Residents of Imo and Abia states have urged the National Assembly to enact legislation to enhance electricity supply and improve telecommunication services amidst the recent tariff hikes.

The people expressed concern over the hike in the electricity and telecom tariffs, without commensurate increase in the quality of services rendered by the providers.

The people spoke in separate interviews with journalists in Owerri, pointing out that the tariff hikes were biting hard on their businesses and monthly expenditures.

A cybercafé operator in Owerri, Sunday Iwuanyanwu, said that his monthly electricity bill went up from N15,000 to N25,000, despite irregular power supply.

Mr Iwuanyanwu complained that electricity supply in his area dropped sufficiently to as low as five hours daily.

He said that because of the erratic state of power, businesses relied more on petrol-powered generators to remain afloat, causing him to spend a minimum of N20,000 daily on petrol to run his generator, aside from the maintenance cost.

A retired teacher, Uju Uwaleke, said that the “high electricity tariff is not usually commensurate with power consumption. What the country needs is strong legislation by NASS to protect Nigerians from undue exploitation by service providers and electricity operators.” 

A private school proprietor, Chinelo Jude-Agu, also said that her school relied more on generators to run the school.

Ms Jude-Agu said that the school planned to install solar-powered inverters to help reduce energy cost.

A solar installation expert, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said there was an increase in enquiries about the installation of solar, following the increase in electricity tariffs.

The respondents also spoke on the increase in telecom tariffs, in spite of the “obvious lapses in the network services.”

A legal practitioner, Stanley Ugochukwu, wondered why Nigeria, with a population of over 200 million, would be subjected to high call and data tariffs.

Mr Ugochukwu said that telecom operators in the country were making huge returns from the large population of subscribers, hence their tariffs ought to be moderate and affordable.

According to him, with the number of internet data subscribers in the country, “Nigerians should be enjoying free calls and data services during specific days as part of appreciation for their patronage.’’

He said that NASS members should be more concerned about anti-people policies, such as the hike in tariffs, than the mundane issues such as sexual harassment.

A student, Michael Echefu, lamented the high cost of data for academic research and other purposes and called for immediate intervention by the government.

“You download a small file and your data is finished. You just have to recharge again to do other research. It’s quite unfortunate,” he said.

Another student, Veronica Uju, described the hike in telecom tariffs as painful, noting that she had no choice than to continue to subscribe for airtime and data.

Ms Uju, a student of the Department of Economics, Imo State University, Owerri, said she needed regular network access to enable her to do research for her final year project and other assignments.

“I can’t afford not to have data or airtime in my phone no matter the cost. It’s not like we have another option,” she said.

Also, a final year student of Library Science, Ben Ukah, said that the increased tariffs only made him reduce the frequency of data purchase.

Mr Ukah described the increased tariffs as “unfair because students rely on internet access for assignments and other research work.”

Udochukwu Ekwe, who owns a bakery, lamented the high cost of diesel, saying that he depended on his diesel-powered generator to be able to meet his production target, in view of the epileptic power supply to his area.

Mr Ekwe said that the hike in electricity tariff, in the face of erratic supply, was taking a big toll on businesses in the country and should be addressed.

A retiree, Lillian Adiele, said she reduced her phone usage to avoid spending more on data.

“As a retiree, my income is limited and I have to budget for everything. I can’t afford to increase the money I spend on data because it will cut into my other needs. Although I enjoy watching videos on YouTube and WhatsApp, this requires a lot of data and I don’t have money to keep recharging, so I have to scale down on data usage,” she said.

A businessman, Emmanuel Obi, also said he had to reduce his daily calls, adding that he was relying more on text messages.

Mr Obi added that his internet usage had been structured to make his data last.

“I usually turn off my internet access once I am not using it and when I go to bed. This way, my phone doesn’t make use of the data for background apps. I have also reduced the amount I spend on subscriptions, so I can still have access to the necessary applications and other things I do on the internet,” he said.

Meanwhile, an employee of telecommunications giant, MTN, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said that workers also feel the pain of the tariff increase.

“Everyone, including staff members, are in this together and we all feel the brunt together,” the source said.

The state Chairman of the Nigeria Labour Congress, Uchechigemezu Nwigwe, lamented that Nigerian workers were worse hit by the increase in the electricity and telecom tariffs.

