The federal government says it plans to activate at least 200 new telecommunications sites before December as part of efforts to extend digital connectivity to more than 20 million Nigerians in underserved and unserved communities.
The Minister of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy, Bosun Tijani, disclosed this on Monday, during the commissioning of the new headquarters of the Nigeria Data Protection Commission in Abuja.
Tijani said the planned sites form part of a broader government programme to deploy 3,700 telecommunications towers across the country, with priority given to communities that currently have limited or no access to telecom services.
He said the first 200 sites are expected to be operational before December, adding that each tower could provide connectivity to communities with between 5,000 and 10,000 residents.
According to the minister, the initiative follows President Bola Tinubu’s directive to expand telecommunications infrastructure to locations that remain outside the country’s digital network.
Tijani disclosed that the first tower under the programme had already been deployed at Kura Village on the outskirts of Abuja, while construction had also started in parts of the Niger Delta.
Beyond the tower project, he said the government is developing a 90,000-kilometre fibre-optic network to strengthen broadband infrastructure and improve internet access across the country.
He added that President Tinubu has also approved the upgrade of Nigeria’s communications satellite to provide connectivity in locations that cannot be effectively reached through fibre-optic cables or terrestrial telecom towers.
Tijani said the Information and Communications Technology sector now contributes about 21 percent to Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP), compared with an estimated 16 to 18 per cent when the current administration assumed office.
He said the government is targeting a 25 percent contribution from the sector, but stressed that expanding connectivity must go hand in hand with digital literacy, cybersecurity and effective data protection.
Meanwhile, the National Commissioner and Chief Executive Officer of the NDPC, Vincent Olatunji, said the commission had licensed 356 Data Protection Compliance Organisations and facilitated the creation of more than 27,000 jobs over the past three years.
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Olatunji also disclosed that the commission generated more than N12 billion in revenue during the period, while Nigeria’s data privacy and protection ecosystem had grown to a value of over N18 billion.
He said the NDPC’s Virtual Privacy Academy had enrolled more than 66,000 Nigerians, while over 220 training programmes had reached 99,370 participants across different sectors.
Earlier, the commission’s Head of People Management and Administration, Watira Fitto, described the new headquarters as an important milestone in the NDPC’s growth.
Fitto said the commission had operated from four different locations within four years, moving from fewer than three office spaces at NITDA to larger facilities in Maitama and Asokoro before relocating to its new headquarters in Mbora District, Abuja, which has about 56 office spaces.
