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| Rufai, NigComSat CEO |
Recently, a one-day stakeholders’
forum was held in Lagos to discuss the proposed Incorporation Bill for the
Nigerian Communications Satellite (NigComSAT) with the bottom line to make the
company a corporation.
In the terms of simple commerce
definition, a company is an organization or enterprising entity engaged in
commercial, industrial or professional activities. A business can be a
for-profit entity, such as a publicly-traded corporation, or a
non-profit organization engaged in business activities, with a reference
to a specific area or type of economic activity.
A corporation, on the other hand is
defined by experts at www.investopedia.com as a legal entity that is separate
and distinct from its owners. Corporations enjoy most of the rights and
responsibilities that an individual possesses; that is, a corporation has the
right to enter into contracts, loan and borrow money, sue and be sued, hire
employees, own assets and pay taxes.
Also, investopedia experts said the
most important aspect of a corporation is limited liability. That is,
shareholders have the right to participate in the profits, through dividends
and/or the appreciation of stock, but are not held personally liable for the
company’s debts.
A corporation is, therefore,
created by incorporation by a group of shareholders who have ownership of the
corporation, represented by their holding of common stock. Shareholders elect a
board of directors, usually by receiving one vote per share; that appoint and
oversee management of the corporation. Although a corporation does not
necessarily have to be for profit, the vast majority of corporations are setup
with the goal of providing a return for its shareholders.
The Chief Executive Officer,
NigComSAT, Mr. Timasaniyu Ahmed-Rufai, used the opportunity to rally
stakeholders to support the passage of the bill, saying it would make the
organisation more profitable by giving it the autonomy to function without
interference.
Specifically, the proposed bill
seeks to establish an Act that will give the NigComSAT Corporation power to
engage in, purchase and otherwise acquire or take over the assets, business,
company, firm or persons and act in furtherance of all and any business
associated and or relating to the satellite industry.
The bill, according to Ahmed-Rufai
gained approval from the House of Representatives as at March 2012. Pointing
out that if the bill was signed into law, it would prevent such unprecedented
blunder as contained in the Steve Oronsanye’s report, which recommended the
scrapping of the agency.
He explained that NigComSAT was not
competing with any telecommunications or broadcasting agency, but stressed the
fact it was an enabler that should be seen as an infrastructure.
“The bill will allow NigComsat to
borrow from banks to launch more satellites for effective business activities
rather than rely on the annual budget, as this restrict the extent to which the
company can go,” he explained,
But for the majority of
stakeholders at the forum, the bill seeks to make NigComSAT Limited an
autonomous agency, portends danger if not properly checked. They had argued
that the public corporation seen and witnessed in the name of Nigerian
Telecommunications (NITEL) plc was not encouraging.
Although there could be several
reasons for government not to be in business directly, even as some eye-brows
were raised that by adopting the bill for NigComSAT Incorporated, could mean undue
competition with the National Space Management Agency (NASMA), despite the fact
their responsibilities has a thin line apart among others who may have issues
with this proposed bill.
With the bill, NigComSAT claims it
will be able to enforce regulatory measures regarding to the general control of
the satellite communications sector in Nigeria.
The need to also educate the
legislators at the National Assembly on the efficacy of the bill is another
politics that may require some investment in terms of lobbyist engagement, in
order to educate and enlightened them as canvassed by the President,
Association of Telecoms Companies of Nigeria (ATCON), Mr. Lanre Ajayi, so as to
guide them, especially the Senate for the satellite company to be able to run
businesses on its own with less government bureaucracy.
Obviously what should come handy
here and has the capacity to achieve or mar the bill, depends on the level and
kind of lobbyist and probably the earlier the National Assembly adopt the
suggestion of former vice president Atiku Abubakar for recognition of jobs for
lobbyists and the sooner we do that the better for the likes of NigComSAT.
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