Coronavirus is nothing short of a terrible affliction that has brought the world to its knees. More developed nations are scrambling to catch-up while developing countries like ours are trying to grapple with this sudden reality that may spell doom for us, should what befell Europe and the United States in recent weeks befalls us. The outcome is only best imagined. That is why everyone must play a role in preventing community transmission through social distancing and good personal hygiene.
In my personal opinion, I think the good side of Covid-19 for a country like Nigeria that has all it takes to be advanced than it is now, is that it has further revealed to us all how exposed and porous we are as a nation; be it healthcare, social services, security, infrastructure, and even the state of our broadband. Maybe all of these inconveniences will make us a less complacent nation, one that will rise up and demand more from our leaders.
That said, today’s piece is really focused on the state of our broadband and why we must take this as an important and urgent national issue. The last few weeks have shown that quality broadband services are not in nice new headlines but in actual experience. What is the quality of service if one million people within a locality are all streaming at the same time? Do the customers know when they are being throttled or undercut through lesser quality service then they ought to get?
A lot more people have turned to digital since the lockdown was enforced and for many of them, the service has just been poor, saddening, crappy and messed up. I personally have to rely on three different service providers and quite frankly, it has been a struggle.
Nigerians need to demand more from service providers and also, the government needs to provide an enabling environment. It is so sad that the right of way remains an issue. I first wrote about this issue seven years ago via this same platform and here we are in 2020, many states, with leaders who are only after what they will eat today, still regard it as a key source of revenue. Failure of such leaders to see and understand where the world is going pre and post the pandemic will make such leaders further impoverish their people.
Once upon a time, the pioneer Executive Vice-Chairman of Nigerian Communications Commission, Ernest Ndukwe, and Chairman of Zenith Bank Plc, Jim Ovia, co-chaired a presidential committee on broadband penetration. It was a committee that quite a number of industry players thought did a decent job and so, when Adebayo Shittu was named Minister of Communications, I tracked him down for an interview and one of the questions I asked him was about that broadband plan and its implementation.
He responded that the broadband plan had been discarded because — Finish Reading on the Punch
