Nigerian mobile subscribers can raise complaints against operators via social media now thanks to the telecommunication watchdog’s ‘consumer enlightenment campaign’.

The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) says it is using its Facebook account and Twitter handle to intensify the campaign.

The commission said the aim of the social media campaign is to reach as many subscribers as possible and ‘enlighten’ them on the approaches to raise complaints.

The commission added that it had categorised all consumer-related complaints for easy identification.

The categories include, issues on billing, call-centre and customer care, call set-up, faulty terminal, health issues, internet service, promotions, recharge cards, SMS and MMS and SIM related matters.

“With our Facebook page and Twitter handle, we hope to reach as many subscribers as possible and enlighten them on the proper procedure to make their complaints,” the NCC has said in a statement.

"The intention is purely to educate those who are active on those platforms on how best they can use online platform to reach their network provider with their complaints," the NCC stated.

Nigeria, with an estimated population of 174,5 million, is Africa’s largest mobile market with more than 119 million subscribers.

Subscriber growth has steadily accelerated, driven by lower prices and a growing demand for mobile broadband services.

The rapid growth has nonetheless led to problems with network congestion and quality of service, prompting NCC to impose fines and sanctions.