General News
When Two Elephants Fight over Telecom Regulation
The environment for compliance in Nigeria’s ICT industry can best be described as a tempest—a stormy outpouring of legislation and regulations requiring that companies protect infrastructure, manage risk, improve controls, guard against threats, and safeguard information.
The coherence of all of these measures is questionable.
Many people are aware of the crisis between the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) and National Environmental Standards Regulatory and Enforcement Agency (NESREA) over the issue of who ought to police and regulate erection of telecommunications masts in the telecommunications sector.
The precursor of the conflict was the decommissioning by NESREA of a telecommunications mast belonging to Globacom for allegedly violating the country‘s environmental regulations.
Since then, the two government agencies have been arguing over the rights to police and regulate erection of telecommunications masts.
But it seems the laws of the land inadvertently created loopholes and ambiguity in the powers to the two federal government agencies to regulate the same environment but from a different pedestal.
For instance, the powers of the Nigerian Communications Commissions is derived from Section 3 of the Nigerian Communications Acts (NCA) of 2003 which makes it independent national regulatory authority for the telecommunications industry in Nigeria with responsibility for creating an enabling environment for competition among operators in the industry as well as ensuring the provision of qualitative and efficient telecommunications services throughout the country.
Elsewhere, the NESREA Act of 2007 charged the agency with the responsibility of enforcing all environmental laws, guidelines, policies, standards and regulations in Nigeria.
It also has the responsibility to enforce compliance with provisions of international agreements, protocols, conventions and treaties on the environment.
Because the picture and scope of their regulatory powers are clouded indistinctness, there are frequent clashes.
The latest is over sitting of telecoms masts within residential areas in Abuja.
NCC in attempt to exercise its powers unsealed a base station belonging to MTN Nigeria earlier shut by NESREA.
But later in the day, NESREA went back to the site and resealed the base station.
NESREA said the MTN base station fall short of its 10 meter-away -from -residential building standard. The base station in question is said to be 5.6 meters away from the closest building in the area.
NCC said NESREA is overstepping its bounds by sealing base stations which conform to the 5 metre-away from residential building standard it has set for the industry.
Now if the argument is on standard, are there standards? Which agency is better placed to determine standards in the telecom industry?
We believe is NCC is in a better place determine the standard in telecom. NESREA should focus on environmental laws, guidelines and policies.
Either ways, the discord is unhealthy for the only thriving sector of Nigeria’s economy hobbled by years of mismanagement and neglect.
Lawyers and indeed the federal government must step up and draw clear boundaries between the two agencies.
It is also high time the federal government shut down some of its duplicating agencies that are busy doing nothing.
Telecom investments, quality of service and indeed Nigerians are suffering as the agencies bicker.
This renders true, the old saying, that when two elephants fight it is the grass which suffers.
It refers to the distress experienced by a feeble or helpless industry when two mighty government agencies engage in warfare.
The two elephants herein are the government and the government and the feeble being the citizens.
Nigeria has approved a fresh $500 million replenishment of the Nigeria Trust Fund (NTF) at the African Development Bank (AfDB), extending the facility for another 15 years.
President of the AfDB, Dr. Akinwumi Adesina, announced this during his opening remarks at the ongoing AfDB Annual Meetings in Abidjan as he expressed deep appreciation to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and Vice President Kashim Shettima for their continued support.
“To President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and to Vice President Kashim Shettima, for your support over the past two years, I am profoundly grateful. Thank you for graciously approving the replenishment of the Nigeria Trust Fund for another 15 years for $500 million.”
The Nigeria Trust Fund (NTF) was set up in 1976 through an agreement between the Nigerian government and the African Development Bank Group. It’s a revolving fund that sustains itself over time and is designed to support the development of low-income African countries in need of concessional financing.
The fund can be used in a number of ways—either to co-finance projects alongside the African Development Bank and the African Development Fund (ADF) or to finance projects independently. It supports both public and private sector initiatives and can also be used to top up funding for ongoing Bank Group-backed projects.
Unlike the ADF, which allocates funds to countries, NTF resources are tied to specific projects. This allows for more flexible, needs-based support where it’s most effective.
The National Assembly has hinted that it may consider passing the harmonised tax reform bills by Tuesday, following a successful review of the troubling clauses in the proposed legislation.
This was disclosed by the Chairman of the House Committee on Finance, James Faleke, via his official X account on Sunday. Faleke is the leader of the House delegation for the bills harmonisation exercise.
