Telecommunications operators in Nigeria have threatened to withdraw their services to banks and other financial institutions across the country over lingering debts owed by the institutions.
The Chairman of the Association of Licensed Telecommunication Companies of Nigeria (ALTON), Mr Gbenga Adebayo, who made this known while speaking at the second edition of the Nigeria Information Technology Reporters Association (NITRA) Growth Conference, which was held in Lagos, said that the debt payment has lingered for too long.
According to Adebayo, 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 dishonourable 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,” Daily Trust quoted Adebayo as saying.
The ALTON Chairman noted that when telecom operators withdraw their services, bank customers will not be able to do bank transfers and other digital transactions.
Also speaking, the Chairman of the occasion, Mr. Chris Uwaje, decried brain drain in the telecom sector, stressing the need for the government to put the issue on the front burner.
Uwaje advocated for the development of a knowledge park where young people can think tech, talk tech, gain knowledge and develop local technology to encourage and promote local content.
The founder of Mobile Software Solutions expressed optimism that Nigeria can be built, saying that “We do not have to run.”
Similarly, the President of the Association of Telecommunications Companies of Nigeria (ATCON), Ike Nnamani, revealed that the telecom industry in Nigeria has lost close to 2,000 workers to migration.