.
Or maybe he decided to buy their confidence and not express arrogance or even disdain, and with the statement, Aregbesola was able to seduce his audience. If truly he doesn’t know, how did he manage his state security during his tenure as two-term governor of south western state of Osun.
Aregbe need to imagine this scenario; for a customer to fill a form of about 15 lines of his/her details, MTN expected the customer to use the bare floor. My visit to one of its Ilorin branches along Taiwo road need to be shared. The receptionist vulgarly and rudely ordered a customer to disappear while trying to put his name to a form, the man as a result, was obviously embarrassed and angry and like many other customers I had to intervene, which she gave me my own share of her receptionist’s stingy tongue of unprintable vulgar words.
But ‘wetin poor customers fit do’, numbering about thirty, many without seats, customers with similar issues waited without option while one part-time staff employed to be attending to us abandoned our case because he said he wanted to go and have his lunch. For over an hour and a quarter, we waited for him to return. Imagine just to update my details with a GMS who I have been with almost since inception and which has been operating in the country for two decades. Some of the customers left but those without option sat there waiting while many other staff of the office were seen gallivanting around without doing anything serious for their employer.
A customer who was ready to do the needful in spite of non-provision of writing table was the one the rude receptionist disrespectful ordered away. Oh My Goodness, many other customers however flared-up in anger over her comments to those ‘unlucky’ enough to be using their services as well as perform his quota in the name of national obedience.
Like violent storms, MTN and our national security were issues that got mixed together in my brain, like many more Nigerians who have been making call on GSM, fixed wireless and other forms of communication channels in Nigeria without proper and adequate information about who uses what on the network lines.
If many can be so unregistered thinking they are making legitimate, legal but not detailed calls on MTN network, only God know how many millions dubious more using such for illegitimate and illegal businesses hiding under their nonchalant attitude towards our collective national security.
I wondered why I’m still using my SIM with the MTN network. In a country with challenging security situations like ours, the expectation was that we all put our two eyes, even the third if necessary, to good use on our individual and national security and that include good and effective communication gadgets as well as good network connectivity in water-tight secured atmosphere.
There are so many Nigerians battling the calamity of not having any choice in order to make ordinary but expensive GMS calls, for instance, it is expensive to make any call because the tariff is high, the cost of using data is not within reach for the poor because of the speed it finishes and only God knows what other citizens elsewhere are subjected to by some of these telephony service providers.
Without mincing words, Aregbesola needs to get serious about our national internal security and those like MTN that are supposed to make security matters easy enough to tackle.
Obviously, it is true that the police, DSS and other security agencies in Nigeria cannot access who uses our nation telephone channels and lines. Serious job is ahead of the new minister order to secure a country without database of its citizenry. Using two lines, not to talk of three, four should be an issue in this modern day technologically advance world.
Technocratic approach may not do the job well but political knowhow may be the magic wand… especially when it goes beyond loyalty but survival and making progress, saying it as it is could do the trick. Like many, I agree with those who aligned with his moral fibre and that of the president in his choice. I want to align with those that described Aregbe’s action as that of a man that knows he is naked, but upon his realisation begins immediate action for its correction.
Aregbesola should prove his appointment as a minister by President Buhari as a good omen for the ministry and country and not just because he is a Nigerian, or a party loyalist but a true son of Yoruba land and from the State of the Living Spring. Create suspense and slow down the pace; magicians use the tactics to alter perception of time.