Mr Nwigwe said, “Citizens of this country are expected to have 24-hour power supply to make businesses thrive in the country. Unfortunately, the services that are rendered and the payment by consumers are not commensurate with the services they get.

“That has been the stand of labour. We have been against the incessant hike in the tariffs. Labour is against it and is insisting that the Federal Government should not go approve the increase in tariffs,” he said.

Mr Nwigwe also said that NLC, in its last congress, wrote the federal government on the matter and members directed to be on standby for further directives.

He said that power supply in his area of residence at Orji, near Owerri, had continued to be epileptic and unreliable.

“It’s even worse with the creation of bands with some consumers in my area paying as high as N40,000 bills monthly, even when power is not regular. The privatisation of electricity has led to the crippling of the power sector in the country.

“As you are aware, the federal government is still spending money on the sector, while some individuals are monopolising it for profit,” he said.

Mr Nwigwe called for government approval to enable more experienced private sectors to venture into the electricity sector in a manner that would encourage competition.

In Abia, electricity and telecom subscribers also expressed frustration over the recent tariff hikes by the operators, saying that they were exploring ways to overcome the challenge.

A business woman, Ogechi Okoye, said that she decided to reduce the time she spent on calls with her customers and relatives.

Ms Okoye said she didn’t know about the hike until the day she was warned by her network provider that her airtime was almost exhausted, while she was still talking with a customer.

She said; “I recharged N500 airtime to call my customer and I didn’t talk long when they warned me that I had one minute remaining. I was very angry that day, and when I inquired, I was told that they had increased the tariff. Since then, I have learnt to manage my communication by reducing the amount of time I spend on calls as well as avoiding unnecessary calls.”

A financial expert, Reginald Nwankwo, described the continued implementation of the 50 per cent hike, despite the agreement between the telecom operators and NLC as a breach of trust.

He said that some subscribers had resolved to switch from one network to another in search of cheaper and more efficient alternatives.

Mr Nwankwo said, “I feel the heat too because I know how much I spend every day on calls, SMS and data, since the beginning of this new tariff regime. I also know some subscribers who have decided to change their network because they feel a particular network charges higher.

“So, let the providers revert to the 35 per cent hike agreed upon by the 10-member committee set up by the government.”

The Abia State Chairman of the Trade Union Congress, Ihechi Enogwe, said that the national body was against the hike and had insisted on its reversal.

He said that the union had planned a nationwide protest on March 1, but suspended it after the committee agreed to reduce the hike to 35 per cent.

Mr Enogwe said, “People now adopt a shorter way of sending SMS and visiting their WhatsApp which, in some cases, does not produce an immediate solution to the problem. Some people have also reduced their call time, but those things are not permanent solutions because the hike is still there. So, we are still waiting to see what the government will do, based on the agreement signed.”

A legal practitioner, Godwin Ndubuisi, who frowned at the tariff hikes, called for “class action” against the network providers.

Mr Ndubuisi said that with a class action, the affected people could collectively sign a petition or sue the network providers, adding that it should not be a fight by just an individual.

“If served, the network providers can weigh the options either to settle out of court, but if it goes through all litigation processes and judgment is delivered, it is still that class action. As an individual, I am affected. I rarely make calls now. I now use WhatsApp mostly for my communication, but what about those that don’t have Android?” he questioned.

Another respondent in Aba, Ken Uruakpa, said it was unfortunate that the country’s leaders were permitting the random exploitation of their hapless citizenry by the telecom operators.

Mr Uruakpa contended that the operators ought to consider the economic condition of the citizens before taking the decision to hike their tariffs.

“Now we have students who use data to do many things, if you add that to the cost of education, you can simply say that our leaders had set out to punish the people. We have a long way to go because this kind of tariff hike is going to affect how people using the internet to do anything would react. If the government does not do anything about these types of anti-people policies, the future would be hard to negotiate for our children,” Mr Uruakpa said.

He called for the halting of the implementation of the policy, urging subscribers to reduce their network spending in their own interest.

The respondents were unanimous that the hike should be reviewed downward, while NASS should come up with a legislation to ensure improved services so that subscribers could get value for their money. 

(NAN)