Nitel's Ongoing Strike Bites Harder

In this report, Efem Nkanga, examines the recent strike action embarked upon by employees of the Nigerian Telecommunications Limited (NITEL), the negative impact the strike has had on the economy and the need for the Federal Government to declare telecommunication a critical sector of the economy.

The ongoing industrial action of employees of NITEL has continued to take its toll on the economy almost two weeks after the commencement of the strike, which was attributed to disagreements between Transnational Corporation, owners of NITEL and NITEL employees over the payment of salaries and emoluments.

The strike action, which has led to the shut down of SAT-3, the underwater communication cable link connecting Nigeria and many African countries to the rest of the world through Europe, has led to communication challenges that has continued to take its toll on the economy. Affected by the strike action are critical sectors of the economy spanning oil and gas, banking, the seat of government, security service, media houses, private telecoms operators (PTOs) and telecoms companies etc. Major conglomerates like Total and Shell are said to have been seriously affected by the strike action. Though NITEL is known for rendering epileptic services, it has a golden asset - SAT-3, which delivers capacity that links Nigeria and other participatory members of the project to major internet backbones across Europe, Asia and the Americas. The SAT 3 cable project connects Africa with Europe and is projected to be a major revenue earner for NITEL. THISDAY gathered that NITEL, which spent about $45 million in 2002 to co-own the facility, which runs through the Atlantic Ocean linking countries along the route, makes only about N100million as revenue every month while its salary structure on a monthly basis is about 500 million. It is this shortfall between the revenue it earns and its liabilities that has been its albatross.

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US Port Seeks Partnership with Nigeria

The Port of Houston in Texas, United States is seeking partnership with Nigeria Ports Authority (NPA) to facilitate international trade. One of its commissioners and US-based Nigerian entrepreneur, Mr Kase Lawal, made this known at the weekend in Houston, after he conducted Nigeria's First Lady, Hajiya Turai Yar'Adua on a boatride of the port. Lawal, who spoke with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), said "We are the largest sea port in America with a cargo volume of 95 billion dollars annually, so we have the capacity to assist Nigerian ports.''

Read the full story here.

This article addresses Nigeria Ports Authority's recent decision to partner with the Port of Houston in Texas. Mr. Kase Lawal, US based Nigerian entrepreneur, believes the the Port of Houston has the ability and capacity to help Nigeria by "giving technical expertise and equipment to improve the performance of the Nigerian ports" so that these ports can "meet up with current international challenges." The Port of Houston handles most of the crude oil imports from Nigeria and even some exports to Nigeria. The goal in this partnership is to enhance international trade relations thus boosting the Nigerian economy. This partnership shows that the Nigerian government is making attempts to do anything it takes to better the economy.

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Nigeria's Economic Freedom

Nigeria's economy is 55.5 percent free, according to our 2008 assessment, which makes it the world's 105th freest economy. Its overall score is 0.5 percentage point lower than last year, reflecting worsened scores in two of the 10 economic freedoms. Nigeria is ranked 18th out of 40 countries in the sub-Saharan Africa region, and its overall score is slightly higher than the regional average.

Nigeria is above average only in labor freedom and fiscal freedom. Inflation is fairly high, but the government does not distort market prices with subsidies (except for rail transport). The labor market is fairly elastic.

Nigeria scores 10 percentage points below average in business freedom and financial freedom. Business licenses are subject to numerous delays, and similar regulatory excess hinders financial development. As a result, the economy is largely cash-based.

Read the full story here.

This article shows the various changes in Nigeria’s economy over the past years. This article compares Nigeria to both nations all over the world and to those in the sub-Saharan region Nigeria is located in. Nigeria is the 105th freest nation in the world, and it is the eighteenth freest nation out of forty in the sub-Saharan region. There are many things that have contributed to the lack of economic freedom that is evident in Nigeria, including tariffs, import and export taxes, and corruption.

This article also addresses the corruption that has consumed Nigeria for a long time. Corruption has consumed Nigeria to such a great extent that it is not perceived as a big deal. The government officials and leaders cannot be prosecuted for anything related to corruption while they are in office. This legislation is the reason that many former governors are being arrested now that they are no longer in office because of President Umaru Yar’Adua’s legislation to stamp out corruption in Nigeria.