MTN’s Final Payment: A Demonstration of Commitment to Sustainable Investment in Nigeria

"Commitment is an act, not a word." - Jean-Paul Sartre

Fifteen years ago, in January of 2001, the house of “Y’ello!” paid $285 million for one of four GSM licenses to operate in Nigeria. This was an investment decision predicated on the growth potential of the Nigerian economy. An investment of that magnitude, amounting to over N103 billion in today’s Naira, was a seismic statement of faith in doing business in Nigeria by MTN.

Over the years since that bold decision by Africa’s largest mobile operator to break new ground in Africa’s largest economy, the relationship has broadened in the form of more positive acts of intent to expand growth that the Nigerian populace has benefitted from. Take for instance, the MTN Foundation. Established in 2004 as part of its Corporate Social Responsibility plan, the company set up three portfolios of focus in the areas of Health, Education, and Economic empowerment. This was part of a wider strategy to reduce poverty and contribute towards sustainable development in the Nation

"Without commitment, you cannot have depth in anything, whether it's a relationship, a business or a hobby." - Neil Strauss

The roots of the depth of MTN’s quest for sustainable investment extends beyond the Nigerian public sector into the private sector. In March of this year, Africa Internet Group, a Nigerian e-commerce company, announced it has received funding to the tune of $245 million (N89 billion) from investors that included MTN and U.S Investment Bank Goldman Sachs. MTN recognizes the need to invest in the expansion of e-commerce in Nigeria because of the impact on jobs and the economy at large. 

But even the most noble amongst us has the occasional lapse. Even the most  well intentioned can make a misstep. Eight months ago, in October of 2015, the Nigerian Communications Commission levied a $5.2 billion (N1.04 trillion) fine against MTN for failing to disconnect subscribers with incomplete SIM cards. In an effort to curb Terrorism and Kidnappings, among other crimes, the Federal Govt required all registered lines to have updated SIMS. This exercise was in line with Section 20(1) of Registration of Telephone Subscribers Regulations (TSR) 2011 which stated: 

"Any licensee who activates or fails to deactivate a subscription medium in violation of any provision of these Regulations is liable to a penalty of N200,000.00 (Two Hundred Thousand Naira) for each unregistered but activated subscription medium."

As a follow up to this regulation, a compliance audit of all Mobile operators in the country was carried out in August of 2015 by the NCC. The audit discovered that 5.2 million subscribers were not properly registered by MTN. Multiplying by the fine per subscriber gives us the gargantuan N1.04 trillion ($5.2 billion) figure. In line with its high standards of Corporate Governance, MTN owned up to its culpability and commenced negotiations with the NCC to reduce the fine. A N50 billion payment was made by the company in February 2016 in good faith towards a settlement.

Taking a macro view of MTN’s growth impact on the Telecoms sector, jobs, and Nigeria’s GDP, the Federal Govt decided to reduce the fine from N1.04 trillion to N330 billion, payable over the next three years. As a possible condition of the settlement, MTN might even list on the Nigerian Stock Exchange, thereby allowing shareholders to partake in profit sharing in the form of dividends. A win-win scenario for the country and the company. Speaking to reporters in Abuja, the Minister of Communications, Adebayo Shittu, explained that the reduction of the fine was in the best interest of the economy:

"We need private sector to thrive just as they need us to thrive. We, in government, do not want to kill any business. All the decisions that have been taken on the MTN issue are on the best interest of Nigeria and Nigerians."

So a prudent decision by the Government ensured that all’s well that ends well. MTN learned from its mistake, made yet another financial contribution to Nigeria (which will go a long way during this tough economic cycle where the nation’s revenues have been greatly reduced by the fall in oil prices), and was met halfway by a government that recognizes its stellar contributions to a better Nigeria over the past 15 years. We as Nigerians are better off for it.

"We have to recognize that there cannot be relationships unless there is commitment, unless there is loyalty, unless there is love, patience, persistence." - Cornel West

Mischaracterizing Racism

In a blog post titled "But My Racism Is Better Than Yours", my college buddy "Ofili Speaks" said the following:

People get upset that Iggy Azalae is doing rap music but can’t understand why other people are upset about a Black storm trooper…

They feel their racism is better, sleeker, much better but can’t comprehend how it’s the same thing as another person not wanting a black storm trooper because it infringes on white culture just like an Australian Iggy supposedly infringes on black culture.

At the end of the day we all think our racism is better!

