SADIQ ABUBAKAR, Maiduguri
Governor Babagana Umara Zulum has called on MTN, the largest telecommunications operator in the country, to repair vandalised 57 facilities in the local government areas in Borno State.
The Governor made the demand on Tuesday while hosting the officials of the Mobile Telephone Network, MTN, to discuss restoration of telecommunication networks in some local government areas of Borno State.
Zulum had in a letter requested for MTN collaborative efforts on the repairs of vandalised installations.
At the meeting held in the Borno’s liaison office in Abuja, the MTN group was led by Abdulhamid Hassan, General Manager for Northern operations.
In attendance were Secretary to Borno Government, Alhaji Usman Jidda Shuwa and the Special Adviser and Coordinator for Sustainable Development, Partnerships and Humanitarian Support, Dr Mairo Mandara.
The MTN informed Zulum that it has 57 sites requiring works across Borno State and would work with the State Government to identify areas of priority attention from the company’s operational and budgeted plans for the remaining part of 2020 and the year, 2021.
Meanwhile, Zulum had nominated the state Commissioner for Higher Education, Science, Technology and Innovation as well as another official, to liaise with the MTN’s team towards collaborative efforts.
The Governor also raised other issues with the MTN, for which the Chief Corporate Services Officer, Okigbo, promised looking into getting back to Borno State through the MTN foundation, an arm that executes the company corporate social responsibility interventions.
It would be called that Boko Haram had since 2013 serially destroyed telecommunication equipment in a number of LGAs to prevent communities from making rescue calls and from tipping off security agencies on the movements of the insurgents before and during attacks.
The visiting group also set up a video conference between the Governor, MTN’s Chief Technical Officer, Mohammed Rufai, General Manager, Regulatory Affairs, Ikenna Ikenne and the Chief Corporate Services Officer, Tobechukwu Okigbo, who spoke from Lagos.
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