The Super Falcons also staged a sit-in protest after the African Women's Championship in South Africa in 2004. They refused to leave their hotel until they were paid.
Consequently they missed their flight to Nigeria and became stranded. President Olusegun Obasanjo had to send the presidential jet to pick them up.
Agony of ex-Super Falcons coach, Godwin Izilien 12 years after Nations Cup triumph in South Africa
By Gowon Akpodonor | 30 December 2016 | 2:04 am
In 2004, Coach Godwin Izilein led the Super Falcons to win the African Nations Cup in Johannesburg, South Africa. It was the fourth AWC title for Nigeria.
Twelve years down the line, the coach, now 74 years old, and the rest of his coaching crew are still being owed salary arrears of over $28,750, out of which, $12,000 of the amount belongs to Izilien.
As in the case of the Coach Florence Omagbemi-led Super Falcons squad that won the recently concluded 2016 African Women’s Nations cup in Cameroun, the team to the 2004 AWC in Jo’burg was not given any chance by the then NFA board led by Alhaji Ibrahim Galadima before their departure for that championship.
With determination, however, Izilien and his players fought and won the battle, beating the Lionesses of Cameroun 5-0 in the final with Perpetua Nkwocha (now an assistant coach of the team) accounting for four goals plus a late strike from pocket dynamite, Vera Okolo.
Millions of football-loving Nigerians back home celebrated the victory late into the night, but unknown to them, Coach Izilien, members of his coaching crew and the players were being subjected to derision in far away Johannesburg.
Sensing another round foul play when the Galadima-led NFA defaulted in paying all entitlements after the competition, the girls protested by refusing to leave their hotel rooms the next morning for the airport, insisting on getting their camp allowances and winning bonuses.
“The team was abandoned by the Federal Government delegation, but as a coach and father to the players at that point in time, I had to stay back with them until the Nigeria Consulate intervened by paying the players’ entitlements,” Izilien recalled in a chat with The Guardian yesterday. “I took the pain to stay back with them because abandoning the girls at that point would be seen as unprofessional. But I was pleading with them to end the protest since we were in another country, but they refused.
“So many Nigerians who did not even know what transpired between me and the players in Johannesburg started to spread rumour back home that I instigated the players to embark on the protest. Some ‘bad belle’ people even went as far as saying that they saw us displaying Biafran flag while protesting on the streets of Johannesburg. I am an Edo man, and I have not seen a Biafran flag in my entire life. All the rumour were meant to spoil the mind of then President Olusegun Obasanjo and members of the Federal Executive Council,” he said.
Speaking further, Izilien, who also led the National U-17 team, Golden Eagles, to the African Championship in The Gambia in 1995 said: “Some of the Super Falcons players I took to South Africa in 2004 were relatively young. I discovered them during school competitions, and it is only fair that government should have appreciated my efforts. I am only using this medium to appeal to President Muhammadu Buhari, the Vice President, Prof. Yomi Osibanjo, Senate President, Bukola Saraki, members of the Senate Committee on Sports, House of Representatives and indeed all well meaning Nigerians to come to my rescue. It hurts me on daily basis whenever I remember the sacrifices I made for the country, and how I have been neglected in return. The players got their money, so why should I continue to suffer? Many governments have come and gone, but I will be very grateful to the Buhari administration if he could pay us the equivalent of that money. It is a way of rewarding excellence and fulfilling Federal Government’s promises.
“I have written several letters to concerned authorities without a single reply; I am suffering after being neglected by the football authority. To think that I agreed to handle the female national team at a time of crisis without asking for extra remuneration, and to be treated in this manner is not encouraging for the growth of the game. I did it out of patriotism for fatherland.
“We were promised payments on arrival in Nigeria after the championship, but till date nobody has said anything about that money,” Coach Izilien added.
