The Minister of Communication and Digital Economy, Dr. Isa Ali Pantami, on Tuesday, reiterated Federal Government’s resolve to bring the cost of data down. He said his office has been flooded with complaints by consumers who decry the high cost of data and other sharp practices by network operators.

Read: Why Telecom Consumers Experience Early Data Depletion.

He therefore directed Nigerian Communication Commission (NCC), to work out modalities with network service providers and other stakeholders to see that the cost of data is reviewed downward.

“I am urging the management of NCC to work towards reducing the price of data in Nigeria. It is too costly and people are complaining every day.

“If you go to other countries, even countries that are not as largely populated as Nigeria, data prices are not this high.

“I am also a victim of some of the infractions that are so common in the industry. You load your data, but you barely used 20 percent of it and the entire data is wiped off.” The Minister said.

The issue of data price reduction has dragged on for some time now, and the Minister of Communication is no longer having any of it. He therefore issued 5 days ultimatum the Commission to put the saga to rest.

“The last time I commented on the issue of illegal data deduction… this is one of the issues that worry me badly today. Engr. Wakil was making a presentation on behalf of the Executive Vice Chairman, he tried to defend operators on one hand and the commission on the other, but I was not fully convinced with the explanation.

“Please go, sit down and review that issue. It is very important and I want to get your feedback with that report in the next five working days with the decision on it because the complaint from Nigerians are beyond what I can handle, as it is today, people are complaining.” He added.

Reacting to the marching order, the Chairman of ALTON, Engr. Gbenga Adebayo, told Daily Trust: “I don’t know how the government is going to achieve that data reduction in five days. Have they put into consideration the high cost of operating our businesses and the very harsh operating environment we are in”? He asked

“Why are they trying to muzzle the NCC and stampede it into doing what is unrealistic? Do they know that operators don’t just sit down and fix tariffs? They, with NCC rely on so many things before coming up with tariffs.

“We do not know under what circumstances the directive was given, and to be honest with you, we don’t know how that is going to be achieved. We have said it several times that when policies interfere with commercial matters, the industry will be jeopardized. Government needs to be careful not to whittle down the powers of the regulator.

“To arrive at prices, NCC normally conducts survey and research, and after all that, it will benchmark the country’s tariffs based on what is obtained in other jurisdictions,” he said.

The Cable UK’s Data figures compared according to regions in Africa varies in prices. In West Africa, Nigeria network operators sell 1GB for about $3.22 while you get the same amount of data in Chad for $23.3. In Cameroon it’s way cheaper at $1.7 while in Ivory Coast it costs $4.1 and $2.92 in Niger Republic.

In North Africa, 1GB can be obtain countries like Algeria, 1GB is sold for $5.15, Egypt $1.49, Libya, $4.87 and Sudan $0.6.

While in Southern Africa, 1GB goes for $11.2 in Namibia, $14.12 in Botswana and $7.19 in South Africa.

These varying figures show that there is no formula to determine the cost of data but each country uses infrastructure and market forces to determine the cost. And when it comes to infrastructure, Nigeria like many other African countries is way behind – a recipe for high cost of data.

For instance, the cost of fueling the generators powering network service masts in Nigeria is enough to influence the cost of data. And there is issue of vandalism that has become a norm that the operators are helplessly dealing with. And there is also the issue of Right of Way (ROW) that the Minister of communication himself acknowledged.

The NCC knows that these challenges exist and cannot force telcos to reduce the cost of data when the problems instigating it have not been fixed. That would be tantamount to forcing them to operate on loss which will have its own adverse effects.

The Ministry of Communication has a good intention by directing the NCC to protect the interest of subscribers, but it shouldn’t be at all cost because the interest of telcos needs to be protected too. Although the errors of telcos have become too many that they seem inexcusable, Dr. Pantimi acknowledged that they need help too:

“The way we pursue the mobile operators to do what is right, we should also protect their interest and resolve the challenges they face,” he said.

Providing them with the needed infrastructure will reduce the cost of operation and in turn, the cost of calls and data. So the federal government should play their role by providing basic infrastructure like electricity and security, and then watch market forces reduce the cost of telecommunication. If it doesn’t happen, then there will be basis for government to act on behalf of the people.

