IN recent times, ‘777 is the number’ a phrase from the quarter of a century old album ‘ace’ released by the legendary juju musician, Sina Peters, has been disseminated like abruptly undammed waters into every nook of the nation. The astonishing rebirth of a song that was released so remotely is apparently no longer a mystery. It pioneered on Sunday, 28 September, when the 56 year old Afro Juju creator joined the big family of MTN, Nigeria’s biggest telecommunications network as an ambassador. The deal was sealed in Ibadan with activation materials that included his signature tune. However, the juju music that over two decades ago made juju fans dance animatedly in parties or for the coy, in the seclusion of their bed chambers, is meteorically losing its delectable discantus in 2014, all thanks to MTN. Nigerians are irate and no one wants to hear ‘777 is the number’ today. It has become a contraption for extortion that bids the heart incandescent anger. Last week, I received a raging phone call. I could literally feel the steam transmitting from miles away into the receiver of my mobile. After I disconnected, I realised that my device had developed a fever so high that it could be quarantined for Ebola in today’s America. The novelty of receiving such calls had in the last one month wore off and this would certainly not be the last. “Absolute rubbish, I didn’t request for a caller tune! I have never been a fan of the juju music but this is the umpteenth time MTN has deducted caller tune charges from my account, what kind of service provider does that?” Those were the words of an enormously dissatisfied and piqued user of the MTN network. Sadly today, millions of Nigerians will nod vigorously in the affirmative and vet this outburst as holy anger. MTN Group, formerly called M-Cell is a South Africa-based multinational mobile telecommunications company, operating in many African, European and Middle Eastern countries with its head office in Johannesburg. MTN Nigeria is the largest member of the MTN group with over 35 million subscribers and counting. Minute, ‘largest member’. These words are inductive of the fact that of all the 22countries where the MTN group runs its telecommunications business, Nigeria is the proverbial golden geese! MTN Nigeria today has over 35 million subscribers but a good percentage of these devotees since August 2001, have been repeatedly, excessively and inhumanely raped financially. However, as the world’s happiest people even in the face of numerous adversities, Nigerians have endured the unchecked excesses of this service provider till date, in good fate, until the ‘777’ ringtone was invented. 777 from MTN was introduced as a three in one package – 7 minutes, 7 SMS and free caller tunes for 7 days. The promo read ‘make 7 minutes worth of calls and 7 SMS to any network in Nigeria and also enjoy free MTN caller tunez for 7 days, for only N50! That’s what you get with the new MTN N50 recharge voucher using *777*. Astonishingly, the ringtone was set up for all MTN subscribers by default without their individual consent like some jungle where autocrats reign supreme. MTN had with its usual uncanny wisdom dished out caller tunes to oblivious Nigerian subscribers as bait for hilarious charges they would incur sans any inkling. The trap was unscrupulously set and millions of Nigerians again had fallen to the ditch of exploitation. 7 days after ringing for free, innocent Nigerians who had not subscribed for any juju music were being billed N50 every week as auto renewal for a tune they never asked for. Conceptualize over 35million people paying N50 weekly without some even realizing it. This clandestine move of MTN is abhorrent and should not be allowed to slide like several other ill treatments incessantly inflicted on innocuous subscribers. I would posit that it is time a national action is taken against them. Asides from all these crazy stunts they pull, MTN’s tariff is on the very high side. It is the most expensive network in the country. In 2004, the government gave telecommunications operator, Mobile Telephone Networks (MTN) Nigeria, a one-month ultimatum to refund all charges it has collected from its subscribers migrating to the Per Second Billing (PSB) platform. The National Communications Commission (NCC) charged with regulating the telecommunications sector fined MTN for charging its subscribers fees it was never supposed to have charged such as migration fees for which they collected N200 from subscribers and were ordered to refund all such monies to the subscribers. I will forever pay accolades to the NCC for that gallant stride in curbing the excesses of these South Africans but more needs to be done with exigency. 777 is not the lucky number anymore, it is a devourer that feeds fat on the meager earnings of struggling Nigerians. It is a termite that has been unleashed to crumble the log of this nation’s economy. 777 is a cankerworm and is getting more robust with the breaking of each new dawn. 777 conjures up flashes of the aftermath of brutal colonization. It is reminiscent of us being bound with invisible handcuffs. 777 is the number of extortion and the economy of this nation will be convulsing if we imperviously gyrate to the juju music.
Posted on: Thu, 11 Dec 2014 05:59:25 +0000