Nigerians, experts debate CBN, MTN saga
The ongoing saga involving the Central Bank of Nigeria and telecommunications giant MTN Nigeria has generated heated discourse on and offline by Nigerians.
MTN maintains it did not violate any financial law as being alleged by CBN.
Many economic experts have weighed in on the issue, while other public observers have done their best to highlight their understanding of the problem.
Over the weekend, anonymized cartoons surfaced on the internet, as well as in popular newspapers, borrowing from the concept of the Nike Colin Kaepernick ‘Just Do It’ campain.
The creatives were aimed at providing a common man with the understanding of the issues between MTN and CBN.
Commentators, reacting to one of such posts on a popular blog with over 1m followers on Instagram, made their positions on the matter known.
One person, dogmoni, wrote: “So sad ..the Buhari govt is really bent on killing MTN for no reason.”
Others also reacted to the ongoing saga:
First time I've seen a government purposefully destroying a company in a democratic country. #MTN #Nigeria There is no other way to describe what is happening there right now. Divest out of that dump – fast.
— Share_Trader (@KoosKanmar) September 4, 2018
A few other people were, however, of the opinion that MTN could be better with its services.
One of such people, @endsbeautystore, said: “Our call rates are high compared to South Africa or other Western Africa’s so they have to pay.”
“Quite sad, can they eat all the money,” another person said.
On Kraks TV, a popular social media platform with over 1.6 million followers, over 100 commentators argued back and forth over the matter.
One Christancus Francis (@sanctus_media) who describes himself as a motivational speaker, said: “Let’s keep sentiments aside and see this issue for what it is. All those shouting, ‘they should pay their taxes or leave’ are sentimental with their judgement. Do you know how many Nigerians that will be rendered jobless if this eventually happens? Think!
“2. MTN cannot repatriate such a huge amount of money without collaboration with one political con artist or the other. Unarguably, that’s a huge amount, but that is not the only money causing our troubles and economic quagmire. Even these so called political messiahs use our national money to build refineries and advanced hospitals in foreign lands. We are the cause of our problems, but MTN is only a part and not the whole of our problems. Think!”
Other financial and economic experts such as Bismarck Rewane, Feyi Fawehinmi, Tunji Andrews, Akin Oyebode etc. continue to ask relevant questions about the allegations.
London based economist, Feyi Faweihnmi shared a thread on Twitter to give his take on the matter.
Short thread on one madness quietly introduced by Meffy since he became CBN Governor
— tyro (@DoubleEph) September 5, 2018
CEO, Financial derivatives, Bismarck Rewane said:
“We need this move just as much as we need a bullet to the head. The reserves are below $46m and the United States is increasing interest rates, GDP numbers came in and there’s a slump from 1.95 to 1.5. We don’t need any erosion of confidence in any form.”
In a press release last week, MTN continued to insist on its innocence, stating that it will “continue to engage with the relevant authorities on all these matters and we remain resolute that MTN Nigeria has not committed any offences and will vigorously defend its position.”