It would help to provide some background. His blog post was inspired by a lengthy, spirited facebook debate that took place this past weekend. Here is the status message of the mutual friend that sparked it:

That the comments tally ran into triple digits is a testament to how engaging the debate was. Our mutual friend posted the status message in response to what I think was a twitter rant (which I can't recall, too many comments to go digging) and an article from Malek Mouzon titled "The Silence of the 'Black' White Musicians". An excerpt from the latter:

I hope that by the time this article posts it no longer applies. But as of its writing, the following is a small list of musicians who have yet to make a public statement or acknowledgement of Michael Brown's murder and the racial epicenter that is Ferguson, Missouri. In no particular order, they are: Justin Bieber, Macklemore, Iggy Azaela, Katy Perry and Miley Cyrus.

I chose the above five for a very specific reason; they are what I like to call "Black" White Musicians. They are entertainers who have been inspired by some facet of Black culture and whether through authentic means or appropriation have gone on to repackage it for the masses under their own guise.

The above musicians enjoy and in many ways reap the rewards of the best parts of Black culture and yet... are surprisingly absent when it comes to the worst.

It's frustrating to watch white musicians be so ready to have legions of Black dancers/singers behind them, work with Black producers, sing about how "we" do and then be nowhere to be found when a Black tragedy takes the national stage. 

Mr Mouzon's article, posted a little over a week after the fatal shooting of 18-year-old Michael Brown, echoed the sentiment of quite a number of people on social media. On of my favorites was on twitter:

For the record, I partly disagreed with the facebook post. While I don't feel any white rapper should feel obligated to comment on any issues affecting the black community, I can understand why they would be criticized for keeping silent. As for black music "belonging" to black people, that was largely ignored by almost everyone that commented. I don't remember anyone feeling it was worth their time discussing. I've never heard any rational person say any genre of music "belongs" to any particular race and feel that was just added to the facebook status message for the purpose of sensationalism.

Now, as far as Mr Ofili's blog post is concerned, which is what I am focusing on, I felt it was important to provide some background because reading Mr Ofili's post without prior knowledge of what informed it, would lead one to incorrectly assume the racist reactions to actor John Boyega playing a Storm Trooper in the latest "Star Wars" movie mirrored those towards rapper Iggy Azalea.

The fringe minority (my assessment of their numbers is my assumption, I could be wrong, there could be many more, this is still a racist world) of people that expressed displeasure with John Boyega's casting did so simply because of his race. No one that I know that dislikes Iggy Azalea feels that way because she is caucasian. Not one of the 192 comments on that facebook post that were not fans of her based their sentiment on her race.

Mr Ofili is guilty of false equivalence in his post. Speaking for myself, I am not a fan of Iggy Azalea. I think she is a joke of a rapper without an ounce of originality. But am I "upset" that she is "doing rap music" and think she is an "infringement" on black culture, as described by Mr Ofili? Not at all. That's quite an extreme characterization that misses the mark completely. Black culture has been very accepting of white rappers. You see it in stadiums where a good number of African Americans attend concerts thrown by caucasian rappers. Iggy is free to rap to her heart's content. That's not the issue, based on the background I provided earlier.

I mean, if I'm racist because I don't like Iggy Azalea, what about the following three rappers I'm a fan of?

 Eternia, from Ottawa, Canada

Invincible, from Detroit, Michigan

  Dessa Darling, from Minneapolis, Minnesota

These are three skilled rappers that are good at their craft. I've never heard of any backlash towards any of them based on their race. If Mr Ofili is going to slap a "better, sleeker" racism tag on criticism of Iggy Azalea, surely that would apply to others in her genre that fit her racial makeup. But that is simply not the case.

Maybe Mr Ofili will shed more light in a subsequent post. For now, based on what he's written, I can't agree with where he is coming from

Remembering Kirk Anthony of Smooth 98.1

After a long day at the office yesterday, Friday, May 31^st, I went to see a movie to pass time and allow rush hour traffic to ease up on the roads. I saw “Olympus Has Fallen” and after it was over, I was already at the first Lekki toll heading away from the island when I tuned in to Smooth 98.1 around 10:50pm. Friday nights from 8pm to midnight are hosted by “The Genie” on a show called “Club Classics” where he plays songs from the 80s and other memorable periods.

I was surprised to hear the voice of Jennifer Netimah, host of “Real Talk” and “Single & Smooth,” (both shows which only run from Monday to Thursday evenings), on air with the Genie. They were both referring to Kirk Anthony in past tense saying things like “This was one of Kirk’s favorite songs.” My initial thought was that Kirk had announced his resignation from the company. I sent in a text message to the show asking what was going on, and then I heard the voice of MaZI’no, host of the morning newspaper review show “Freshly Pressed” responding to my text saying I should stop by the studio if I could. Then I heard other hosts speaking about their memories of Kirk Anthony including Aderonke and pHisayo. It was at this point I feared the worst. I turned around and headed back to the island.

