Telcos urges NCC for intervention

Charity Nnaji:

Broadband companies- Tier II telecoms operators have urged the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) to intervene in their business to save the industry from imminent collapse.

The operators made this known when they visited Prof. Umar Garba Danbatta, executive vice chairman of the NCC, in Abuja recently.

The operators therefore asked the NCC, to take immediate and decisive steps to avert the looming threat of strangulation, which its members currently face.

Those in the delegation were, Mr. Godfrey Efeurhobo, managing director, Smile Communications; David Venn, managing director, Spectranet; Mr. Osondu Nwokoro, director Regulatory and External Affairs of nTel; and  Mr. Chuma Okoye, chief commercial officer, Swift Networks,

According to them, the industry is in a situation where all operators are finding it difficult to justify the required investment case for additional capital expenditure (capex) for network capacity expansion to improve quality of service to customers.

They further noted that the network operating expenditure (opex) of operations have skyrocketed in the last 15 months by over 85 per cent with revenues remaining relatively flat.  Most operators, they lamented, are currently struggling with meeting obligations to their suppliers particularly network vendors, tower firms and servicing loan obligations.

According to CommunicationsWeek, the CEOs stated that the NCC’s declaration of 2017 as the Year of the Telecoms Consumer can be derailed by failure of operators to deliver on the expected quality of service particularly on data throughput and experience due to the weak investment case to support additional capex as a result of deteriorating market conditions.

Ohanaeze Ndigbo demands immediate release of Ifeanyi Ubah

Charity Nnaji:

Ohanaeze Ndigbo, the apex Igbo socio-cultural organization, has demanded the immediate release of Dr. Ifeanyi Ubah, the Managing Director of Capital Oil.

Ifeanyi Ubah, who was picked up two weeks ago by the Department of State Services, DSS, has remained in detention.

According to the press statement issued by the Secretary General of the Ohanaeze Youth Council, OYC, Mazi Okwu Nnabuike, he described the oil mogul’s arrest as a continuation of endless persecution of Ndigbo by the present administration.

He called on the DSS to immediately free Ubah, even as he faulted a situation where security operatives would arrest and detain a Nigerian before commencing investigation.

“We yet again condemn this endless clamp down on Igbo sons and daughters by federal government agencies.

“It has now become a tradition that no week passes by without either the EFCC or the DSS coming after an Igbo son or daughter. It is a sad commentary considering that these persons are always detained for a prolonged period than permitted by law. We condemn a situation where people are detained before investigations are carried out on the issues leading to their arrest.

“To this end, we demand the immediate release of Chief Ifeanyi Ubah. If the DSS is sure he has committed any offence he should be charged to a court of competent jurisdiction.

“We say enough to the persecution of Ndigbo in this country. This idea of silencing every opposing voice will not augur well for our democracy”, the youths said.

Boko Haram frees 82 Chibok girls

Charity Nnaji:

Boko Haram, the dreaded Islamic Insurgent group operating in the Northeast part of Nigeria has freed 82 Chibok girls in their captivity.

The girls were part of the 276 girls captured by the group in 2014.

Meanwhile, Nigeria’s government says the 82 kidnapped Chibok schoolgirls who have been released in an exchange for detained Boko Haram suspects are expected to meet President Muhammadu Buhari on Sunday in the capital.

The government says the Swiss government and the International Committee of the Red Cross helped in negotiations with the extremist group. Similar talks led to the first release of 21 Chibok girls in October.

The latest announcement means 113 girls remain unaccounted for. It is feared some were forced to carry out suicide bombing missions for Boko Haram, which has ties to the Islamic State group.

MTN Nigeria sacks 280 workers

Charity Nnaji:

MTN Nigeria on Friday sacked 280 employees, which the company said is a major job cut that affected about 15% of the company’s entire workforce in Nigeria.

According to information sourced from Premium Times , those affected by the move include some 200 permanent employees and about 80 contract staff across various cadres, ranging from new graduates to senior managers.

 Many of those sacked spent up to 15 years with the company having joined MTN as it opened its business in Nigeria in 2001.

Our sources said affected workers were given a severance of 75% of their gross monthly income multiplied by the number of years with the company.

“Given that the company is about 16 years old in Nigeria, the severance package brought pain and discontent among the affected staff,” one source said.

“With the payoff structure, senior managers with 15 years of service were left with about N15 million. Most of the staff got less than N5 million.”

MTN Nigeria recorded nearly $1 billion in profit in 2016. However, the telecoms firm was heavily fined by the Nigerian government for failing to disconnect 5.2 million unregistered subscribers.

The spokesperson for the company, Funso Aina, could not be reached for comments on Monday.

But a source familiar with the latest downsizing said 200 of those affected had earlier agreed to leave the company voluntarily.

The source said the sackings were as a result of “the changing dynamics of the telecoms industry in recent times”.

The source also said the company introduced the voluntary severance scheme, VSS, to provide a window for one week in April, for persons who have served in MTN for five years and above to take up.

Judiciary staff sentenced to death for stabbing flat mate’s wife

Charity Nnaji:

Narebor Stephen Donbrapade, a 49-year-old judiciary staff in Delta State, has been sentenced to death.

 Donbrapade will die by the hangman’s noose as ordered by a Delta State high court sitting in Ughelli for stabbing his flat mate’s wife to death.

The accused, hails from Esama town in Bomadi Local Government Area, had on or about January 31, 2013, murdered one Stella Avwenayerhe by stabbing her on the chest at Otobo Street, Ughelli.

He was said to share a three bedroom flat with the deceased’s husband but had a minor altercation with the victim after he walked on the rug in the sitting room without removing his shoes.

Angered by the deceased’s audacity, the accused dashed into his room only to appear with a knife with which he stabbed Stella Avwenayerhe on the chest. She was confirmed dead by doctors at the Ughelli Central hospital, where she was rushed to by neighbours.

The accused, in his defense, pleaded not guilty to the one-count charge of murder, alleging that the victim was stabbed to death by some unidentified hoodlums in the area.

Delivering his judgment, Justice F. O. Ohwo found the accused guilty on the one-count charge preferred against him by the State Attorney-General through the Director of Public Prosecutions.

He held that the evidences of the four prosecution witnesses called by an Assistant Director in the Ministry of Justice, including the husband of the deceased, proved beyond all reasonable doubt the essential ingredients of the offence of murder against the accused.

The accused was then sentenced to death by hanging. Daily Post

Anthony Joshua kocks out Wladimir Klitschko in the 11th round

Charity Nnaji:

Anthony Joshua has knocked out Wladimir Klitschko in the 11th round of an epic heavyweight world title fight at Wembley on Saturday night.

The 27-year-old appeared to be on the brink of his first defeat since he turned professional, after he was floored in the sixth round. But he produced a dramatic late onslaught to halt Klitschko with one round left.

After 10 rounds, two judges had Joshua ahead, one by 96-93 and one by 95-93, while the other judge had Klitschko 95-93 ahead.

With this victory, Joshua has successfully defended his IBF title, while also claiming the WBA ‘super’ belt.

“What can I say? 19-0, three and a half years in the game. As I said, I’m not perfect but I’m trying and if you don’t take part you’re going to fail.

 “As boxing states, you leave your ego at the door and you respect your opponent. So a massive shout out to Wladimir Klitschko,” he told SkySports.