Godwin Nzeakah
“One good judgment is worth more than a thousand hasty counsels. The thing to be supplied is light, not heat”, so argued Thomas Woodrow Wilson, the 28th President of America. As it were, Wilson (1856-1924) only talked of “one cool judgment”, but one noticed from a distance in the year just ended that a firm like Mobile Telecommunication Network (MTN) Nigeria made three such judgments, which have potential for far-reaching impact on the telecoms industry in particular and Nigeria’s economy in general. Therefore, this piece is not only a direct response to the Wilsonian maxim, but also to that age-old remark by one contemplative writer who said “a pat on the back, though only a few vertebrae removed from a kick in the pants, is miles ahead in results”.
The anonymous author whom some researchers believe to be, Bennett Cerf, in view of noticeable general indifference bordering on apathy to industrial excellence, was concerned lest such negative attitude destroy the spirit of industrial achievement. When a nation fails, habitually to reward, honor or celebrate excellence in commerce and industry it unwittingly but effectively discourages economic progress, because the profit motive alone is not enough to energize or stimulate investors into critical initiatives needed to engender sustainable growth.
Arguably, the master in Nigeria’s vibrant telecoms industry, apparently in an audacious but innovative move to reposition itself for not only greater profitability but possibly greater leadership role, early last year, MTN reconstituted its board of directors, and in the process deliberately established a standard, which other multinational corporations would find difficult to match.
Secondly, the company went public last May 16, boosting the capital market to the tune of N1.84 trillion (about $5billion) and released 20.35billion ordinary shares to the salivating Nigerian public. It was the first investor of its kind to go public in Nigeria. Thirdly, at a time when the impending launch of the controversial 5G cellular network technology in Nigeria was generating palpable tremor among operators, obviously believing like William Shakespeare that “it is the eye of childhood that fears a painted devil” MTN boldly underwrote a two-stage Practice of Concept (PoC) trials organized by the Nigerian Communication Commission (NCC) intended to allay any fears associated with the new technology. What a rare, courageous and patriotic feat!
It is therefore a sad irony that in our hall of fame, we have something like “Governor of the year”, but for a spectacularly performing investor there is neither fish, flesh, nor fowl. In any case, unique and remarkable as all three feats by MTN in 2019 were, the one that has endless exhilaration for some of us is the deft configuration of its new board, not only for its manifest gender sensitivity, but also the novelty of its local content stamp. For the first time in Nigeria’s history, a multinational corporation has reconstituted its board in vivid deference to certain basic aspirations of Nigerians.
On a board of 14 members, seven slots were allocated to Nigeria and meticulously distributed among the six geopolitical zones of the country, obviously, in line with the Federal Character Principle, without sacrificing merit. Not only that two of the seven Nigerian directors or 28.6% are women: Dr. Omobola Johnson (southwest) and Mrs. Ifueko Omoigui – Okauru (southsouth). Dr. Johnson is a well-known technocrat and former minister of information and communication. Mrs. Ifueko Omoigui – Okauru is a chartered accountant, chartered tax professional and industrial administrator.
Besides the Executive Chairman, Dr. Ernest Ndukwe, the other male Nigerian members of the new board are: Mr. Muhammed Ahmad (North east), Mr. Andrew Alli (North central), Mr. A.B. Mahmoud (North west), and Mr. Michael Ajukwu (southeast). A cursory look at the antecedents of all the Nigerian appointees shows that they are experts in various fields. It was James KwegyirAggreey (1875-1927) the foremost Ghanaian educationist, who said “only the best is good enough for Africa”.
Certainly, the promoters of MTN were thinking in line with Aggreey when they reconstituted the board, painstakingly selecting from some of the best and brightest in each of Nigeria’s six geopolitical zones. Happening simultaneously with its public listing, this will give potential shareholders a real sense of belonging. Two of the Nigerian candidates Mr. Ajukwu and Mr. Ahmad are independent non-executive directors.
While Ahmad, a chartered accountant and financial expert has more than 35 years experience traversing the financial services industry and public sectors, Mr. Ajukwu, a former executive director at UBA, has a background spanning more than two decades in banking. Mr. Andrew Alli, on his part, as a chartered accountant with additional degree in electrical engineering, once represented the International Finance Corporation (IFC) on MTN board.
He also was once the CEO of Africa Finance Corporation (AFC), while Mr. A.B. Mahmoud, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria since 2001 and life member of the Body of Benchers, was Commissioner of Justice and Attorney General in Kano State for many years.
To assemble such a galaxy is no easy task, especially when it has to reflect the federal character of a complex entity like Nigeria. That MTN was able to locate these mostly self-effacing professionals and recruit them is an eloquent vindication of Nathaniel Emons, the 18th Country American theologian, who cautioned: “make no display of your talents and attainments, for everyone will clearly see, admire and acknowledge them so long as you cover them with beautiful veil of modesty”. Almost at the same time as Emons, Jonas Salk, the celebrated American bacteriologist postulated that “the reward for work well done is the opportunity to do more”. While Emons may have been referring generally to all Nigerian members of MTN’s new board, Dr. Salk’s postulation tends specifically to refer to the case of Dr. Ndukwe –remember him? With well over 40years background in the telecoms field Ndukwe, a Melbourne-trained satellite communications expert, an archetypal technocrat and dyed-in-the-wool exponent of Market Forces, as the Executive Vice Chairman of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) between 2000 and 2010, was the man who courageously opened up Nigeria’s telecoms industry to the market by conducting Africa’s first Digital Mobile License auction 19years ago.
Interestingly enough, given its about 65.3million subscribers the MTN, which Ndukwe has come to preside over controls a lion’s share of the market. If there is any enduring lesson to be learned from Ndukwe’s case, Martin Luther King Jnr put it succinctly this way: “if a man is called to be a street sweeper, he should sweep streets even as Michelangelo painted or Shakespeare wrote poetry. He should sweep streets so well that all the hosts of heaven and earth will pause and say: “here lived a great street sweeper, who did his job well”.
Nzeakah, a former editor of Sunday Punch, lives in Lagos.