Telecommunications Operators have threatened to withdraw their services to banks and other financial institutions in Nigeria due to unpaid debts.
According to the Chairman of Association of Licensed Telecommunication Companies of Nigeria (ALTON), Engineer Gbenga Adebayo, the debt payment has lingered for too long.
Adebayo who spoke at the second edition of the Nigeria Information Technology Reporters Association (NITRA) Growth Conference, which held in Lagos, disclosed that though some banks are responding, others are not.
“We are nearing that time when we have no choice but to discontinue the provisions of services to banks. It is dishonorable that our colleagues in that sector know that they have an obligation to service providers but they are shying away from it.
“Banks remove charges from their customers but refuse to pay telecom operators. You don’t expect us to keep rendering services, when you don’t pay. The irony of it is that, if it was the other way round, you can’t owe the bank a cent,” he lamented.
According to him, when the telecommunication operators withdraw their services, bank customers will not be able to do bank transfers and other digital banking related transactions.
The chairman of the occasion, Mr. Chris Uwaje, decried brain drain in the sector, stressing the need for government to put the issue on the front burner.
He advocated development of a knowledge park where young people can think tech, talk tech, gain knowledge and develop local technology. This according to Uwaje would encourage and promote local contents.
Uwaje who is the founder of Mobile Software Solutions expressed optimism that Nigeria can be built. ‘’We do not have to run,” he said.
Also speaking on brain drain, the President of Association of Telecommunications Companies of Nigeria (ATCON), Ike Nnamani, disclosed that the Telecommunications industry had lost close to 2,000 staff due to outward migration.
He called for urgent action to salvage the situation as the industry is one the major contributors of the country’s Gross Domestic Products (GDP).
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