MTN Nigeria on Monday warned that should there
be attacks on its facilities, it might be forced to
close shop and 99 per cent of its over 6,000
workforce in the country, who are Nigerians,
would be thrown into the labour market.
It also said that calls for the boycott of its services
were unjustified as such an action would affect its
support chain, which could cause another
500,000 Nigerians to lose their means of
livelihood.
The company stated this in Lagos some hours
after two groups protested in its Abuja and Benin
offices against the killing of foreigners in its home
country, South Africa.
According to the Corporate Service Executive,
MTN Nigeria, Mr. Wale Goodluck, there are only
12 expatriates working for the company in the
country, compared to a workforce of 6,000
Nigerians.
Goodluck said, “So, if people go ahead with their
threats to attack our facilities, what that means is
that we may be forced to close down the
business in Nigeria and about 6,000 Nigerians
that make up 99 per cent of our workforce will be
unemployed.
“Then, when you look at our support chain, we
have about 500,000 Nigerians gainfully
employed. So, boycotting our services simply
means destroying so many other Nigerian
businesses and making over 500,000 other
Nigerians to lose their jobs.
“This business supports a lot of businesses
across the length and breadth of Nigeria. Many of
the businesses that are affiliated to South Africa
are in the retail space, supporting the growth of
Nigeria and employing so many Nigerians.”
He noted that the company had spent in excess
of $15bn on capital expenditure growing the
telecommunications business in Nigeria.
“We see no revenge of Xenophobia and we
commend the role the Nigerian High
Commissioner in South Africa has played; at least
there has been no fatality on the part of any
Nigerian,” Goodluck added.
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