One major complaint that Nigerians have about telecommunications service providers is the unsolicited texts they receive regularly; text messages that are not requested by subscribers are constantly sent to them in the guise of offering service directions. Upon the enforcement of the ‘Do Not Disturb’ facility by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), this may finally be over.

July 1, 2016 was set as deadline by the regulatory body of telecommunications industry in Nigeria, NCC, for telecoms operators to allow their customers who do not want to receive unwanted messages from the operators bar such messages. What line users are expected to do, irrespective of the network they are on is to text ‘STOP’ to 2442.

Unsolicited messages from telecoms in Nigeria range from information on real estate, education, health, sports to others. Most times, line users complain of complicity in these unsolicited texts, hence, they are lured to opt-in for the advertised services and their money is deducted. At times, unwanted messages sent out by service providers could be hilarious. An example of this was the one displayed by a member of Nigeria’s biggest online forum, Nairaland – it reads thus ‘Do you want to know how to avoid ROBBERS and KIDNAPPERS? Send ST to 38265 at N20/daily for Security Tips.’

It is believed that telecoms operators in Nigeria will be quick to adhere to this directive. The recent dealings between MTN and the NCC is enough to prompt strict compliance. Now that this information has been made available to Nigerians, the ability to either permit unsolicited messages or not is theirs. By the 4th of July, this ‘Do Not Disturb’ service had been activated by most telecoms operators in the country, including MTN.