If the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) fail to address the unsustainable debt of about N250 billion owed mobile network operators (MNOs) as a result of the use of the Unstructured Supplementary Service Data (USSD), the operators might, subject to regulatory approval, suspend supporting the use of the service on the network for banking operations.

USSD is a Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) protocol that is used to send text messages. It is used for initiating financial transactions such as cash transfer, balance inquiry, payment for services and others.

Fielding questions yesterday from Fellows of the Media Innovation Programme (MIP) sponsored by MTN Nigeria and in partnership with Pan Atlantic University, Ibeju-Lekki, Lagos, who were on inspection of MTN’s key facilities in the city, CEO of MTN, Karl Toriola, said the debt has continued to pile up and is becoming unsustainable to the operators.

Toriola who expressed optimism that the new CBN governor, Yemi Cardoso and the Executive Vice Chairman, NCC, Dr Aminu Maida would resolve the impasse very soon, said if it is not resolved, the operators would be compelled to seek regulatory approval to discontinue allowing commercial banks to run transactions on the platform.

Toriola warned of the dire consequences of government’s refusal to accede to telcos’ demands for tariff adjustment to reflect the realities of the economy, saying the telecom sector is lying critically ill at the intensive care unit (ICU) and may just die if the appropriate therapy is not applied to it.

“MTN and the entire industry are in a dire situation. MTN is loss making because of naira devaluation. The fundamentals need to change. Tariffs have to be changed,” he said, adding that inflation has continued to go up, affecting the prices of commodities, including foodstuffs and services.

He said the complete deregulation of the downstream oil sector has seen the pump price of petrol rise to over N1000 in the country. Similarly, electricity tariff has kissed the skies with the removal of electricity subsidy and the grouping of customers into bands by the power distribution companies (DisCos).

“There should be no delusion, if the tariff doesn’t go up we will shut down,” he warned.

The base transceiver stations (BTS) of the MNOs are powered by diesel and gas in the absence of dependable power supply from the national grid which has been suffering from epilepsy.

Toriola said the company used to be one of the highest payers of corporate income tax to the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), adding however that it has gone down to zero since the company has stopped making profit.

The MTN CEO said the company has been surviving because it is spending its savings, saying the industry is living on borrowed times. “We must return the industry to profitability,” he said.

He said despite the challenges the industry is facing now, it has transformed the country as it has been enabler to other sectors. Toriola warned that the industry should not be allowed to toe the ignoble path of NITEL.

He said the Global System for Mobile Communications Association (GSMA), a non-profit industry organisation that represents the interests of MNOs globally and hardly speaks to tariff issues, has called for tariff adjustment for sustainability.

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Jigawa State Governor, Umar Namadi has placed the current death toll in the tanker fire incident that affected the state recently at 181, with another 80 persons in critical conditions at the hospital. Namadi who was at the Presidential Villa on Tuesday to brief the President on the situation revealed that a total of 210 families were affected by the inferno.

Recall that the incident occurred on Tuesday, October 15 when a truck carrying petrol, travelling from Kano to Nguru in Yobe State, exploded in Majia, located in the Taura Local Government Area of Jigawa State, following a fall that resulted in the immediate death of over one hundred individuals and injuries to many others who were scooping fuel.

The Governor said the state has already established a high powered committee under the chairmanship of retired DIG to investigate the remote causes of the incident and then advise the government on what to do.

Speaking to State House Correspondents on Tuesday, Namadi said, “the situation as at today is that there about 181 people that died and about 80 people in the hospital and about 210 families affected by this. He said he came to the State House to brief Mr President on what happened to the state.

He said the state government has already established a high powered committee under the chairmanship of retired DIG to investigate the remote causes of that incident and then advised the government on what to do. He recalled that Mr. President had given a directive immediately to the Corps Marshal that he should investigate the matter, and that he should come up with a permanent solution to such problem in the country.

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Judge Mashudu Munzhelele sentenced 24-year-old Onthatile Sebati to 25 years in prison for her role in the 2016 k!llings, while her cousins Tumelo and Kagiso Mokone were handed life sentences.

The horrific incident saw the d3aths of Onthatile’s father, police constable Solomon Lucky Sebati, her mother Mmatshepo, a nurse, her 19-year-old pregnant sister Tshegofatso, and her three-year-old brother Quinton, all shot in their home in Mmakau, North West. Onthatile was 15 years old at the time of the k!llings, while her cousins were both 18.

Judge Munzhelele remarked on the emotional devastation caused by the crime, particularly the involvement of a family member. “The murd3r of four individuals, including parents and children, is a heinous act of violence, and the fact that accused number two [Onthatile], a family member, was an accomplice in the k!lling of her family intensifies the emotional devastation and the seriousness of the crime,” the judge stated.

According to the state, Onthatile planned the k!llings and enlisted her cousins to carry out the crime, even providing them access to the house and her father’s service firearm. Kagiso shot the family while Tumelo waited in the getaway vehicle. After the murd3rs, Onthatile paid her cousins R100,000 from insurance payouts.

In a shocking turn of events, five years after the crime, Onthatile confessed to relatives, leading to their arrests. They were charged with theft, four counts of murd3r, robbery with aggravating circumstances, and possession of a firearm and ammunition, and were found guilty earlier this year.

The court heard that Onthatile’s betrayal has left deep emotional scars on the Sebati family, with relatives struggling with mental health issues stemming from the tragedy. The judge declared the trio unfit to possess firearms and gave them two weeks to appeal their sentences.

Onthatile’s aunt, Japhitaline Sebati, hailed the sentencing as “justice served,” adding, “It is painful to see such an intelligent child waste her future, but I hope she gets rehabilitated.”

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