Former President Olusegun Obasanjo recently revealed that Gen. Abdulsalami Abubakar, the former military Head of State, nearly jeopardized a $280 million telecommunications deal for Nigeria.
Obasanjo detailed that during Nigeria’s shift from landline to mobile telecommunications, various major telecom companies expressed interest in offering mobile services to the country. However, Abubakar was reportedly poised to award the contract to his associates for only $3 million.
Intervening in the situation, Obasanjo suggested that the contract should be auctioned to the highest bidder. This intervention ultimately resulted in securing a deal worth $280 million.
Obasanjo shared this anecdote at the launch of “The Catalyst: Nigerian ICT Evolution through a Journalist’s Lens,” a book authored by former PUNCH newspaper editor, Dayo Oketola, held in Lagos.
Reflecting on the evolution of telecommunications in Nigeria, Obasanjo said: “The history of telecommunications, particularly mobile technology, is quite fascinating. Before the mobile era, despite significant investments and the involvement of companies from the U.S., France, and Britain, Nigeria only managed to establish 500,000 landlines. People had to queue at phone booths to call family members abroad. Then, the mobile telephone revolution arrived.”
“When it came in, my predecessor in office was trying to give it away, I think, to their friend for $3 million. Then we said, what we would do was to auction it. The three that came in first, I think, paid $280 million for the line. $280 million for something about to be given away for $3 million. That was the first thing we did. Not only that, we achieved competition.”
“The three of them were competing. And, of course, the one that had the upper hand in terms of spread, I think, was MTN, followed by Glo. And then, there was Econet. They are now Airtel. And then, of course, later on, we had the fourth one, Etisalat. When Etisalat came, I told them the last one we did was $280 million. We told Etisalat to pay $450 million. They did.”
“When they paid $450 million, the ball went in the post and then we were playing. That was how we got money to do what we did at the time we did it. That opportunity can still be made available. The money to develop Nigeria is out there, but that money will not come in unless we create a conducive atmosphere for that money to come in.
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“What we did or what Nigeria has done in the good days when things were going well, are still there and can still be done today only if we put ourselves and we are honest to ourselves. We have to show character and attitude.”
Recall that Obasanjo had urged African countries to strengthen economic cooperation for greater pan-African economic integration.
Obasanjo made the call in Lagos on Tuesday during the 2024 commemoration of Angola’s National Founder and Hero’s Day, held to honour the legacy of Agostinho Neto, Angola’s first President.
The event, themed “Pan-Africanism in the Political Course by Agostinho Neto,” was organized by the Angolan Embassy in Nigeria. Obasanjo, reflecting on Africa’s past struggles.
