The Minister of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy, Dr Bosun Tijani
The Federal Government has announced that work will soon begin within weeks on a 90,000-kilometre fibre optic network expected to connect every state, local council area and ward in Nigeria, marking what officials describe as one of the country’s most ambitious digital infrastructure projects.
Minister of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy, Dr Bosun Tijani, unveiled this yesterday after briefing President Bola Tinubu at the State House, Abuja, on the progress of three flagship digital transformation initiatives being implemented by his ministry.
According to the minister, all resource mobilisation and contractual processes for the nationwide fibre project have been completed, paving the way for physical deployment.
“We’re now at the point where, in a few weeks, we should start to lay that fibre; so people will start seeing us around the country deploying the fibre. This is going to transform Nigeria for good,” Tijani said.
He explained that the project would deliver fibre optic infrastructure to every geopolitical zone, state, local council area and ward, significantly expanding broadband access and improving the quality of internet connectivity across the country.
“This is a project where every state, every geopolitical zone, every local council and every ward in this country will be covered with fibre optic cables, which will transform the quality of connectivity,” he added.
Tijani attributed the progress in the digital economy to a series of reforms approved by Tinubu, including the designation of digital infrastructure as Critical National Infrastructure, tariff adjustments and tax harmonisation measures sought by industry operators.
“I think our sector has been extremely fortunate. The President has given us quite several things that the sector has been demanding for a long time. Whether it’s the Critical National Infrastructure designation for all digital infrastructure, the slight adjustment in tariff, or the tax harmonisation; these are reforms the industry has long requested.
“I think it’s probably the sector that is most appreciative of this government because when we came in, it was contributing between 16 and 18 per cent to our Gross Domestic Product (GDP), but today it is tracking close to 21 per cent. That represents significant growth,” he said.
The minister noted that the reforms had also improved the financial performance of major operators in the telecommunications sector.
On efforts to bridge the digital divide, Tijani disclosed that the government would begin deploying about 3,700 telecommunications towers from October to provide network coverage for more than 20 million Nigerians currently living in underserved communities without access to telecom services.
He said the President had approved the project after months of capital mobilisation and planning.
“Today we’re at a point where, before the end of the year, we’ll also start to deploy close to 3,700 towers. It’s taken a lot to put this project together and raise the required capital, but we are now ready to begin deployment around October,” he said.
The minister also announced that Nigeria would officially launch an alphanumeric postcode system on October 1, a move he said would place the country among a select group of nations operating an advanced digital addressing system.
In a major boost to Tinubu’s digital economy agenda, the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) and the Enugu State Government, yesterday, sealed a strategic 15-year lease of the agency’s Digital Industrial Park and Learning Centre to the Enugu State Government.
The move would see the Enugu State Government take over and optimise the facilities located in the state capital as the Enugu Talent City and Artificial Intelligence (AI) Institute in line with the digital economy drive of the Governor Peter Mbah Administration.
Speaking during the lease agreement signing ceremony at the Government House, Enugu, the Executive Vice Chairman/CEO of NCC, Dr Aminu Maida, said the arrangement fully aligns with the Renewed Hope Agenda of the President Bola Tinubu Administration, and its ambition to grow Nigeria into a $1 trillion economy driven by productivity, innovation and private sector growth.
Maida stressed that Mbah had shown a clear agenda to build Enugu State into a digital economic powerhouse through deliberate investment in education, infrastructure, innovation and digital capacity, maintaining that the Mbah Administration was well positioned to advance the objectives for which these facilities were established.
