The Nigerian Communications Commission, NCC has reiterated that the Nigerian telecom consumer is the king and lifeblood of the industry, and has asked that he speaks out on the challenges experienced as a subscriber to telecom services so the challenges can addressed collaboratively.
Ismail Adedigba, Deputy Director Consumer Affairs, who represented Abdullahi Maikano, Director Consumer Affairs restated this in Yola yesterday during the 89th Consumer Outreach Programme (COP) which held with a focus on INFORMATION AND EDUCATION AS CATALYSTS FOR CONSUMER PROTECTION.
Participants were informed that the programme was designed to engage with consumers of telecoms services to enable them to raise concerns about telecom services, to discuss their expectations from telecom service providers, and to garner feedback as input to shape regulatory intervention processes for improvement in service quality.
Although the COP is a regular platform for consumer-centric discourse, the declaration of 2017 as Year of Nigerian Telecom Consumer has made it such a valuable tool of aggregating consumer views for resolution.
Expectedly, representatives of the Commission, operators and other stakeholders engaged with several issues such as criminal sales of pre-registered SIM Cards, the need for increased use of the Do Not Disturb 2442 Code to stop unsolicited text messages, as well as the utilisation of the NCC Toll Free Line 622 as a second layer of complaint management to escalate unresolved matters already reported to the service providers.
Participants were also informed about the 122 Emergency Toll Free Line and the Mobile Number Portability which allow subscribers to migrate to other networks without losing their numbers.
Participants at the programme included the District Head of Jimeta, Muhammad Inuwa Baba Paris who represented the Lamido Adamawa, Dr. Muhammad Barkindo, who commended NCC for its consumer-centric and urged consumers to take active part in the conversation.
The Event witnessed an impressive turnout of representatives of a wide range of industry stakeholders as well as traditional rulers, security agencies, civil servants as well as students.
Ali Nuhu, an icon of the Year of Consumer campaign also featured at the event to enliven the programme. The programme ended with a very lively question and answer session.
