Akunyili orders ministry staff to return free phone lines
WEDNESDAY, 24 DECEMBER 2008 00:21 MARY ALIYU, BUSINESS DAY.

Dora Akunyili, minister of information and communications, yesterday, warned staff to stop accepting free mobile telephone lines or cable television lines from network operators, while tasking Nigerian Communication Commission (NCC) and other parastatals to improve on service delivery.

Dora Akunyili
The minister, who made this call during a meeting with senior ministry staff in Abuja, cautioned that any staff possessing such should return it before the end of January or be punished for accepting bribe.
“If you or any of your family members currently have any such free facilities, you are hereby directed to return them before the end of January 2009. If you fail to return it, it will be regarded as subtle bribery,” she stressed. Adding, “We should not compromise our responsibility to monitor these operators by accepting free service from them.”
Akunyili, while decrying the service rendered by telecommunication operators, directed NCC to “collect statistics on call drop rates, and other grade or service parameters on weekly basis in order to determine the performance of each operator.” She instructed that this report be properly analysed and made available to the office of the minister on regular basis.
The minister further noted that the problem of quality of service, high tariff and billing and the need for infrastructure sharing are issues that need to be looked into.