Ah, I should have known this was coming. Ever since our mummies and daddies in the Nigerian Senate demonstrated their interest in tech (they used their e-voting system for the first time and tested Facebook live streaming, all in the space of one week), I should have known their joining tech gang would come at a price. They are now moving on to their next target – e-commerce.
According to the Senate’s official Twitter account, a bill for an “Act to provide for Effective and Transparent Administration, Management and Control of Payment, Clearing & Settlement Processes in Nigeria (and for related matters)” has been proposed by Senator John Enoh.
The reason? E-commerce is on the rise and “we” have to take advantage of it.
" 500 million tweets go out daily, with 1million YouTube users , over 45 million Nigerians are active daily on the Internet"- Sen. John Enoh
— The Nigerian Senate (@NGRSenate) October 26, 2016
We don’t yet know what this bill says. What we do know is what senators are saying about the bill, and that’s not particularly comforting. In their opinion (that I don’t trust), it’s a good idea because it’ll create a legal framework. Plus, it’s an easy read and, if implemented, will fetch “us” a whole lot of money.
" E- Commerce is on the rise and has come to stay, this bill will address the legal lacuna that exist in E- Commerce" – @shehusani
— The Nigerian Senate (@NGRSenate) October 26, 2016
"E-Commerce has taken over the whole world and with that we can make billions of money daily " – Senator Ibrahim Gobir
— The Nigerian Senate (@NGRSenate) October 26, 2016
Senators Sam Egwu & Yahaya Abdullahi supports the bill saying that it is a very straight forward bill that will move the country forward.
— The Nigerian Senate (@NGRSenate) October 26, 2016
Summarily, our mummies and daddies have stumbled on a cash cow and they are about to milk it for all it’s worth. This is not good.
The bill has been passed for second reading, and the Committee on Finance has been asked to report in four weeks.
Brothers and sisters, now is the time for us to start praying. In the meantime, we’re working on getting our hands on that bill so we can know (and in turn, let you know) exactly what we’re in for.
I’d give them the benefit of the doubt but, *remembers Social Media Bill* naaaah…
