What has been alarming about the talk shows,
social networks and even traditional media coverage of the biggest
penalty in regulatory history being faced by MTN in Nigeria, for failing
to register SIM cards, is the apparent lack of concern about the
chilling effect mandatory SIM registration has had on the spread of
information and communications technologies (ICT).
This is a key
driver of economic growth and development on the continent, and the
stealth with which a pervasive continental and global surveillance
system has been deployed through private resources should set off alarm
bells.
