The amicable hue the MTN Nigeria/Nigerian Communication Commission (NCC) N1.4 trillion fine issue is taking says much about the corporate citizenship value of MTN’s Director of Regulatory and Corporate Affairs, writes Correspondent, SAM NWOKORO.
It is not easy to run a market economy in a developing country like Nigeria. One of the headaches associated with industry regulations in a developing market economy like Nigeria’s is that regulators, most times, erroneously view industry players not as genuine partners in the growth process, but as preys to pounce on when they trespass. In a cash-stretched economy like Nigeria’s, the temptation to wield the big stick on big corporations is always there, especially in the telecommunication sector which has been globally recognised as Nigeria’s most credible face of free enterprise.
Yes, that sector employs a good number of job-seekers. It pays the highest amount of tax in various guises into government coffers. Greedy labour leaders, legislative lobbyists, political leaders, and all manner of interest groups always visit them for ‘settlement’.
So for a company like MTN that operates across many regions and time zones, it is of course not difficult to know why it gets little appeal whenever the law’s long arms are stretched against it, even when such sanctions are motivated by other reasons. But for sure, no Nigerian would not suffer the bite of a telecom giant like MTN when it decides to bare its fangs. This is the pure truth. It is economics, not polemics; common sense, not sentiment.
It is to the credit of MTN that Nigerian youths are catching on in the smart age. It was not like this before. As the first telecom company to complete a total coverage of the country, MTN has long been ingrained in the consciousness of the folks. Everything from arts, education, culture, leadership, sports, entrepreneurship, community service, civic education to business clinic, MTN has in the past 15 years of its coming to Nigeria been the mirror of how small our world has become.
MTN has made many otherwise lost youth to rediscover self and are now millionaires. It has made many music stars through her Project Fame talent hunt show. It has also created football stars here and yonder. The staying power of MTN in Nigeria, despite all the infrastructural challenges during her roll out phase, and throughout her network spread, helped school local business leaders that staying in focus, no matter the odds, is staple business menu for high flyers.
Oyagbola’s value
Of course, it takes the engagement of someone who understands national values and the strategic role her organisation plays in national development to handle the MTN issue with the kind of diplomatic finesse it deserved. For, were Amina Oyagbola, who is the Director of Regulatory and Corporate Affairs of MTN and a top shot of MTN Foundation a novice in corporate governance issues, the issue would have gone sour. But MTN behaved as a good corporate citizen and fired two of its errant staff responsible for carrying call traffic of the banned subscriber lines.
The MTN Foundation boss has used her wealth of experience in leadership matters to handle knotty matters between the company and Nigerian regulators. The MTN Foundation she directs has impacted Nigerians’ lives and communities in diverse ways, from schools to businesses and to provision of shelter in far-flung rural communities forgotten by governments to all manner of helps. The MTN Foundation sponsorships cut across ethnic, religious and cultural boundaries. In other words, the company itself has been a veritable companion of the government in its nation-building efforts.
One of the most honoured women in Africa, Oyagbola brings the true value of the African in the choice of projects she designs for the continent’s rural poor in its many projects –those that directly impact on the lives of the recipients, and they are delivered directly by MTN Foundation staff, not by third party ad-hoc personnel who may circumvent the aids. Little wonder the telecom giant garnered much public acceptance since its operation, to the extent that even when the company carried banned lines, the public still stuck on MTN recharge cards.
Certainly it was the carrier of first choice not just because it has made milestones in coverage and acceptability than others, but primarily because it has become to Nigerian telecom consumers the proverbial ‘first wife’ among the harem that produced the first son, and so must be adored and respected because of her irreplaceable place in the family.
Oyagbola obtained an LL.B (Hons.) from Ahmadu Bello University, Nigeria; LL.M from Cambridge University and MBA from Lancaster University Management School in the United Kingdom after receiving a Chevening Scholarship awarded from the British Council.
Her career started in the prestigious Chambers of the late F.R.A. Williams, Nigeria’s first QC (Queen’s Counsel) and foremost legal practitioner. From the cut and thrust of litigation, she moved to a new generation bank where she set up the legal department. Amina subsequently headed the Management Services Function, after which she gained valuable experience in the Consumer Banking Department. Amina then moved to United Bank for Africa (UBA) post-privatisation, where she was Legal Adviser; Head, Human Capital Division, before setting up and heading the Private Banking Division.
She was then employed by Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) as Head, HR Strategy, Standards and Business Planning. Before her departure, she was identified as the preferred candidate to manage Corporate Resourcing for the company. Amina’s outstanding educational and professional background made her a natural choice for the role of Corporate Services Executive in MTN, the leading telecommunications provider in Nigeria. As Corporate Services Executive, she had oversight for the company’s secretariat, regulatory, legal, corporate communications and was the pioneer director of the MTN Nigeria Foundation which is focused on strategic and high impact corporate social investment programmes. In November 2008, she was identified as the most suitable executive to lead a transformation in the HR Function as Human Resources Executive, MTN Nigeria.
She is a Fellow and Co-Chair of The Africa Leadership Initiative (West Africa), a joint venture between the Aspen Institute, Databank Foundation (Ghana), LEAP Africa (Nigeria) and TechoServe, which is involved in high impact leadership projects, designed to develop a new generation of global leaders.
A member of the Aspen Global Leadership Network, a member of the Governing Council of the Chartered Institute of Personnel Management (CIPM) and an Associate Member of the Institute of Directors (IoD), Amina is a firm believer in the empowerment of women and the economically disadvantaged. She is the Founder of WISCAR (Women in Successful Careers) a not-for-profit, gender empowerment and mentoring initiative for professional career women.
Not only is Amina a much sought-after speaker, she is on the board of several companies and NGOs, including the Advisory Board of BusinessDay newspapers. Certainly, her versatility has been a great asset to not just MTN globally, but also to Nigeria.