Transcorp names Iseghohi new NITEL chairman

Transnational Corporation of Nigeria Plc (Transcorp) has announced the appointment of Group Managing Director Tom Iseghohi as the new chairman of Nigerian Telecommunications Limited (NITEL).

The appointment is in accordance with the ongoing resuscitation plans for NITEL, said Adedayo Ojo, Transcorp's vice president of corporate communications.

During his first official outing as chairman, Iseghohi and his team toured the NITEL exchange facilities, consisting of the building housing the Private Telephone Operators (PTO) interconnect facility, which was partly torched by fire over the weekend.

Satisfied with the level of commitment displayed by the NITEL staff, Iseghohi commended the employees and promised them a new PTO room equipped with adequate firewalls and security devices.

NITEL may not find itself in a friendly situation now, he told the staff, but the time is coming when the company will reclaim its leadership position in the nation's telecommunications sector.

"To some, that time is far from reach, but to me and other members of the Transcorp management, very soon the tide would change in favor of the stakeholders," he assured.

Iseghohi further stated that the challenges NITEL employees have faced will mold them: "It is worse to waste the experience gained during the trying period like this without coming out better refined," he said.

Until his appointment as group managing director of Transcorp, Iseghohi served as executive vice president of the Hudson Consulting Group, a New York commercial and governmental firm. He now takes over as NITEL chairman from the recently sacked Ferdinand Alabraba.