el-Rufai Responsible for Nitel’s Death, Former Workers Claim

Some former chief executives, union members and retirees of failed national carrier, the Nigeria Telecommunications Limited (Nitel) have joined the war of words over the failure of national carrier and asked the federal government to hold Nasir el-Rufai, former director general of Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) responsible for the misfortunes of Nitel.

They said that the appointment of Pentascope, a little known Dutch company, to take over Nitel’s management in 2000 by the BPE, under el-Rufai’s watch was the cause of the death of the national carrier.

el-Rufai, also former minister of Federal Capital Territory and Abubakar Atiku, former Vice-President  have been trading words over the controversial contractual agreement with Pentascope.

The former Vice President said that el-Rufai was responsible for the failure of Nitel’s  privatisation as a result of personal interest.

el-Rufai through Mr. Muyiwa Adekeye, his media advisor, fired back saying that  it was understandable that Atiku (former Vice President)  would be enduring some unease at the disclosures made in el Rufai’s recently-launched memoir:

But Mr. Kunle Bello, a former managing director of Mtel, the GSM subsidiary of Nitel , said he foresaw the collapse of the national carrier due to insincere and inconsistent implementation of policies by the el-Rufa’i-led BPE.

Bello, who said he voluntarily resigned, described the Pentascope management brought in by el-Rufa’i as a disaster for the company and the staff, “who have been dying one after another” due to nonpayment of pensions.

Bello, an ITU telecommunications expert said Pentascope squandered more than N100 billion of NITEL’s hard-earned money, besides the loss of revenue without adding a single telephone line.

He challenged the nation’s judicial and executive arms of government to rise to the occasion to acquaint themselves of blame by going after the perpetrators of the fraud.

Prof. Buba Bajoga,  a former Managing Director of Nitel told National Mirror that the destruction of the national carrier was  “very painful.”

He said by the time he left the organisation as its head in 2000, Nitel was a very viable commercial organisation.

“We approved the payment of dividends to government and I remember that I left N15 billion and $200 million in the coffers of the organisation,” he said.

Bajoga said Nitel  made more profit than most banks. “We paid all our bills and were financing all our projects,” he added.

Also former workers said in a statement issued that the claim in a widely-circulated statement by el-Rufa’i that former vice-president approved the appointment of Pentascope, the failed management consultant hired to manage NITEL in 2003, was false.

The former workers, who said they held el- Rufa’i responsible not only for the collapse of Nitel, but also the destruction of their careers, said the issue at stake is beyond the debate of who signed and who did not sign.

“The issue is who issued or originated the memorandum to the National Council on Privatisation, NCP? How did el-Rufa’i, as BPE director-general pick Pentascope to manage NITEL?”

The retirees accused el-Rufa’i of misleading, not only the NCP, but the Federal Government by presenting Pentascope as a capable management company that could turn Nitel around.

The retirees went on to say that the true story of the destruction of their national carrier has been revealed in two reports by the House of Representatives and the Senate.

Quoting from the report, the retirees said that; “Rather than using Atiku as scapegoat for the collapse of NITEL to serve his hidden agenda, the concerned group of former Nitel workers advised El-Rufa’i to be honourable enough to accept responsibility for rail-roading and blackmailing the former NITEL board and the privatisation council into approving a contract that had short-changed Nigerians and children yet unborn.