" ITREALMS: Protecting consumer is collective concern - Nakande

Wednesday, June 11, 2008

Protecting consumer is collective concern - Nakande

Minister of State for Information and Communications, Alhaji Ibrahim Dasuki Nakande, has declared that the protection of telecommunications consumers in the country should be a collective concern.

Speaking at the third edition of stakeholders’ forum held on Monday in Lagos organized by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) in collaboration with the publishers of IT & Telecom.

He pointed out that in order to satisfy the yearnings of the consumer, which is the reason for being in business.

“We cannot be in business without the patronage of the consumer,” he said.

The minister stressed that based on the aforementioned, he commended the organizers for instituting this forum, which is in its third year, adding that he has followed with keen interest the monthly consumer forum of the NCC and came to the conclusion that the for a provides an opportunity for the various layers of the industry to meet and rub minds on how best to move the sector forward.

He emphasized that it’s the government’s resolve that in the nearest future the tariff of telephone calls will drop and quality of service among operators in the country, noting that the industry has witnessed some improvement.

He added that Nigerian consumers are gifted with an unmatched patience; stressing that over the years this has been one of the strongest factors encouraging investors in the sector.

Noting that consumers are very vital group of the stakeholders should be treated with all possible care and attention, especially by all telecom operators, adding that the aphorism that the consumer is the king has not changed.

“Instead, it has even become stronger in an industry like telecommunications where the average revenue peer user can make all the difference in investment returns.

He recalled that recently, the trust on Nigeria’s leadership in the information and communication technology on the continent was once more affirmed in Cairo with the Bureau of African Ministers in charge of Communications elected Mr. John Odey as the chairperson of the bureau for the next two years.

Also speaking, Executive Vice Chairman, NCC, Dr. Ernest Ndukwe identified some stakeholders, which include the government, consumers, operators, media and the international community among others.

He pointed out on the need to advance on this so as to accommodate more people into the stakeholders forum, adding that consumer nowadays, mostly on telecom products and services, have many desires expected to be met.

“The consumer wants the services to be of a good quality and affordable, wants operator to respond at all times when he or she needs attention and provide explanations whenever anything goes wrong,” he declared.

ITREALMS Online ... delivering news for ICT4D

No comments:

Featured post @ITREALMS

Five tips for small business owners online - ITREALMS

Sponsored@ITREALMS ... making leadership SENSE with digital news! Entrepreneurs can benefit from new ideas on ways to address a particular i...