REVEALED: Why Dennerby Dumped Super Falcons, Danjuma Drafted In
By Amaechi Agbo
Super Falcons Coach, Thomas Dennerby has left the team unceremoniously over claims that some influential members of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) were interfering in his work as Falconets coach, Chris Danjuma has been drafted in to take charge of the team as they play in the second round of the 2020 Olympic qualifier against Cote d’Ivoire later this month, Bestchoicesports.com.ng can report.
The 60-year-old Dennerby has been in-charge of the Super Falcons for over 18 months. He was engaged in January, 2018.
Best Choice Sports had in August reported plans by a cabal in the NFF to frustrate Dennerby out of the team. The cabal who are from the Secretariat and Women Department of the federation worked against the wishes of the coach to have his former assistant, Maureen Mmadu retained as well as blocked him from inviting Falcons combative midfielder, Rita Chikwelu, and others to the qualifiers against Algeria.
A source close to the NFF said the Swede, who led Nigeria to yet another African Women Nations Cup triumph last year and the round of 16 at the France 2019 Women World Cup, left the country immediately after Nigeria’s Tokyo 2020 Olympics qualifier against Algeria at the Agege Stadium on September 3.
“Dennerby complained that some NFF officials were making his job difficult for some selfish reasons. These officials ensured that some players, who complained that they were being owed allowances and winning bonuses, were shut out of the national team. These officials wield enormous power in the women teams.
“He got angry that these people have taken their activities to his team selection and decided the best thing to do was to go away. But we are trying to talk to him and address his concerns in the interest of the nation,” the source said.
Before he left, Dennerby was preparing the Super Falcons for a Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games qualifier against Cote d’Ivoire for which the federation recently invited 30 overseas and home-based players to camp. The players, according to the NFF, are expected to arrive in camp today, but the source said Dennerby may not likely return to lead the team against Cote d’Ivoire unless on-going efforts to convince him to return succeeds. The source added that the crisis infested NFF has asked Falconets’ Head Coach, Christopher Danjuma to take charge of the team for the Cote d’Ivoire game.
More facts that the Swedish had abandoned the team emerged when on 13th of September, NFF released the list of the players to prosecute the matches against Cote d’Ivoire with Dennerby’s name not mentioned in the release. This was in contradiction with the earlier release the NFF made when the team tackled Algeria in the second round qualifier.
In the release made on 7th August, the NFF said “Tokyo 2020: Dennerby invites 30 Super Falcons for Algeria,” with Dennerby’s name appearing in the headline and lead of the release unlike the 13th September release with the heading “Tokyo 2020: Super Falcons to regroup for Cote d’Ivoire,” with the coaches name never mentioned a single time.
Dennerby, who returned to his native country of Sweden two weeks ago, is not back in Nigeria to lead the team against the Elephants with two weeks to go to the first leg tie in Abidjan.
The Swede left the country after leading the Super Falcons to the third round of the African Women’s Olympic qualifiers. This was after a 3-0 aggregate win over Algeria but he is now on the verge of leaving his post.
The 60-year-old gaffer, who led Sweden to finish third at the 2011 Women’s World Cup in Germany, had signed a two-and-a-half-year contract to take charge of the team in January 2018.
In his last 18-months in charge, Dennerby led Nigeria to a third-place finish at the 2018 Wafu Women’s Cup in Cote d’Ivoire, where he returned to lift the title in 2019.
He also won the 2018 African Women’s Cup of Nations in Ghana and later steered the nation to the Women’s World Cup knockout stage for the first time in 20 years in France earlier this summer.
Dennerby and the Nigeria Football Federation are yet to comment on the matter, but a top NFF source told Goal the gaffer is threatening to quit due to his frustration and lack of support.
“It is a serious matter because he [Thomas Dennerby] has been complaining about a lack of support which was not really from the NFF leadership but the secretariat,” the source informed Goal.
“Most of his demands are administrative. He wants a permanent residence in Nigeria to stay and also support to travel around and see league matches week in, week out.
