The Federal Government has announced plans to have at least 200 new telecommunications sites operational before December, under a nationwide infrastructure initiative aimed at providing connectivity to more than 20 million Nigerians who currently lack adequate telecom services.
The Minister of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy, Dr Bosun Tijani, made this known on Monday during the commissioning of the new headquarters of the Nigeria Data Protection Commission in Abuja.
According to Tijani, the 200 sites form part of the government’s broader plan to establish 3,700 telecommunications towers across the country, with priority given to underserved and unserved communities.
He said, “Before December, at least 200 of those sites will be active.”
The minister explained that each tower would extend connectivity to communities with populations ranging from 5,000 to 10,000 people. He said this would give the full project the capacity to reach more than 20 million Nigerians who are currently unconnected.
“Each of those towers will serve communities of about 5,000 to 10,000 people. These are people that are currently unconnected. So, at the end of this project, we will be reaching over 20 million Nigerians,” Tijani said.
He noted that the initiative was undertaken following a directive from President Bola Tinubu to expand telecommunications services to communities that remain outside the country’s digital infrastructure.
Tijani disclosed that Kura Village, located outside Abuja, had received the first tower under the programme, while deployment activities had also begun in the Niger Delta.
He further stated that the government was investing in a 90,000-kilometre fibre optic network as part of efforts to strengthen broadband infrastructure and enhance internet access across the country.
The minister also revealed that President Tinubu had authorised an upgrade of Nigeria’s communications satellite to provide coverage in locations that cannot be reached by fibre optic cables or telecommunications towers.
“For places where fibre cannot reach, where towers cannot reach, NIGCOMSAT will now be able to reach those locations,” Tijani said.
Tijani said the Information and Communications Technology sector now accounts for about 21 per cent of the country’s Gross Domestic Product, compared with between 16 and 18 per cent when the current administration took office.
He said the government should target raising the sector’s contribution to 25 per cent, adding that increased connectivity would need to go hand in hand with digital literacy, cybersecurity and stronger data protection.
“As we bring more people online, we also have to ensure that we can protect them as well. And that is why digital literacy, cybersecurity and data protection are all critical pillars of the growth of our digital economy in Nigeria,” he said.
Also speaking at the event, the National Commissioner and Chief Executive Officer of the NDPC, Dr Vincent Olatunji, disclosed that the commission had licensed 356 Data Protection Compliance Organisations and contributed to the creation of more than 27,000 jobs within three years.
“Through the activities of these DPCOs and our own work, we were able to create 27,000-plus jobs within three years,” Olatunji said.
He said the NDPC had generated more than N12bn in revenue over three years, while the country’s data privacy and protection ecosystem was valued at over N18bn.
Olatunji further disclosed that more than 66,000 Nigerians had been onboarded onto the commission’s virtual privacy academy, while over 220 training programmes had reached 99,370 people across different sectors.
Earlier, the NDPC’s Head of People Management and Administration, Mrs Watira Fitto, described the new headquarters as an important milestone in the commission’s growth.
“The new headquarters is a statement of the commission’s growing capacity and commitment to institutional stability,” she said.
Fitto said the commission had relocated four times within four years, moving from fewer than three office spaces at NITDA to about eight in Maitama, then 26 in Asokoro, before moving to its new headquarters with about 56 office spaces in Mbora District, Abuja.
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