Nigeria has, to the envy of most countries in the world, remained a country with enviable resources both human and natural. These have been manifested in the exploits of citizens in various fields of endeavor both home and abroad.
Despite outcries of bad governance and re-echoed dissatisfaction by the citizens over the years in review, these traits have remained landmarks and trademarks of Nigeria in the league of nations.
Over the years, experts have argued that policy somersaults have given a zig-zag and, most times, circular movements to the country despite the enviable status it occupies. These policies have been deployed into various aspects of governance especially as the global business community adjusted widely, in response to the new order set by the novel COVID-19 pandemic.
The questions however are: To what extent have these policies made impacts? What level of understanding do the public have of such policies? What factors lead to their acceptance or rejection?
A popular Nigerian saying states that “You can force a horse to the river but cannot force it to drink water”. This implies that a policy statement from a sitting government irrespective of objective needs to be understood, accepted and adopted.
The factors to be considered are the education and assimilation levels of the various strata of the society. Anything outside these meets rebellion and rejection.
According to research, the intention of a policy (either from a group or government) seeks to ensure that every official action has a basis or backing. It is usually a guide that stipulates general limits and directions of an administrative action.
It therefore means that policies are only concerned with objectives of implementations without the public decision.
Policies, public education and the Nigerian factor
The Government has over the period hit brick rocks in the quest for public acceptance and adoption of policies. Many have argued that the complex nature of the society would perpetually pose as bottlenecks. This, to a large extent, means that the level of public education plays vital role in the understanding of what the policies mean.
The NIN registration, target objectives and businesses
Recall that the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) announced that after December 30, 2020 all SIM cards without an associated National Identification Number (NIN) will be deactivated.
This came a week after the Commission suspended the sale, registration and activation of new SIM cards as part of its audit of the country’s subscriber registration database.
This order came after so many Nigerians had adopted to online businesses using the social media. So many digital marketing firms had made huge sales from creating social media adverts for small brands who had shifted business modules.
It was also observed that so many Nigerians had SIM cards which they used or switched randomly.
The question now is the possibility of the subscribers meeting up the requirements and the deadlines before their lines get deactivated.
A random survey showed that so many traders and small business owners do not have the basic knowledge requirements and literacy to meet up with the requirements. There were widespread criticisms on the objective of the policy especially with the COVID-19 safety regulations which disallowed gatherings. A higher percentage lamented that the level of public enlightenment on the streets were not matching the intensity of the warnings by the NCC. This led to a boycott of the deadlines as many waved off the threats by NCC.
Madam Joy Osagie is a 50-year-old crayfish trader at the Obawole Market in Iju, a sprawling neighborhood in Lagos. She had conflicting information and her level of education didn’t help matters.
Speaking in flawless pidgin, she said: “In our market here, most of us are illiterates and were just using phones to receive calls without knowing how to read and write.
“All we kept hearing was that government would block our line and we expected a team from the government to even pay us a visit just like banks and marketers always do but no one came.
“I just kept seeing messages I could not read except I show someone to help me interpret. This was a difficult one for me until my line stopped going through,” she lamented.
Speaking further, she said her customers could no longer reach her, and that affected her products which she brings from Eket in Akwa Ibom State.
Another respondent, a footballer, who simply identified himself as Kelvin, said the order came too sudden and the process became hijacked by influential people who could pull strings from the comfort of their homes.
The major point raised by a higher percentage of respondents was that most Nigerians do not have a national ID number.
Reports say only about 42 million people had registered for the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) as at October, 2020.
This figure represents less than half of the 99 million unique mobile subscribers in the country according to estimates.
KaftanPost spoke to a newspaper analyst, Jimoh Akerele, who said the government only goes door to door when it’s campaign periods.
He said: “When it’s close to elections, you would see them uninvited with loud banners, gramophones and speaking all languages just to convince even the deaf and dumb to vote, but this one that affects our access to clients and business allies, they didn’t think it was important to visit and educate us.
“The government should do more in terms of public education otherwise policies would continue to meet rejection,” he added.
A policy turned economic catastrophe
According to reports, there are currently 207 million active GSM line in the country. This means that each of the 57 million subscribers without a NIN has only one active line. It also implies that 28% of the active lines in the country would have been blocked by January, 2021.
Furthermore, it means that if subscribers with NINs only have one active line registered, then 165 million SIMs may be blocked with mobile network providers especially the small businesses losing 80% of their customer base by year end.
Experts believe that for a country that has battled recession and come out narrowly, government policies should come with soft landing especially for small businesses. They have also argued that the costs and benefits should be weighed properly without dealing great blows on the struggling economy.
While the policies such as NIN last and the deadlines enforced, it has been generally reviewed as having the rural dwellers, the poor widows etc., as the worst hit.
Repelling or adopting policies: The meeting point
While it is a common scenario to have government policies thrown into the public, it would also mean that the government should make backend arrangements for a possible rejection if factors affecting the smooth adoption are not considered.
The Federal Government therefore should beef up public campaigns to cover other languages as was the case in the past, during immunization outings.
So many tribes are present especially in a cosmopolitan city like Lagos. There should be well trained teams deployed to reach out to clusters in the lower cadre of the society towards the short and long term benefits of such policies.
Secondly, the introduction and implementation of policies should be devoid of party affiliations, ethnic undertones and hijack. Otherwise, stiff rejections will follow, leading to rebellion.
When these happen, the rate of policy introduction and adoption will hit an equilibrium.