He tweeted, “The conference committee set up by the House and the Senate on the Tax Reform Bills has successfully concluded its work. The joint committees thoroughly reviewed all sections and addressed the grey areas of the four bills, examining each clause strategically and resolving contentious issues.
“After an intensive deliberation that stretched through Thursday night, all day Friday, and into the early hours of Saturday, I am pleased to report that the bills are now ready for presentation to both the House and the Senate for final passage.
“I would like to especially appreciate the Senate conference committee, ably led by the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Finance, the Distinguished Senator Sani Musa, as well as all members of the Senate Conference Committee.
“I also extend heartfelt gratitude to my colleagues on the House Conference Committee, which I had the honour to lead, for their unwavering commitment to the Nigerian people. We are truly grateful for your dedication and resilience in bringing this important task to a conclusion.”
It was reported that the four tax bills were sent two weeks ago to the joint harmonisation committee made up of members of the Senate and the House of Representatives to reconcile the amendments of both Chambers before it is transmitted to President Bola Tinubu for his assent.
After announcing the passage of the bills following a majority voice vote, the Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, praised the lawmakers for their sacrifice in ensuring that the tax system in Nigeria meets an international standard.
He said, “These four executive bills seek to transform and modernise the tax system in Nigeria.”
The move came barely 24 hours after the Upper Chamber earlier cleared two of the bills before pushing the remaining legislation for consideration on Thursday.
Addressing journalists after the plenary, the Chairman of the ad hoc committee for the tax reform bills and the lawmaker representing Niger East Senatorial District, Senator Sani Musa, explained that they did their best to ensure the taxation system in Nigeria meets international standards.
Musa also disclosed that parts of the tax proceeds will be used to fight cybercrime, boost defence infrastructure, the TETfund, and aid soldiers in their efforts to restore peace and safety in the country.
Continuing, the Niger Senator explained that the senators recommended that the President needs to appoint a chairman and create an ombudsman to arbitrate and adjudicate on tax-related matters.
The legislator also harped on the need for the establishment of a tax tribunal, which he said cannot be overemphasised.
“It is not à court of record. We have looked at the issue of VAT, coĺlection of taxes, development levies, and inheritance tax, which had been expunged.
“I believe Nigerians wiĺl see something nice from this. We also commend the President for giving a level playing field to all,” he said.
E-commerce platform highlighted as a case study in applying Google’s latest Web UI primitives to enhance interactivity and performance in online shopping experiences.
Temu was featured at Google I/O 2025 as an early adopter of Google’s new Web UI primitives—a set of Web UI APIs designed to improve interactivity, performance, and responsiveness in web applications. The e-commerce platform was presented at the conference as a case study for implementing these technologies to deliver a more dynamic and engaging digital shopping experience.
Google I/O is Google’s premier annual developer conference, where the company unveils its latest products, showcases innovations across its portfolio, and shares its vision for the future of technology.
This year, the conference’s focus includes new Web UI primitives designed to simplify the development of common yet complex components—such as Carousels, Tooltips, and Drop-down menus—to create more seamless and responsive user experiences.
“Temu, the e-commerce company, has been setting the bar when it comes to applying these new primitives to their full potential,” said Paul Kinlan, Lead of Chrome Developer Relations at Google I/O 2025. “The web is becoming more stylish and responsive every single day.”
Since integrating the MPA View Transitions API, Temu has seen a 10% increase in user session duration and a 15% rise in page views, according to Paul Kinlan’s presentation. The platform has also been piloting several new APIs—including Carousels, Popover, Anchor Positioning, and Customizable Select—which have improved page performance and reduced CPU load by 10–15%, helping to lower device battery consumption and interactivity latencies. Google also highlighted its collaboration with Temu to enable next-generation capabilities for select features.
Temu has been actively adopting cutting-edge technologies to enhance customers’ digital shopping experiences. It was one of the first developers to optimize its app for the Google Pixel Fold and integrate Android’s “dialog full-screen dim” feature, earning recognition from Google. Temu is listed as an Editors’ Choice on the Google Play Store.
Since its debut in September 2022, Temu has rapidly expanded to over 90 markets worldwide, offering a diverse range of merchandise at highly competitive prices. Temu was named a top Apple-recommended app of 2024 and operates one of the most visited e-commerce websites in the world.
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