I arrived at past 11pm to see the Smooth 98.1 parking lot full of cars. The studio owner was there with his wife along with all the hosts I mentioned previously, janitors, and security. I went to speak with MaZI’no privately, and through bloodshot eyes that provided evidence of lots of crying, he informed me that Kirk Anthony had suffered Cardiac Arrest in the studio earlier that day and passed away. Aderonke, host of the morning weekly show “Strictly Soul” and Saturday morning show “Breakfast in Bed,” and the Genie were the only ones in the studio to witness what happened.

The Genie administered CPR on Kirk while Aderonke called an ambulance. I won’t hijack the memory of Kirk Anthony by ranting about the slow response of emergency medical services in this country, but we all have a responsibility to put pressure on our government to improve what is currently a tragically inept healthcare system. However, I should note that the ambulance (which was 30 minutes late) which picked up Kirk and the clinics (the first one refused to treat him because they claimed not to have enough “capacity”) he was taken to, were both private enterprise.

Kirk Anthony was a bubbly, warm, principled man that hosted “The Smooth Drive,” “Late Night Blues,” and “Smooth Motivations.” His career in radio spans over 25 years and you could tell easily by listening to his professional command of his material when on air. Speaking of having a command of things, what a voice! The baritone could make one tremble and I always said he could easily play a villain as a voice-over in an Animated feature film.  I remember one afternoon on an episode of “The Smooth Drive,” he was talking about dieting and exercise and I sent in a text about eating salads. He responded; “I’m sorry Mr Rotus, but I’m not a rabbit” and I still chuckle to myself when I think about that.

I feel fortunate to have met Kirk, worked with him on promotional material for the station, and partied with him at concerts hosted by Smooth FM. I’m deeply saddened by his sudden passing and my condolences go out to his wife, children, relatives, friends, and his professional family at Smooth 98.1. The radio industry has lost one of its greats but memories of his incredible work will remain with us all forever. He will be sorely missed.

Children's Day and the importance of independent thought

"I definitely don't want to become a parent. It's not my bag" - Hollywood actor Sam Rockwell, on November 11th, 2007.

It should be noted that Sam Rockwell's parents separated when he was a young child. He moved to San Francisco with his father, and spent summers in New York with his mother. Where that fits into his decision not to become a parent is anyone's guess.

This is because, children that grow up with divorced parents can either be apathetic to marriage and parenting, or vow not to end up like their parents and choose to build strong, healthy marriages.

The important point is the role of personal choice that isn't influenced by reasons which can be detrimental to one's decision to start a family. If you are yet to have children and the multitude of pictures you've been bombarded with today act as peer pressure, then you need to take a step back.

Parenting is a lifelong investment. One that ties up resources and can be very restrictive when one considers the opportunity cost. Contrary to what many think, it is entirely possible to have a fulfilling life without having any children; Mother Teresa or former CNN journalist Roland Martin serve as examples.

Anyone who tells you to have children simply because;

1) "God said you should"
2) "Your mates are having children"
3) "You owe it to your parents"

without considering your economic status, is not to be considered sympathetic to your well being.

With a 60% poverty rate in Nigeria that hits millions of our children the hardest, the last thing we need is more begging on our streets, or resorting to crime simply because they've been neglected.

We also don't need more families in financial struggle or ruin simply because they couldn't afford to take care of children they didn't properly plan for.

I've noticed status messages today saying;

"Every child is my child."

It's a very trendy thing to say on a day like this, too bad it's not more mainstream enough to make a difference where it matters.

Sam Rockwell is a hollywood actor that could easily afford to have a child. He chose not to. It's my hope that those of us that are yet to have children have the independence of mind to decide whether or not it is the best thing for us and the children we plan to bring (or not bring) into this extremely harsh world.

Plan accordingly

Happy Children's Day.

A First Reason To Like Chris Brown Since 2009

I was buying groceries last night (May 20^th) when first I heard the catchy beat for what I did not know at the time was Chris Brown’s latest single “Fine China” from his upcoming sixth album “X.” I strained my ears to catch lyrics from the song that I could google later and got “Baby, you’re my baby” which didn’t make sense (but turned out to be “Baby, you’re my favorite.”) but I used them anyway and got results that included “Number One,” “I Love You,” and “Make Love.” I filtered through “Number One” in mere seconds before discarding it and then came upon the “Fine China” video before even checking the other two.

