By Olukorede Yishau
Pastors are shouting, imams are screaming, teachers are complaining, writers are aghast, the common man is tired and reporters are bored reporting the same thing over and over again. Something links them all together—the grim reality of life in Nigeria, where the roads are unsafe, where the rail system is now threatened, where the power sector has collapsed, where the university system is collapsing, where birds no longer chirp and goats bleat no more.
The consumer price index released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) reflects a 0.1 per cent uptick in the country’s inflation rate of 15.7 per cent in February 2022 from 15.6 per cent in January 2022. The NBS ascribed this uptick to the rise in prices of goods and services caused by the nationwide fuel scarcity, a situation that leaves consumers and providers of goods and services choked.
Diesel, which many businesses rely on to generate power, costs N650 per litre. Just two years ago, diesel was N224 per litre. Electricity, which per Band B KWH was N46.93, is now N53.23. The crazy cost of aviation fuel and other attendant costs have forced airfares from Lagos to Abuja to N50,000, which represents a 122.2 per cent rise.
Foodstuff is key to human survival and its prices go up almost every day. This is not unconnected with the fact that farmers depend on fuel to transport their produce from the hinterland to the cities where the bulk of them are sold. Prices of other consumer items, including household needs, have leapt as high as dolphins.
In this country faced with these gargantuan challenges, its lawmakers feel that what they should prioritise is a private company’s decision to hike its tariff at a time the cost of running businesses has hit the roof. It seems that it is lost on the lawmakers that with our economy contracting so badly, we must keep it in mind that the global market for foreign direct investment is highly competitive and, to tap into it, we must position ourselves strategically, and avoid conducts that project us as unreasonable and wedded to the long-discredited idea of communism.
MultiChoice, the parent company of DStv and GOtv, is the company our lawmakers are unable to hide their fixation with. I suspect that our lawmakers, believing the unsubstantiated claim that Nigeria is home to the largest number of the company’s subscribers, think Nigerians—despite the harsh business operating environment—are entitled to rebates. Depending on who is speaking, the percentage contribution of Nigeria to MultiChoice revenues is put between 37 and 40 per cent. But according to the 2019 audited statements of the MultiChoice Group, Nigeria accounts for 10.19 per cent of MultiChoice revenues across Africa. That figure amounts to 34 per cent of MultiChoice revenues in the Rest of Africa (RoA).
Revenues from RoA (meaning markets outside South Africa) amounts to 29.96 per cent of the group’s revenues. But more than the legless assumption about domestic subscriber figures, cheap populism is what I think is responsible for our lawmakers’ fixation. It is easy to see through it.
It all started with an announcement by MultiChoice that it is raising tariffs on its DStv and GOtv platforms with effect from April 1. Every time the company has adjusted prices, citing grim economic factors that are in plain sight, one arm or the other of the National Assembly has frothed with anger, with members eager to wear the toga of the defender of the universe. In 2016, under Dr Bukola Saraki, there was an attempt to dictate how much the private company should charge for its services. The House of Representatives toed the same line last year.
MultiChoice Nigeria, in a statement announcing the adjustments, explained that the new rates would enable it to deliver value to its customers by making great entertainment more accessible to them. It added that it was forced to decide by the rising costs of inflation and business operations. To cushion the price adjustments, the firm said customers who pay on or before their due date (before April 1, 2022) would be eligible to pay the old prices.
Also, customers who pay consistently before their due dates for 12 months would be eligible to pay the old prices. Equally, customers who pay for 10 months upfront on the new price will get the 11th and 12th months free.
However, the Senate, in a statement ordering the return to the old prices, acted as though it is unaware of the rising cost of keeping businesses afloat in the country. The statement by Senate President Ahmed Lawan’s media aide, Dr Ezrel Tabiowo, said it acted “in tandem with the prevailing reality of the economic situation in Nigeria” as well as the adoption of the pay-per-view billing model. This gives the impression that the firm is immune to the “prevailing reality of the economic situation in Nigeria”.
The Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) also constituted a tribunal and directed MultiChoice to revert to old prices. The process of adjudicating in a dispute requires that parties to the dispute are listened to. I do not remember the FCCPC saying, while communicating the decision of the tribunal, that MultiChoice was allowed to state its case. If that had happened and the firm could not justify the increment, it would have been a different ball game.
The Senate was in snooze mode when electricity tariffs were increased and it has remained indifferent to the stealth with which it seems petrol pump price is about to be raised by the Federal Government. Also observed is similar insouciance about how pay-television providers and other private businesses will remain afloat if tariffs charged are not economic reality-reflective.
There is no doubt that having to bear additional costs at this time is a major financial strain on Nigerians, but the Senate’s directive raises some posers, such as: Why is it only MultiChoice price adjustments that get them riled? Does it matter if obeying the order could send it out of business? Why didn’t the Senate order airlines, which are also private companies, to revert to the old prices? Does the Senate have the power to legislate what prices a private business should charge? Does demanding a return to old prices amount to preventing further hardship in the country? Are private businesses shielded from the economic factors that drive up operational costs and, ultimately, prices?
The Senate is acting as though it is unaware of the fact that the COVID-19 pandemic has further weakened our economy and we need all the investments we can get. This is not a time to allow unnecessary squabble to kill the few thriving investments we have. For me, this move is at variance with the much-talked-about ease of doing business mantra of the Muhammadu Buhari administration. Coming at a time when the economy is in trouble and we need FDI, we might end up making potential investors stay far away from our shores.
Actions such as this, taken without giving a fair hearing to the parties involved, can send wrong signals to potential investors, which we need badly to save our economy and move millions out of poverty.
This directive came 48 hours after train passengers were killed and abducted between Kaduna and Abuja. What should occupy the attention of the Senate now is how to secure the country, how to arrest conditions that drive up prices of goods and services, how to get the Executive branch of government accountable and responsible, how to stop terrorists in different parts of the country, and how to legislate for the people and the people alone.
My final take: The Senate also needs to be worried about these facts: How can the majority of the citizens of a country so rich in natural resources live in hardship and poverty? How can access to electricity, which is critical for development, be an issue? How can our people be perpetually afraid of kidnappers, terrorists and vagabonds in power? How can we be losing over 95 per cent of oil production to thieves? How can the Bonny Terminal which should be receiving over 200,000 barrels of crude oil daily be receiving less than 3,000 barrels? These are the questions United Bank for Africa (UBA) chair Tony Elumelu raised recently in a series of tweets. The Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG) General Overseer Pastor Enoch Adeboye also raised issues around security and others some days back. Imams, too, have spoken about the precarious situation in our land. These, I humbly submit, should worry the Senate more than anything else.
• Yishau is a newspaper columnist and author of ‘In The Name of Our Father’and’Vaults of Secrets’.