“Although he is still being owed one to two months he is not complaining about the money but the necessary administrative backing for his day-to-day activities.
“I also think the major reason why he is not happy was the fact he was not informed about some of his key players taken to the African Games when he was planning for the Olympic qualifiers.
“Well, he felt his job was tied to the Olympics and denying access to his best players was possibly a ploy to sabotage him. We don’t know if he will return or not but these are some of his demands.”
Having learned about Dennerby’s stance, the NFF has swiftly drafted U20 women’s head coach Christopher Danjuma to lead the team against Clementine Toure’s side, on the interim basis.
Danjuma, who recently invited 37 players, will be assisted by his U20 assistants – Wemimo Matthew and Abdul-lateef Yusuf as the Super Falcons open camp in Abuja on Sunday.
It is not the first time Dennerby had threatened to quit for similar reasons. At the moment, it is unclear whether the NFF, led by Amaju Pinnick, will be interested to honour the demands of Dennerby.
The Super Falcons camp opened in Abuja on Sunday while the first leg of the qualifier will hold at on September 30 while the return leg will hold on 6th October at Agege Stadium, Lagos.
Thomas Dennerby’s contract was to expire after the Olympics in August 2020.
The Minister of Youth and Sports Sunday Dare has expressed his desire to wade into the purported resignation of Super Falcons coach, Thomas Dennerby.
Dare who spoke via his twitter handle a while on Monday said, “I have personally stepped into the matter of Thomas Dennerby, the Coach of Super Falcons.
“I received a brief this morning and will proceed to seek a quick resolution to ensure he continues to coach Nigeria’s female team.”
Dennerby reportedly resigned his appointment as Nigeria’s senior National women team coach few days ago.
It was learnt that Dennerby resigned from his post following the persistent interference in players selection as well as non-payment of his accumulated salaries and allowances by the NFF.
Dennerby, who returned to his native country of Sweden two weeks ago, was said to have written to the NFF to step down while demanding for the payment of all his outstanding entitlements
Although there is no official confirmation, Dennerby has refused to come back to Nigeria and will likely not be in dugout against the Elephants of Ivory Coast in two weeks’ time for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games qualifiers.
This situation is very similar to what happened after the 2016 African Women's Nations Cup. The players also protested after that Nations Cup and the NFF blamed the coach, Florence Omagbemi, and frustrated her out of the job.
naptu2: Sorry it took so long for me to respond. Yesterday was quite a hectic day.
I have always said that the biggest problem with Nigerian football is not the players or the coaches, but the administration. Poor administration is the biggest thing that has held Nigerian football back. There was absolutely no reason to frustrate Florence Omagbemi out of the job.
Florence Omagbemi was not sacked to make way for Thomas Dennerby. Rather, the NFF and the Sports Ministry failed to do their job, which was to take care of the welfare of the team that won the 2016 AWCON in Cameroon. The players consequently staged a protest in Abuja. Some NFF officials blamed her for the protest. They accused her of failing to control the players.
It is quite obvious to all sensible people that the NFF and the Sports Ministry were the cause of that protest and it makes no sense to blame Omagbemi for it. The players are adults and they know when they are being maltreated.
The NFF subsequently frustrated her out of the job. They had promised to renew her contract if she won the 2016 AWCON, but they allowed the contract to lapse. In fact, they were owing her and her assistants a lot of money in unpaid salaries and allowances. Many months later, they asked her and other coaches to reapply for the job and they used this to frustrate her out of the job.
Contrast Omagbemi's situation with the case of Desiree Ellis. She played for Banyana Banyana at about the same time that Omagbemi played for the Super Falcons. They both met again (this time as coaches) when the Super Falcons beat South Africa in the semi-final of the 2016 AWCON. Since then the NFF has frustrated Omagbemi out of the job, while SAFA and SASOL (Banyana Banyana's sponsor) have given Ellis everything that she needs to succeed and she has become the first coach to qualify Banyana Banyana for the World Cup.