When you encounter him, his body frame belies what his ambition is – he intends to feed the nation and to empower youths like himself. His belief is huge. His dreams are adventurous. He wants to help Nigeria and the rest of Africa achieve the Sustainable Development Goal  2 . He wants to end hunger through his trade – Agriculture and Agro business.

Welcome to the world of Ajibola Olaide Zakariyyah popularly known as Mazota. He is a graduate of Animal Production and Health at the Ladoke Akintola University of Technology, Ogbomosho.

Having picked more than a passing interest in the business of tilling the land and rearing animals, Mazota was throughout his stay in the university making money through consultancy and practical farming. However, his passion pushed him further when he registered his own agro-business company in 2016. This company is his special purpose vehicle to drive his agro consultancy job. Through this firm, he consults for both known and upcoming farmers in Osun and neighbouring states. Not only that, he empowered people, especially youth, in the different areas of agriculture. He teaches snailery, fishery, poultry, bee-keeping, animal husbandry and others to provide jobs for the teeming youth in the South West.  This has seen him partner with a number of youth focused organizations. Such partnership has resulted in empowerment for the beneficiaries.

The Osogbo-born agric-preneur said his venturing into agriculture is born out of his exposure to massive poverty of a large number of people in the country. He said, “ I am motivated by two things. One, by the exposure and knowledge of the practical life of a poor man and innocent masses. Two, I realized how important it is for human beings to prepare for the future.”  Mazota’s quest to empower at every available opportunity is tied to his watchword of living a purposeful life. He philosophized that “ the struggle to make money is insignificant when compared to what is needed to live a meaningful and purposeful life.”

As a 28-year old forward thinking agric business man, Mazota, thinks of the future as well as the present. He believes the Sustainable Development Goal 2 of Zero hunger could only be achieved if a radical way of teaching Agriculture is introduced into the Nigerian educational curriculum right from basic to tertiary level. This would ensure agric business is a way of life for all adult Nigerians.  With the availability of arable land across different parts of the country, Nigeria has no business with hunger. This prompted him to register an agriculture academy early 2019. He invested massively in the farm dedicated to teaching. The Agric-Academy is a registered complete agricultural school and a socio-economic empowerment institution housing over twenty different animal units, over thirty different crops and more than forty different horticultural plants (flowers). The aim was to teach and also expose students of various schools within and outside Osun state to agriculture in its practical terms. The different units are basically for excursion, training and research purposes –these are the three reasons for which Mazota Agric-Academy was established.

Mazota is as entrepreneurial as he is philosophical. When asked how he got his capital, the LAUTECH graduate drew insight from his mother’s sayings about money and the need. He stated, “Money would have been a problem but for the words of my mother who always prove to us that as significant as money is, yet it is not the first in our journey to greatness. This lesson has so far been a life-long lesson to me and it has always been my primary initial capital in all my doings.” Nevertheless, he admitted that his secondary initial capital was raised through charges from petty agro consultancy services rendered to some new and existing farmers in Osogbo. He has a big dream of his 3-year-old project in the next five years. He has multiple expectations on the extent of his business growth in the next five years. On this, he excitedly said “I see the business to have grown more wings to become a great agent in ending hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture, the second of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in Nigeria. He rested his huge dream on the high capacity of Agriculture to provide food security and abundant jobs for all Nigerians. He chipped in “Come to think of it, Nigeria has a population of over two hundred million people; all must eat to live!”

His advice for the Nigerian youth and graduates generally was for them to rise above the present situation in the country to make life better for themselves despite the much complained about the failure of the political class. He said “the Nigerian education system, her economy and the fate of youth and graduates are three parallel lines whose probability of meeting is unfortunately zero. It is therefore of great importance for the youth or undergraduates to rise above this and tap God’s own resources around us as all of us cannot tap from the nation’s wealth of crude oil.” He concluded that agriculture is the way to go as youth could not afford to let the numerous resources keep wasting under their watch. He preached positive thinking, innovations and entrepreneurship as the three pillars of development Nigerian youth should key into.