A Flawed Policy Draft, an Optimistic Johnson

By now Mrs. Omobola Johnson, minister of communication technology would have realized that the Nigerian ICT terrain is trodden with several booby-traps and uncertainty; such as can make a lily livered politician take the easy way out. And the easy could mean not hurting established order, especially technocrats in the system. Technocrats are basically made up of civil servants, and other public office holders (some like to brand them hangers-on) who have so perfected the art of sharetocracy that any talk of changing the existing order would mean do-or-die. These groups of persons understand the inner workings of government and they take charge of shielding every truth from a pragmatic leader. Public and civil service workers do not readily see opportunities of invention in the system, but they easily identify loopholes to exploit for personal gains. And it is this unholy practice that has dragged down good intentions of every successive government, and by extension the country’s lack of progress towards attainment of goals. On Friday, March 9, 2012 the minister hosted ICT stakeholders in Lagos to present the draft of the national information communication technology (ICT) policy. Since assumption of office, Johnson has made it a policy not be late for official engagement, a trait not readily found among Nigeria’s officialdom; and that was the initial signal she was a different breed. At 9.15am, the Lagos City Hall was less than a third full but with Johnson already in attendance, the programme commence. Uncharacteristically also there were no formalities of introduction of high and low tables. She commenced with a brief exposition of the policy process, following on Dr. Daudu, permanent secretary’s remarks. “This isn’t the final document yet, it is still a draft policy and the aim is to harmonise all existing policies in the information and communications technology sector into a single ICT policy,” she stated. Johnson noted that key performance indicators (KPIs) were deliberately omitted in the policy draft as they would form the second part of its evolution process. “KPIs will continue to grow along (with) the line of development,” said Johnson. But she didn’t fail to remind her audience that the administration was fully committed to the attainment of a converged regulatory ecosystem. With that she let the stakeholders have their say on the policy document. And one after the other, speakers picked holes in the policy draft beginning with the 9-member committee headed by Professor Raymond Akwule, which comprised only public servants including three of the minister’s personal aides. Mrs. Florence Seriki, chief executive of a leading OEM in Nigeria, Omatek Computers pointed out the flaws between policy set-up and implementation. As president of information technology association of Nigeria, (ITAN) Seriki noted that the country’s universal service provision fund (USPF) has not been used positively affect the industry. “We must redirect our IT mindset. We cannot achieve new policy without manufacturing. A small and medium enterprise (SMEs) fund should be set up to redirect this new framework. But as it is now, we must begin to ask ourselves: how many OEMs are still in operation in this country? The government policy is effectively directed against innovation and growth of local OEMs,” said Seriki. At the end of the day, it became apparent the committee had made several fundamental omissions. Interest groups such the Nigeria telecom consumers association pointed out the error of omitting a consumer’s protection clause. The document’s lack of clarity on direction for national PC penetration, broadband penetration and internet governance were all noted. Johnson also agreed with critics of the policy draft that harmonization and convergence would not come easy. As noted in section 7.14.2 (Strategies); it would take review and harmonization of existing national laws and creating new laws to drive the ICT sector. It would also mean amendment of the 1999 Nigerian Constitution to “permit the issuance of broadcasting licenses by the regulator.” As noted in the draft policy, the “reality of technological and market convergence implies that existing policies relating to the ICT sector in Nigeria are in need of a critical review. Most of the objectives in the existing policies have been overtaken by technological advancement and market transformation worldwide. A key requirement is the development of appropriate policies, as well as legal and regulatory framework that foster an enabling environment.” Some of the technological and market realities formed the core of challenge mounted by leaders of the courier industry against the continued existence of the Nigerian postal service (Nipost) as both a regulator and last mile service provider. Ralph Ozodu, managing director and chief executive of UPS Nigeria called it “unfair” trade practice to have Nipost regulator a market it is an active player. Sule Umar Bichi, managing director of FedEx Nigeria also branded it unfair competition. He noted that government has given Nipost undue advantage over competition.