The NFF was divided over whether to appoint Edwin Okon (who was coach of the team at the 2015 World Cup) or to appoint a foreigner as coach after Omagbemi had been forced out of the job.
Like I said earlier, Omagbemi was not sacked to make way for Dennerby. In fact, the NFF announced Randy Waldrum as coach of the Falcons in 2017. However, the poor administration that I spoke about earlier wrecked that deal.
The NFF announced Waldrum as the new coach without reaching any agreement with him. They merely spoke to him on the phone and then they did not contact him for 3 months after that telephone conversation and so Waldrum abandoned the Super Falcons job and took up a position as coach of the University of Pittsburgh.
It is a miracle that the Super Falcons of Nigeria have qualified for the 2018 AWCON final because they’ve suffered a torrid time since winning the 2016 AWCON in Cameroon.
The Super Falcons’ woes began even before they played the final match at the 2016 AWCON. They had heard that the sports minister, Solomon Dalung and members of the NFF led by their president, Amaju Pinnick, would come and address the team, especially on issues concerning their camp allowances, winning bonuses and the coaches’ nine months salaries would be settled.
However, the sports minister, NFF president and their delegation flew into Yaounde in a chartered jet, stayed at the airport until it was almost time for the match, drove straight to the stadium to watch the match without seeing the Falcons and then drove back to the airport after the match and flew to Nigeria without seeing the players.
The VIPs flew into Yaounde in a chartered jet, but the players had to fly back to Nigeria via commercial flights. They had to fly from Yaounde to Douala in a plane that was too small to carry their luggage (their luggage was transported by road) and then fly from Douala to Abuja.
Protest
Their allowances and bonuses were still not paid when they returned to Abuja and they had to stage a sit in protest at their hotel.
Meanwhile, the Lionesses of Cameroon that were beaten by the Falcons were being hosted by President Biya at a state reception in which they were showered gifts, given medals and praised as heros of Cameroon. [img]http://naijachronicles.files./2018/11/reception_lionnes_full_08_12_2016.jpg?w=584[/img] Gaelle Enganamouit and other lionesses being hosted to a reception by President Biya of Cameroon after coming second at the 2016 AWCON.
The Falcons protested at their hotel until they were evicted, then they carried their protest to the streets. They staged a protest march to the National Assembly and they also marched to the Aso Rock Villa where they were received by the chief of staff to the president. The COS promised that President Buhari would intervene in their situation.
It took an intervention by President Buhari before the Falcons and their coaches were paid their entitlements.
Florence Omagbemi
Some members of the NFF were angry that the Falcons staged a protest in Abuja. They believed that the Falcons embarrassed the NFF before the government and people of Nigeria and they held Coach Florence Omagbemi responsible for the protest.
They believed that Coach Omagbemi was responsible because she did not control her players and prevent them from protesting, so they decided that she must go. They decided that they would either appoint a foreigner as coach of the Falcons or they would recall the former coach, Edwin Okon, to take over as coach.
The NFF initially ignored Coach Omagbemi for months, then they directed her to apply for her job. They eventually frustrated her out of the job and the Falcons were without a coach for many months.
The female national football team was thrown into crisis a few days ago when the coach, Thomas Dennerby, resigned from his position. The Super Falcons had staged a protest to demand for their allowances at the FIFA World Cup in France earlier this year (see previous thread https://www.nairaland.com/5260668/super-falcons-protest-unpaid-bonuses) and some members of the NFF were trying to freeze out players that they believed were behind the protest. The coach was not happy that NFF members were interfering with team selection and he was also unhappy that he was being owed his salary, so he tendered his resignation.
Meanwhile, the NFF appointed Chris Danjuma as the acting coach of the team and Coach Danjuma has stripped Desire Oparanozie of the captainship and made the assistant captain, Asisat Oshoala, the new captain.
