By John Audu.
A fierce battle between the Kogi State government and telecommunications giant MTN has entered its second week, leaving residents and business owners reeling from the devastating consequences of a near-total network blackout. Governor Usman Ododo’s administration has effectively grounded MTN and, by extension, crippled other service providers reliant on their infrastructure, plunging the state into a communication and economic crisis.
Millions of Naira are being lost daily as businesses struggle to operate. Banks are barely functional, and essential services like PoS transactions have ground to a halt, leaving citizens stranded and unable to access or pay for goods and services. Desperate residents are now forced to rely solely on cash, while numerous PoS operators, a vital source of employment, have been forced to shut down.
The air is thick with frustration and anger as Kogi citizens bear the brunt of this escalating feud. Neither the state government nor the network providers have offered any official explanation for the crippling outage, leaving residents in a state of bewildered desperation with no resolution in sight.
While the service providers maintain that only their headquarters can comment on the matter, a source within MTN, speaking on condition of anonymity, revealed that the crisis stems from the Kogi State government’s alleged arbitrary increase in tax liabilities. The source claims the state is demanding N280 million annually, a stark contrast to the approximately N100 million stipulated by federal government regulations.
“This arbitrary increase is contrary to what is in the gazette, so we are trying to resolve the issue with the state government officials,” the source stated, expressing hope for a resolution within the coming week.
Meanwhile, attempts to reach Alhaji Taufiq Isa, the Director-General of the Kogi State Infrastructural and Utility Management Compliance Agency (KIUMCA), for comment proved futile as his MTN lines remained switched off – a stark illustration of the very problem plaguing the state.
As the impasse drags on, the people of Kogi State are left to count their mounting losses and endure the agonizing disruption to their daily lives, with no clear end in sight. The governor’s hardline stance has cast a dark shadow over the state, raising serious questions about the business environment and the welfare of its citizens.
