The Nigerian Senate on Wednesday, March 30th was discussing the issue of the Pay-TV companies aka DStv’s recent price increase, with the view of achieving a downward price review “in tandem with the prevailing reality of the economic situation in the country”.
Dear Nigerian lawmakers, stop harassing DSTV (Pulse Contributor's Opinion)
The Nigerian Senate has been probing the PayTV company for increasing their prices even when there is bigger fish to fry.
Dear Nigerian lawmakers, stop harassing DSTV (Pulse Contributor's Opinion)
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The lawmakers also decided to instruct Pay-TV companies to introduce a pay per view subscription model against the month to month prepaid model which is currently prevalent.
This entire step they claim is to check the prohibitive pricing that Pay-TV companies have been heaving on the common Nigerian recently.
The discussion about Pay TV prices has been generating heated debates around the polity and it usually coincides with DStv’s, – the country’s biggest and most efficient Pay-TV company – review of its prices. The move is usually made to insulate the company against worsening economic realities that have been the portion of any money-making entity that is domiciled in Nigeria for the past few years.
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DStv, a Pay-TV company that has operated in Nigeria for almost 30 years now, garnering millions of subscribers around the country due to its excellent service delivery in the constantly evolving industry of content distribution. It has also become one of the foremost organisations that produce and distribute locally made content and distributes to audiences across the world. Tinsel, BBNaija, AFMVCA are some of the few initiatives that can be credited to the media giants.
The DStv price review discussions, in particular, have however seemed rooted in lofty, imaginary ideas that should be more comfortable within the four walls of beer parlours than lawmaking halls. At best, maybe even newspaper stands that always have an endless supply of half-baked knowledge that is passed off as verifiable data in the spirit of keeping the dreary silence of poignant truths away.
These discussions have now, against all odds, made it into the hallowed chambers of our highest law-making institution, one that is supposed to house our brightest minds who can easily sift through half-baked ideas and coalesce more serious truths that can make sustainable and continuous improvement on the predicaments of the common Nigerian man.
This makes the whole PayTV discussion appear as a rather hollow charade, designed to keep many uninformed Nigerians occupied with the idea that the occupants of that sacred chamber are fighting their good fight in the short term, whilst keeping the sharp teeth of the ‘money-grubbing Pay-TV giants’ away from the shallow purses of Nigerians. Or worse, we are the bigger fools for deigning those occupants fit for the offices they occupy when they can not even identify the many principles that regulating the price demanded by private Pay-TV companies in this context, would mean for the Nigerian economy in the long term.
The bulk of the expenses of an organisation like DStv usually goes into securing the rights to exclusive content around the world. Content that has now made the company a juggernaut in content distribution around the world. Competitions like the English Premier League, Formula 1 and many other sport shows around the world are consistently delivered to Nigerian homes through its bouquets that range from about ₦400 to ₦20,000. Even though these rights are tightly contested by broadcast companies and are charged in US dollars.
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The continually dwindling fate of the Naira continues to leave these organisations in a quandary, as it forces their hands to increase prices in order to remain profitable consistently. The inflation figures in the country also continue to rise and worsen the situation. That coupled with the increase in fuel prices that has stifled many businesses across the country with the sharp increase in running costs has meant they would increase prices to stay afloat.
Those factors that lead to an increase in running costs are what politicians and lawmakers are elected to maintain. If the running costs of a sought after business increase, so will their prices.
How are our lawmakers working to create a federal reserve that could stabilise the economy?
How are our lawmakers employing technocrats like the great American, Paul Volcker, who can create sustainable long-term economic strategies?
Those are the same factors that their actions and inactions directly affect. However, they choose to look away, trying to conjure up ‘solutions’ to cure the side effects of bad policies rather than addressing the real issues.
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The performative grand proclamations made by Nigerian politicians, identifying with the plight of the ‘common man” whilst being directly responsible for the issues are an outdated method of politicking, especially with the amount of information publicly available. Maybe more time spent away from TV sets and more on legitimately productive ventures would do us all a world of good.
Disclaimer: This article is the opinion of a Pulse Contributor, it doesn't reflect the opinions of the company.
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