The founder of BudgItNG and a known critic of the Muhammadu Buhari administration, Seun Onigbinde, was recently appointed as the technical adviser of thr minister of state for budget and national planning.
Some supporters of the administration believed that he should not have been appointed to the position because they believed that he went from criticising the administration to insulting President Muhammadu Buhari and supporters of the administration just before the 2019 election. See previous thread here https://www.nairaland.com/5415423/political-appointment-saga-seun-onigbinde#82200405
Mr Onigbinde has now resigned his appointment.
Oluseun Onigbinde
Sep 16 · 2 min read
AN UPDATE ON MY RECENT APPOINTMENT
Friends,
Kindly recall that I sent out a note recently on my interest to seek new experiences and that I would be working as a Technical Adviser to the Minister of State for Budget and National Planning for a short period.
It is clear that recent media reports about my appointment have created a complex narrative, which I believe would engender an atmosphere of mistrust, as I planned to proceed.
Upon further reflections on the furore that has been generated by my new role as the Technical Adviser to the Minister of State for Budget and National Planning, I humbly resign the appointment.
I am very grateful to the Honourable Minister, Prince Clem Ikanade Agba, for believing in my expertise and I also thank everyone who sent his or her congratulations to me in the short period. I have also been humbled by the faith and belief that numerous persons have expressed in me.
My sincere interest is to see a Nigeria that grows and optimises resources for the benefits of all Nigerians.
My loyalty to the good cause of our nation, Nigeria compelled me to accept the call to provide technical skills and this experience has more than strengthened it.
I also want to wish the Nigerian Government, led by President Muhammadu Buhari, well. I will always be of help to the federal government in my capacity as the Director of BudgIT, a critical fiscal transparency group, as I have been to several agencies. I would also work to ensure that BudgIT continues to build civic awareness on the right of every Nigerian to know how public resources are managed.
naptu2: It’s a little bit difficult to get a YouTube video of this song because many foreigners have falsely labelled this song as a Bob Marley song. It’s actually Majek Fashek’s cover of a song by the Eagles and it’s one of my favourite Nigerian rock songs.
kettle84: Never knew he was from Benin,no wonder when he was interviewed about why he went down the drain he responded "home trouble,home trouble, mehn !" chai ! Bini and witch heh?
Rest in peace,legend.
That has to do with his wife. He split from his wife and then his life went down the drain. I don't think he fully recovered from the split.
Tracy Chapman and Majek Fashek, Wednesday at Poplar Creek: May 29, 1992|By Chris Heim.
Don`t ever hope to be a critics’ darling. Sooner or later (usually around the third album), the very things that once were singled out for praise will be turned into weapons to smash your latest work into little bits. Chapman was everyone`s favorite a few years ago when she could be cast in the role of charming street-singing waif with a conscience, an authentic voice of the people whose spare folk songs and anger at injustice allowed pop music and its minions to bask in the glow of humanity and significance again.
Chapman hasn't changed all that much since then. She's actually a slightly better (i.e., more emotional and flexible) singer. Her songs are occasionally more pedantic than poetic, but they have always been. And now sometimes they are also more personal and revealing. (Hear, for example, the incisive "Matters of the Heart," the title track of her new album.) The only major difference is that the reception greeting her third record consists largely of sermons about the importance of artistic progress and a show of disdain that is usually reserved for animal-sacrificing, death-metal groups targeted by the PMRC.
Opening here is one of the most interesting new artists to emerge from the burgeoning African reggae scene. Unlike other highly praised African reggae artists such as Alpha Blondy or Lucky Dube, Fashek gives African influences (in this case, richly rhythmic and percussive Nigerian forms) a much larger and clearer role. His fusion of the classic reggae of Bob Marley and the innovative soul-Afrobeat of Nigeria's Fela (with much the same angry yet poetic social conscience both artists exhibit in their work) inserts the kind of sharp, smart and even stylish new energy into reggae that it has needed for some time.
naptu2: Throwback: Majek Fashek’s 1992 US tour (videos, articles and memories).
