When some few years ago, the telecommunication industry was liberalized and some telecommunication service providers barged into our conscience and got the license to operate telecommunication services in the country, lots of Nigerians heaved a sigh of relief that thank God, the fraud and extortion that the people have been subjected to for so long by the Government monopolized NITEL has at last been broken and we all looked forward to a 21st century telecommunication services. But alas within just about a decade of operation, this communications outfits have deviated from the principle for which they were licensed and one has watched with disdain and disbelief how the Nigerian geographical territory has been turned into one big theatre where anything is possible. (Apology to Gen. Salihu Ibrahim, fmr chief of army staff)

We complained to high heavens with no respite about NITEL in those days but the path being thread by these COMMUNICATIONS or is it KALOKALO outfits this days (just a decade) is far surpassing the atrocities of NITEL for decades.

The telecommunication services providers apart from rendering poor services have graduated to operating (kalokalo) lottery for which they are not licensed by the state. In fact, what the telecommunication service providers are doing now is akin to robbery. For instance, there is a new scheme in town now by one of the service providers which I have dubbed "Robbing Peter to pay Paul". Under this Jibiti scheme, you are conned to migrate to a particular platform by having N500 in your account which is deducted when you send an SMS to a particular number to migrate without prior notice of the cost implication, and you are conned to con your fellow Nigerians to do the same after which N500 will be added to your account and deducted from his account if he falls for your scam and migrates and he or she is conned to do the same to other people and it goes on and on. This is pure fraud.

It's high time the Federal Ministry of Information and Communication and the Nigerian Communication Commission (NCC) puts a stop to the lottery schemes being operated by these telecommunication service providers and restore some sanity to the system. The service providers should be sanctioned for fraud according to the constitution and made to indemnify the helpless Nigerians they have defrauded through these various Jibiti lottery schemes. If anybody or organization wants to engage in lottery business, they should do the right thing by registering with the appropriate agency of government instead of engaging in (Jibiti) fraud like the telecommunications outfits are presently doing.

A word is enough for the wise!

Nelson Ekujumi, 13 Soji Adepegba Close, Off Allen Avenue, Ikeja, Lagos.