NITEL staff strike may cripple telecom services in Nigeria

Nigerians are feeling the impact of the strike this week by employees of national carrier Nigerian Telecommunications (NITEL) and its mobile arm, Mobile Telecommunications (MTEL).

NITEL parent company Transnational Corporation (Transcorp) Nigeria has meanwhile berated staffers for going on strike. Staffers of NITEL and MTEL embarked on the strike after what they said was Transcorp's failure to live up to an agreement reached on April 1 to settle all payments in arrears within two weeks.

Telcos in the country may be forced to suspend some or all of their services, as 75 percent of them are linked to NITEL infrastructure.

Reacting to the strike, Transcorp claims it has fulfilled the terms of agreement and has paid money to offset the outstanding salaries of NITEL and MTEL staff. Transcorp said as of Monday it paid the December 2007 salary into NITEL accounts.

The strike is "provocative, illegal and irresponsible," said Transcorp spokesman Adedayo Ojo in a press statement.

"To our shock, embarrassment and despite the payment of over N500 Million [US$4.3 million], the employees proceeded to blockade the SAT-3 facility, which is Nigeria international telephony gateway," Ojo said.

However, Charles Amankwe, the chairman of the National Association of Telecommunication Employees, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) that Transcorp paid only November salaries.

Amankwe also noted that NITEL's Abuja territorial manager, J.F. Okeneye, was on Tuesday arrested by security operatives in an effort to forestall plans to shut down transmission lines. However, he noted that NITEL staff would only go back to work if Transcorp fulfilled its promises.