Majek Fashek was part of a band called Jastix in the mid-1980s and they achieved modest success (their songs were played on Radio Nigeria and they performed with The Mandators and Evi Edna Ogoli), but his big breakthrough came when he went solo in 1988.
Majek’s debut album, Prisoner Of Conscience (which included the hit song Send Down The Rain) was very popular and he became even more popular for his stage antics and his anti-government and politically conscious songs.
I was watching one of those government programmes c1989. They were launching one thing or the other and the chief of general staff (vice president) Vice Admiral Aikhomu was the special guest of honour. Majek Fashek was invited on stage to entertain the audience. His band started playing their hit song Free Mandela, Free Africa (which is his own version of Kiss Him Goodbye by Steam), but Majek flipped the song. The chorus of the song goes:
Now now now now, Margaret Thatcher, hey hey hey, free Mandela, Now now now now, George Bush, hey hey hey, free Mandela
But Majek sang this instead:
Now now now now, Ai-kho-mu, hey hey hey, free Nigeria. Now now now now, Ba-ban-gida, hey hey hey, free Nigeria.
And the crowd went wild. This was right in the presence of the chief of general staff!
There were also several times when he started singing his famous song, Send Down The Rain and it actually started raining. On one occasion, which was shown on Morning Ride, he had to run off the stage because the rain was too heavy.
Majek released the following albums in the late 1980s and early ‘90s: Prisoner of Conscience (1988)
I&I Experience (1989)
So Long Too Long (1990)
Spirit Of Love (1991)
Majek was in the United States late in 1990 and early 1991. He recorded the album, Spirit Of Love (produced by Steven Van Zandt), while he was in the US. He appeared on Morning Ride when he returned and that’s when I first saw the video for Majek Fashek In A New York. He then went on a tour of the US in 1992, in order to promote the album. He opened for Tracy Chapman on her Matters Of The Heart tour (he also performed with her on stage at several of the concerts), performed live on The Late Show With David Letterman and recorded several songs while he was there.
This thread contains videos of some of his stage performances in the US in 1992, a video of his performance on The Late Show, videos of some of the songs that he sang or recorded in the US and an article about his performance in Chicago, which was published by the Chicago Tribune in 1992.
lexy2014: First of, am not angered or confused by d statement: "as the Nigerian government haunts down illegal SIM cards used by criminals such as kidnappers to perpetrate crimes.
Theres nowhere that i said that it isnt job of d minister or d NCC to block SIMs. What d statement reveals is intent and that intent falls within d purview of d criminal justice agencies that u mentioned.
Even in terms of what was attributed to minister, am sure u can c that in d original targets d minister gave d NCC, the statement mentioned using SIM blocking to fight crime. So d intent was originally stated by d statement from d office of d minister. So in a way, that statement is from him. D journalist only paraphrased.
According to u "These security agencies approach the NCC to find out the identities of the owners of mobile telephone lines and it is the duty of the NCC to provide such information to them."
Am aware of this modus operandi and d blocking of "improperly registered" SIMs doesn't correlate with d above as we have both agreed that "improperly registered" SIMs are not necessarily intended 4d purpose of commuting crimes. A customer who buys a SIM doesn't register it his or herself. So d problem of these SIMs is d fault of d person who registered d SIM on behalf of d customer. 4d ministers statement to associate "improperly registered" SIMs to criminality in my opinion is wrong. This is because even properly registered SIMs can b used to perpetrate crimes. This is d point am making.
In terms of resources allocated to SIM blocking, like I said earlier, this isn't d first time this exercise is being conducted. It has been done b4 but here we are still talking about poor service. Its shows where d emphasis or priority is.
