In a society that is generally well-known for sloppy rights protection be they fundamental freedoms, personal rights or trade rights or much worse still, consumer rights, the Nigerian Communications Commission stood up to be counted as one of the few Nigerian organisations which cares deeply about the consumer as it keyed into the celebration of the World Consumer Rights Day (WCRD) which was marked around the world on Monday to showcase its consumer-centrist credentials.
Its vision is well captured in the PIE Mandate which means Protecting , Informing and Educating Mandate
In an address titled “NCC and the Global Vision of A Satisfied Customer”, read by the Executive Vice-Chairman of the Commission, Professor Umar Garba Danbatta, the Commission listed several initiatives of the organization which has the consumer as its primary or main focus.
Drawing from hindsight, the EVC recalled that the Commission, a few years ago had specifically declared the year 2017 as its year of the Telecom Consumer “in recognition of the central place the consumer occupies in the telecom ecosystem and in the emergent digital economy”.
Interestingly and coincidentally, not only did the WCRD of that same year focus on a “Better Digital World”, but also in their espousal of the year’s focus they both emphasized the need for “a digital world consumers can trust”. Talk about a meeting of minds!
One of the initiatives which lends credence to the Regulator’s claim is its push for a committee to manage the Mobile Devices Management Systems (DMS), aimed at drastically reducing the proliferation of fake and substandard mobile devices which are made mainly from iron and plastic which compounds the plastic pollution phenomenon.
Another area where the Commission has demonstrated its devotion to the consumer is in the area of consumer information and education.
Hear Danbatta, “Just recently, it (Management) approved the re-structuring of our legacy consumer outreach and engagement programmes.
“These modifications were made to increase our reach to telecom consumers wherever they are while also observing COVID-19 protocols.
“Some of the new information and education programmes include:
Telecom Town Halls on Radio, a phone-in dialogic programme to be hosted via radio stations across the country where consumers at the grassroots level will be engaged in their own local language;
Telecom and The Citizen – a biweekly Twitter Live Chat targeting social media users;
Telecom TV Dialogue – a monthly television-based discourse on topical telecom issues; and
Telecom Consumer Conversations – which is segmented and targeted at different consumer groups including: The Village Square Dialogue, The Telecom Public Sphere, The Professionals’ Dialogue, Campus Conversation, Market Conversation and the NYSC Conversation.
All the above-mentioned are in addition to the Telecom Consumer Parliament which is still being aired.
It is therefore no surprise that the Commission went ahead to publish a Telecoms Consumer Handbook which it unveiled during the 2021 World Consumer Rights Day. It is simply consistent with her character and drive to equip the average consumer with necessary and enabling information to enjoy safe, affordable and efficient telecoms services.
The creation of special toll-free numbers such as 622, 2442 and 122 are equally worth celebrating. While the 622 is an avenue to escalate complaints which remain unresolved by the operators, 2442 is the Do Not Disturb code (DND) which is put in place to ward off unwanted text messages. The Commission’s latest report shows that out of 11,327 cases escalated to the commission via the 622 code over the 2019/2020 period, 11,288 cases representing 99.1% were successfully resolved while the DND has reportedly cut down the incidence of unsolicited messages by 96.6% over a three-year period.
In its passionate pursuit of the vision, the Commission has issued various Directives to prevent or checkmate consumer exploitation by the network operators. These include Directive on Data Roll-Over, Do Not Disturb, Automatic Renewal of Data services etc.
In many instances, the Commission has taken up the fight on behalf of consumers resulting in prosecution and arrests of defaulters and the imposition of fines where applicable. It will be recalled that the Commission was, a few years ago, constrained to slam a leading MNO with a huge sum when it failed to comply with its directive on SIM registration
The on-going exercise of linking SIMs with the National identity Management Commission (NIMC) generated National Identity Number being spearheaded by the Commission is a masterstroke in the war against insecurity in the land as criminals will be easily identified and exposed upon completion of the exercise.
This piece is not exhaustive of all the efforts of the Nigerian Communications Commission targeted at ensuring that consumers are not shortchanged but grants a huge insight into the yeoman’s job it is doing.