Workers of the Nigerian Communications Satellite Limited have petitioned the Minister of Communications Technology, Mrs. Omobola Johnson, over the proposed sale of the company and alleged impending sacking of 150 members of staff of the organisation.
In a petition dated May 5, 2015, the workers, under the aegis of the National Union of Postal and Telecommunications Employees, said the manner the proposed sale of the satellite company was being hurried at the end of the present administration left much to be desired.
The workers contended that the viability of NigComSat would not have been an issue if the Federal Government had directed government establishments to patronise it rather than continue to rely on foreign vendors of satellite bandwidth services.
In the petition, signed by General Secretary, Mr. Chris Onakpo, the union also wondered why the proposed sale of the company would start with a plan to sack 150 workers without even the evaluation of the value of the entity.
Onakpo wrote in the petition to the minister, “Consequent upon your press release earlier in the year on the planned privatisation of NigComSat, it has become imperative as a representative of NigComSat to write you stating unequivocally our position on the subject matter. As a union, we wish to state that workers of NigComSat are vehemently resisting the planned privatisation due to the following reasons:
“NigComSat is a satellite communications company that provides satellite bandwidth in this country. We believe that if your ministry had compelled government agencies to subscribe to NigComSat for their satellite bandwidth needs, the issue of viability of this company will not be called to question.
“If we may ask: What is the ministry’s bandwidth policy? Government agencies like the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, Nigerian Television Authority, etc. that use huge bandwidth do not subscribe to NigComSat but other foreign service providers, which come with huge costs compared to the cheap bandwidth provision by NigComSat.
“We believe that you are aware of the role NigComSat is playing as regards the pilot scheme of the CBN’s cashless policy. At the end of this scheme, it is expected that the CBN will need at least four KU transponders to drive this process, which is a conservative rate of $800,000 per transponder annually. This alone will generate $2.4m per annum for NigComSat.”
He continued, “You are aware of the huge capital and human resources that have been deployed in this project. Our members and brilliant military personnel have been trained on this project. Privatising NigComSat will cause the military to subscribe to privately owned satellite bandwidth to drive the process.
“In this era of terrorism and security challenges, does the Federal Government believe that the most secured satellite bandwidth for this laudable project should be privately driven? How long will sensitive government information and data be processed through privately owned telecommunication companies?
“As a union and a responsive stakeholder in the communication sector, we believe that the project should be considered sensitive for the government to discontinue the planned privatisation of NigComSat.
“We wish to ask why Galaxy Backbone, a government owned agency, is not subscribing their satellite bandwidth requirements from NigComSat, a fellow government owned agency, before subscribing elsewhere? Instead, they prefer to subscribe to SES, a foreign satellite bandwidth company even when it is clear that it is cheaper with NigComSat, which has the capacity to deliver.”
The workers urged the government to adopt a conscious satellite bandwidth policy that would enable NigComSat to provide the satellite needs of government agencies before they could look elsewhere.
They also asked the government to fund the satellite company properly to be able to realise its potential.
The petition added, “We are also aware of the ongoing workers’ review, rationalisation and downsizing in NigComSat, which is to exit about 150 workers. As a union, we are at a loss as to why the planned privatisation should start with rationalisation of workers. This is a wrong process and we shall vehemently resist the rationalisation of our members in NigComSat all in the name of privatisation.”
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