Nigeria has got on the superhighway of modern telecommunication with the network service providers – MTN, Airtel, and Glo – serving the needs of millions of Nigerians.
And nowadays, as we are in the digital age, most business transactions and deals are sealed and done via phone calls and online. Gone are the days when one had to meet one’s customers in flesh and blood to do business transactions with them. With phone calls, we get connected to people, who live in countries that are different from ours and engage in business deals with them. And we make payments for services rendered to us by using banks’ apps on our phones. The digitalization of commercial activities in Nigeria has increased Nigeria’s volume of trade, which has positive effects on our battered, but recovering economy.
But sadly, the users of MTN, GLO and Airtel lines in the southeast of Nigeria are dissatisfied with the quality of services, which they receive from the above-named network service providers. Most of the users of MTN, GLO and Airtel complain that those network service providers’ services are not up to par.
This complaint of theirs should not be swept under the rug as the network service providers play critical and significant roles in facilitating those people’s business transactions and convening of online meetings, which are related to their jobs.
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Recently, in the South East, on certain days, a great majority of people could not make phone calls as their lines were stalled owing to some technical glitches, which emanate from their respective network service providers. Not only were phone calls made impossible by network problems, they could not access their Facebook and WhatsApp accounts to carry out activities that border on their jobs and social lives. Poor quality network services in the South East, which hinder our interactions with one another and prevent us from carrying out commercial activities, have become a recurring decimal in the area now.
The southeast of Nigeria, no doubt, has become a major player in the economic revival and recovery of Nigeria, what with Onitsha being the hub of commercial activities, and Nnewi and Aba having industrial clusters.
The volume of trade that is done on a daily basis in the southeast is increasing with incredible rapidity. There is little doubt that Nigeria’s dream of achieving sustainable economic prosperity can be made possible with input from the southeast of Nigeria.
Against the background that an efficient communication network lubricates relationships among people and facilitates carrying out their commercial activities, the network service providers should do the needful in the southeast of Nigeria. The entrepreneurial spirit and drive of the South East people should not be sacrificed on the altar of laxity, indifference and incompetence of the network service providers.
So, this article is a wake-up call to MTN, GLO and Airtel to improve the quality of their services in the South East. The South East is too important an area to be neglected or ignored by them. I am urging them to do the right thing now because a stitch in time saves nine.
Chiedu Uche Okoye, Uruowulu-Obosi Anambra State
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