The Federal Government says it is deploying 3,700 telecommunications towers across Nigeria as part of efforts to connect more than 20 million people in underserved and unserved communities.
The Minister of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy, Bosun Tijani, disclosed this on Monday at the commissioning of the new headquarters of the Nigeria Data Protection Commission (NDPC) in Abuja.
Mr Tijani said at least 200 of the proposed sites would become operational before December, marking the first phase of the nationwide deployment.
“Before December, at least 200 of those sites will be active,” he said.
According to the minister, each tower is expected to provide connectivity to communities with between 5,000 and 10,000 residents. Based on the planned deployment, the project could extend telecommunications services to more than 20 million Nigerians currently without adequate access.
Mr Tijani said the tower project followed a directive from President Bola Tinubu to extend telecommunications infrastructure to communities that remain disconnected from Nigeria’s digital economy.
The first tower under the programme has been deployed in Kura Village, outside Abuja, while work has also commenced in parts of the Niger Delta.
The government is also investing in a 90,000-kilometre fibre-optic network to expand broadband infrastructure and improve internet access across the country.
Mr Tijani said the government had also secured presidential approval to upgrade Nigeria’s communications satellite, NIGCOMSAT, to extend coverage to 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,” he said.
Mr Tijani said the contribution of the Information and Communications Technology sector to Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product had increased to about 21 per cent, from between 16 and 18 per cent when the current administration assumed office.
He said the government was targeting a 25 per cent contribution from the sector.
The minister, however, said expanding connectivity must be accompanied by improvements in digital literacy, cybersecurity, and data protection.
“As we bring more people online, we also have to ensure that we can protect them as well,” he said.
He described digital literacy, cybersecurity, and data protection as critical pillars of the country’s digital economy.
The development comes as the government also seeks to strengthen safeguards around the growing volume of Nigerians using digital services.
The National Commissioner and Chief Executive Officer of the NDPC, Vincent Olatunji, said the commission had licensed 356 Data Protection Compliance Organisations and helped create more than 27,000 jobs within three years.
He said the commission had generated more than N12 billion in revenue, while Nigeria’s data privacy and protection ecosystem was now worth more than N18 billion.
Mr Olatunji added that the NDPC’s virtual privacy academy had onboarded more than 66,000 Nigerians, while over 220 training programmes had reached 99,370 people across different sectors.
The planned telecom expansion is expected to improve access to mobile and internet services in communities that remain underserved, while providing a wider base of Nigerians with access to digital services and opportunities.