Yes I saw d point on illegal deductions and also d point on reducing d cost of data. Hence I said, these guys can do all this just like glo& still mess things up with poor network. There are several reasons 4 poor network. not just congestion. I have had experience with glo for instance where theres no network to even call for hours or a couple of days. That's beyond just network congestion. There are also times when calls go thru but u cant browse. Its not so straightforward. What exactly causes such issues, am not entirely sure. But there was a time telcos were sanctioned 4 poor service delivery and 4 shortchanging customers. Not anymore
No, you are wrong.
What is the reason for the SIM registration programme in the first place? The reason that it was instituted was to fight crime. I gave you the example of a gun. Not all gun users are criminals, but the fact that criminals use guns makes it necessary guns to be registered. Similarly, not all phone users are criminals and not all unregistered SIM users are criminals, but the fact that some people use phones to commit crimes made it necessary for the government to know the identity of people using the phones. This is the reason that SIM registration was instituted in the first place and that's what the minister was referring to when he mentioned crime. It doesn't mean that the minister will take over the job of the police and start chasing or arresting owners of unregistered SIMS.
SIM registration was started in May 2010 in order to assist security agencies in resolving crime. The initial SIM registration exercise ended in 2013. You can see it in this 2013 article. The new minister did not just invent the idea of using SIM registration to assist the security agencies to combat crime, which is why the journalist was not necessarily paraphrasing the minister, rather he was stating the reason that SIM registration is done. See this 2013 article. It's stated there. Note that this government was not in power in 2013 and Isa Pantami was not minister in 2013, yet it was stated that SIM registration was started to assist the security agencies to resolve crimes.
18 July 2013
This Day (Lagos)
analysis
By Emma Okonji
Emma Okonji examines the impact of SIM registration on service quality, since its initial introduction in May 2010
In May 2010, the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) gave a directive to all telecoms operators to register subscriber identification module (SIM) cards on their networks. The aim of the exercise was to assist security operatives in resolving crimes, facilitate the collation of data by the commission on phone users in the country, and to enable operators have a determinable profile about subscribers on their networks, and improve on network quality among others.
Like I said, owners of unregistered SIMS are not arrested. They are simply asked to register them or the line is blocked.
All the issues that you mentioned all still fall within the purview of the NCC and there's no way that blocking unregistered SIMS will prevent the NCC from carrying out its mandate. The NCC already has methods whereby consumers can report problems with telcos. There's also the consumer parliament and telcos have been sanctioned and fined many times. Airtel and 9mobile were sanctioned just last month due to complaints from consumers and anybody can call 622 (toll free) to lodge a complaint with NCC.
Also in March this year, the telecom regulator also said it received a complaint of automatic data renewal from a 9mobile subscriber, which it investigated and fined the telco N5m for violating its directive.
Anybody can complain to the NCC. You can complain to the NCC if you are having issues with your network and as you can see, action is taken against erring networks.
The NCC collects data about the quality of services from the networks every quarter and there are NCC consumer parliament every month (the consumer parliament is a forum in which consumers meet face to face with the telcos to state their complaints and action is taken on such complaints immediately). Based on complaints by consumers and data from the networks, it was discovered that dropped calls, high cost of data and data theft/deductions were the biggest complaints of consumers and therefore the minister set targets for the NCC to tackle these issues. That does not mean that other issues will not be tackled.
Blocking of unregistered SIMS does not in anyway prevent this from happening. They are not mutually exclusive. NCC has been blocking unregistered SIMs since 2013 and it has not stopped them from sanctioning telcos or enforcing standards.
lexy2014: Ensuring that "illegal SIMs" aren't sold isn't a problem. But what stood out was d reason y its being done with creates d impression that he is chasing criminals. An excerpt:
"Telecom regulator, the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has been ordered to block about 9.2 million unregistered mobile telephone SIM cards as the Nigerian government haunts down illegal SIM cards used by criminals such as kidnappers to perpetrate crimes."
