S/East Cut Off from Telephone Links

NITEL technical board inaugurated
From Nneoma Ukeje-Eloagu in Abuja and Tayo Ajakaye in Lagos
All states in the south eastern part of the country have been cut off from national telephone links. Nigeria Teleommunications Limited (NITEL) officials say so the situation would remain until the cable linking the states to Abuja, severed by a construction firm handling the dualisation of Abuja - Keffi road, is restored.

As a result of the incident subscribers find it difficult getting their calls to and from the South-eastern states yesterday. States mainly affected are Enugu, Imo, Anambra, Ebonyi and Abia.

NITEL's Deputy General Manager, Public Relations, Mr. Tayo Ekundayo, explained that the optical fibre cable linking Enugu to Abuja was severed by the construction company.

Ekundayo added that the cable serves as the link to the Eastern states and passes through Keffi, Lafia, Markurdi down to Enugu.

Although he gave the assurance that service would soon be restored, anxious subscribers were said to be worried that the situation may not be resolved as quickly as the NITEL official has said.

Beyond fixing the severed cable, however, the minister of Communications, Dr. Mohammed Bello has called on the eight-man Technical Board recently appointed to oversee the affairs of NITEL till February 12 to address the company's multiple problems before the end of their tenure.

Chairman of the recently inaugurated Technical Board, Mr. Tijjani Abdullahi also a Director of Operations with the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) said that all new initiatives in NITEL will be suspended until the core investor assumes control of the enterprise, unless a compelling need can be demonstrated and justified to the president, to act otherwise.

Abdullahi, speaking yesterday during the inauguration, said that it was important to stress this point because "certain investment decisions which may be considered, may not be in line with the business plans of the Strategic Investors."

The technical board, essentially a caretaker board to implement all necessary actions prior to handover of management control to the new core investor, has six weeks to implement its terms of reference which includes the completion of NITEL's financial and balance sheet restructuring and conversion of outstanding debt obligations into equity, he said.

Included in the board's mandate, Abdullahi said, are the resolution of outstanding pensions scheme under funding in line with government's commitments to the strategic investor, and ensuring adequate provision for routine maintenance so that NITEL may deliver services to its customers.

The board would also supervise and monitor the company's operations to ensure that the strategic investors meet a company that is well positioned to meet the expectations of the Nigerian public and the government.

Other responsibilities of the board include making liaison with and providing all necessary information to the core investors to facilitate smooth transition to private sector control, enable them finalise their business plan for NITEL and meet all commitments the National Council on Privatisation (NCP) made to the strategic investors under the share sale and the shareholders agreements signed on November 28, 2001.

Abdullahi commended the outgoing board of directors, noting that members served diligently and faithfully, overseeing the transformation of the company towards a more service oriented approach.