The Minister of Communications, Barrister Adebayo Shittu has hinted that the erstwhile board members of the now defunct Etisalat Nigeria may be prosecuted if they are found to have mismanaged the telecommunications outfit.
Shittu gave this hint while being hosted to a ‘Breakfast Media Chat’ by Southwest Group of Online Publishers (SWEGOP) on Saturday in Ibadan.
The Minister, who was accompanied to the media event by his image maker, Victor Oluwadamilare and others insisted that the former board members will not be allowed to ‘just walk away’ if they are found guilty of being responsible for the colapse of Etisalat Nigeria.
Said the Minister “we will look into their books and do the needful. If they are found to have had criminal intensions, they will be prosecuted.
“But then, it is not easy to run telecommunications outfits in Nigeria with the major challenge of power that they invest so much on. It is not that I am making excuses for them.”
Shittu also announced that he was happy that the Information Communication Technology sector (ICT) is now contributing about 10 percent of Nigeria’s GDP.
“I am happy to also say here that the ICT sector engages more hands than the petroleum industry.”
He also revealed that he has written to all the telecoms outfits in Nigeria to brief his office on their commitments and activities in terms of corporate social responsibilities (CSR).
“I know Globacom is involved in sponsoring football in Nigeria as well as promotion of culture, there is also MTN Foundation that has been doing a lot. Some of them have also been assisting to treat critically ill Nigerians overseas. But I expect them to do more.
“Our people should just be patient. The ICT sector is less than 20 years while the petroleum sector is over 60 years.”
The Minister also spoke about his plans for Nigeria Postal Services (NIPOST).
His words “We will introduce specialized banking services using NIPOST. We also plan to use facilities from NIPOST to start transport and logistics services. There are also plans to create offices and living apartments by transforming properties of NIPOST located in the heart of several Nigerian cities. There are plans to engage in e-commerce and e-government.”
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