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.