Nothing spectacular or original about the storyline in the above video. Overused plot and poor acting was what I was greeted with, and did Mr Brown really have to hit us over the head with the theme by including Asian actors in a video titled “Fine China”? C’mon man…..but anyway, this wasn’t directed by John Landis and I didn’t watch the video for Chris Brown’s acting skills. The song is what drove me to search online and what a lovely tune it is. It’s a refreshing head nodder that sees Brown going back to R&B after a lot of what I consider to be House/Techno-influenced garbage like “Don’t Wake Me Up,” and “Don’t Judge Me.” 

Despite nauseating songs (and videos) like the two I just mentioned, one thing that has always been impressive from Chris Brown is his dancing and he really put on a show in “Fine China.” What I especially liked was the nod to Michael Jackson and as far as I’m concerned, nobody in mainstream entertainment does it better than Breezy. An argument can be made for Usher but that’s about it. Don’t bother wasting my time with Ne-Yo and Justin Timberfake.

Thanks to YouTube, I found out that Chris Brown performed the song on Sunday the 19th at the Billboard Music Awards 

He put on an entertaining performance even though he seemed to struggle a bit with his voice, but my favorite clip for "Fine China" is the one below where he just dances throughout the entire track. 

Visuals from this clip where included in the original video but you kinda feel that Brown had to release a “Dance only” video to placate MJ fans like myself around the world. Peep the flawless spin move (from a crouching position, no less, with balance and form maintained throughout) at minute 1:32. I got chills at minute 1:50 when he belted out the legendary “Woo Hoo” ad lib. Look at the break dancing from 2:15 – 2:27 and how the camera pans out to give this talented young man the space he requires to dazzle the mind with his footwork. Absolutely loved the closing from 3:05 - 3:20 (especially 3:14 and the way they all switched perfectly with the beat). I’ve now watched this over a dozen times and already started thinking about how well it would work as a choreographed piece in a wedding reception or an office Christmas party. Ha!

As the title of this blog post states, I haven’t had a reason to like Chris Brown since 2009 and think his “Bad boy” image is completely unnecessary but like all truly gifted artists, he has the ability to silence all talk about anything other than his music and dancing and make you focus on exactly why he is such an authentic reincarnation of Michael Joseph Jackson on the dance floor.

Does this mean I’ll be purchasing his upcoming album “X”? I doubt it. For the record, I don’t own any of his previous albums. I just watch his videos for his moves and sing along when he releases something decent. In an interview with Ebony Magazine about his upcoming album, Brown is quoted as saying; 

“When you go through the album it’s diverse, it doesn’t just have that one sound”

That tells me we could be in for more horrible House/Techno (or whatever the hell it is) stuff like “Don’t Wake Me Up” and “Don’t Judge Me.” Don’t get me wrong though, I like that stuff when it works and a perfect example is 2010’s “Yeah 3x” which was the last time I checked for a Chris Brown song (and why I’m almost two months late on “Fine China”), but a lot of that hasn’t worked so I’ll patiently wait to hear the album first before deciding to buy. However, no matter what the album turns out to be, Chris Brown has given Michael Jackson fans everywhere a reason to crack a bright nostalgic smile and admire his effort on “Fine China.” I for one am very grateful. 

The 4am Saturday Commercial Wedding Rant

There's a line in a previous poem on this blog about weddings that goes as follows;

"The surrounding neighbors were frustrated, they said 'Why do you irk us?

Why would you turn your wedding ceremony into one big circus?'"

Last night, someone uploaded this picture on Blackberry Messenger and, while understanding fully well that folks have the right to show off this kinda stuff, I wrote the following and sent it out as a broadcast message to all my contacts. Kinda surprised it made any sense. 

"Staged, contrived, vomit inducing "moments" like these milk other disillusioned sheep of their savings and turn an intimate ceremony into a circus. 

Who is the ringmaster of this circus? Consumerism and it's long tentacles of materialism that link self esteem to public acts of ceremonial branding. A pathetic promotion of "me too-ism" that sweeps through the consciousness of brainwashed couples (and singles) flipping through glossy capitalist pages of profit driven media outlets that display the in-your-face grandeur of the upper class and their disgusting opulence as the be-all and end-all of life.

Wide eyed, deceived marionettes and mannequins cannot see consumerism's strings. If they could, they'd follow in the footsteps of multimillionaires like the founder of the world's most popular online social network whose ceremony was conducted in the privacy of his backyard under the guidance of humility and the acknowledgment of the intimacy this moment requires.

Blessed are the non-conformists, for they shall inherit the leftovers of the gluttonous acts of societal peer pressure and groupthink, and raise the next generation of socialists that put communal interests first, and abolish abused scripture stamped approval of ceremonial showmanship.

A humble humanity counts on this."