Boko Haram Stalls MTN Growth in the North
The Chief Executive Officer of MTN Nigeria, Mr. Michael Ikpoki, has disclosed that over 120 of its masts have been destroyed in the North-east with 80 masts destroyed in the fourth quarter of 2014 alone.
According to Contruction Review Online, Ikpoki noted that the rampant destruction of infrastructure by Boko Haram has hampered the growth of mobile telecommunications penetration in Nigeria, especially in the northern parts of the country.
MTN Nigeria is the largest telephone operator in Africa with its Nigeria operations having 61.1 million users.
According to MTN Nigeria, the company has invested 13 billion in fixed assets and facilities nationwide in its 13 years of operation in the country
The militant organisation has caused untold suffering in recent years in Africa’s most populous nation by waging a war against the national government in a bid to create a separate state. Bombings, assassinations and abductions have become the hallmark of the group. They promote a version of Islam that forbids Muslims from associating with western society in any form.
The organisation has caused development to lag behind in its area of operation and coupled with destruction of infrastructure has raised a bill running into millions that will be required for reconstruction. Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babatunde Fashola, yesterday said the federal government had treated the state with outright prejudice by selling parcels of land it acquired for public use from the state to private interests or individuals.
The governor lamented the decision of the federal government to issue certificate of occupancy (C of O) in Abuja for parcels of land in Lagos, pointing out that it was illegal for the federal government to issue such document.
He said this at a public presentation of two books by former Federal Commissioner of Works, Alhaji Femi Okunnu and the wife of former AttorneyGeneral and Commissioner for Justice in Lagos, Mrs. Gbemi Shasore respectively in Victoria Island.
At the presentation of the books titled “Contemporary State Land Matters in Nigeria: A Case Study of Lagos State and In Her Own Right: Abimbola Fashola,” Fashola lamented that rather than return the land to the official owners, the federal government continued “to sell them to individuals for commercial purposes.
“I think we have received the short end of the stick as a people (residents of Lagos). Lagos is one of the few states that are bounded by lagoon and ocean on the side. Yet, that is the place I think we have been most treated unfairly by the central government.
He said the federal government took over Tafawa Balewa Square (TBS) on Lagos Island, noting that the federal government “is only a manager and not landlord. It belongs to Lagos. It was originally crown land. It was given to the central government to manage. It is alarming that the manager has started selling the land left in its care.
“I have told people, who purchased the land that they bought nothing. The seller has no document to offer or prove that they are the landlord. I have told those who bought it to go and collect their money back from the seller.
“As long as I live, I will fight the battle to collect the land from the federal government. It is a national monument named