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By Adaobi Nwangwu

The ever crawling Nigerian Telecomm-unications, NITEL, is set to take its place as the leader in the telecommuni-cations sector of Nigeria.
The revelation was made by the new Chief Executive Officer of NITEL, Kevin Caruso during a press briefing in Abuja.
Caruso noted that Telecoms subscriber will soon be treated to a bouquet of services by the indigenous company.
Part of the strategies to be employed by the new administration is the revival of the network infrastructure.
"NITEL is not yet dead. We are ready to let it come alive. We would do all it takes to make this happen. We have looked at the network extensively to know what needs to be fixed. Our attention will be drawn to the fibre and microwave radio to ensure that all the networks are working".
Explaining further the General Manager Operation and maintenance in NITEL Engr Alex Achi stated that they intend to activate network in the north especially the one linking Abuja to Kaduna and Bauchi as well as articulating the framework to ensure that all products from NITEL such as the CDMA, the internet services bandwidth are readily available.
Hajia Zainab Saad, NITEL Chief Marketing Officer assured customers that the hay days are here again as the company plans "a structure that will fit the industry. She said NITEL is poised to grapple with the stiff competition in the market saying that they offer wholesale services to ISPs and other PTOs but that they will improve on the services.
Adedayo Ojo, Head Corporate Affairs NITEL who noted that funding will not be a problem as plans are underway to recover the debts owed NITEL also said that ownership of the company is not in question.
Ojo stated the organization still owed the consortium of banks that financed the purchase of NITEL and Transcorp had demonstrated good faith in servicing the loan by committing a significant part of its 2006 IPO proceeds to paying down the loan. In addition, Transcorp has presented a repayment plan to the banks.
"The fact that some of the banks in the consortium of lenders are unhappy with our recent aggressive repositioning efforts cannot be enough reason to thwart due process, rule of law or indeed the decision of the Federal Government to seek a new core investor in NITEL."
He added Transcorp has been focused on the restructuring of the board and management of NITEL to literally pluck the low hanging fruits which will return NITEL to operational efficiency and thus make it attractive to a new core investor. Selling NITEL in its current operational status cannot be in the interest of the banks or any of NITEL's stakeholders.
We are acutely aware of our responsibility to all stakeholders, including the banks. We are committed to meeting those obligations, but wherever there is a difference of opinion on how to proceed the legal agreement which formed the basis of borrowing will be relied upon.
He said there is a clear cut procedure for the banks should they decide to recall the loans. Transcorp's 51% and Government's 49% ownership stand until implementation of the joint decision of Government and Transcorp to sell a significant part of current shareholding to a new investor".