I had an experience some time ago. I inherited a SIM from a lady friend which at d time she registered. After she had used it 4a while, I started using it. Am sure u aware that SIMs cant work, except they are regustered. I later got a message from d service provider that I needed to go register d SIM. Based on that, i asked my friend if she said she had registered d SIM. She said she had. There was even a code used to check& it confirmed that it was registered to her name. Eventually, d SIM was blocked 4 "improper registration".
My point is this. Based on d ministers emphasis on "haunting down illegal SIM cards used by criminals such as kidnappers to perpetrate crimes", not every " improperly registered" SIM is used 4 criminal activities. So u have 9.2m lines& u going to dedicate resources blocking those SIMs cos u suspect that they are all being used by criminals when u can allocate those resources in better supervision of d telcos 4 better service delivery.
From my experience, this isn't d first time they have blocked lines that were "improperly registered". They haven't improved on service delivery either.
Also, drop calls don't reflect d entire issues customers face. Slow network or non existent network is a problem. Lack of access to customer care. Even to browse can b a problem. For instance, glo can give u all d awoof but won't give u d network to use it. Network coverage is poor. That isn't covered in d targets given to NCC.
Aha! I was right. I thought that it was this sentence below that got you angry and confused you.
as the Nigerian government haunts down illegal SIM cards used by criminals such as kidnappers to perpetrate crimes.
There are some things that you need to know about the sentence.
1) It was not said by the minister. Those were the words of the journalist that wrote the story. They would have been enclosed in quotation marks if they were the words of the minister.
2) The journalist was quite careful in writing that sentence. He did not write, “as the minister of communications haunts down illegal SIM cards”, neither did he write, “as the NCC haunts down illegal SIM cards”, rather, he wrote, “as the Nigerian government haunts down illegal SIM cards”.
3) The Nigerian Police Force, the State Security Service and other security services are agencies of the Nigerian Government. These security agencies approach the NCC to find out the identities of the owners of mobile telephone lines and it is the duty of the NCC to provide such information to them. The minister is not trying to do the police’s duty, rather he is trying to do his duty.
The Federal Government mandated the NCC to ensure that all mobile phone SIM cards in Nigeria are registered and as long as there are unregistered SIM cards, then the NCC is failing to do its duty. The NCC is under the supervision of the ministry of communications and so it’s the duty of the minister to ensure that they do not fail in their duty. He is failing to do his duty if he does not ensure that the agencies under his supervision do not do their duty.
Furthermore, there is no where that the minister said that all unregistered SIM cards are used by criminals. It’s like a gun. Not all guns are used by criminals. Some are used by hunters, others are used by security guards, etc. but these people are required to register their guns because it is very important that the security services can trace the owner of a gun when it is used by criminals. Note that owners of unregistered SIMs are not arrested, rather they are encouraged to register their SIMs or the lines are blocked.
It is very easy to block unregistered SIMS and there are no resources that would have been used to improve telecoms services that would be tied down because unregistered SIMS are being blocked. Blocking unregistered SIMs in no way prevents the Ministry of Telecommunications or the NCC from working to improve telecoms services.
Again, you are still mentioning problems that the minister asked the NCC to solve. Dropped calls are often caused by congestion on the network or poor network coverage. That’s the same problem that causes slow internet connection and solving those problems are part of the targets that the minister gave to the NCC. In fact, illegal deduction of data was specifically mentioned in the second target to the NCC/
The fact that he ordered the NCC to block unregistered SIMS does not mean that they cannot improve service delivery. One thing does not stop the other. As you can see from his initial directive to the NCC, blocking illegal SIMS is not the only thing that he ordered them to do. He also ordered them to reduce dropped calls to less than 2%, to reduce the cost of data and to improve coverage of mobile networks. Doing one thing does not stop them from doing the others.
Sports › Re: Asisat Oshoala Appointed As The New Captain Of Super Falcons by naptu2(op): 6:20am On Sep 18, 2019
