By Àkànní Oluwáṣégun Michael
Stakeholders in Nigeria’s telecommunications sector have expressed concern over what they describe as a long-standing reform gap, as the Nigerian Communications Commission begins a review of the National Telecommunications Policy (NTP) 2000, 26 years after it was introduced.
The review workshop, held in Lagos, brought together government officials and industry players who questioned the prolonged delay in updating a framework they say no longer reflects current technological realities.
Participants said the sector has moved far beyond the environment in which the 2000 policy was designed, with new technologies such as artificial intelligence, cloud computing, and satellite broadband reshaping global communications.
The Special Adviser to the President on Policy and Coordination, Hadiza Bala Usman, said policy reviews are necessary to keep regulation aligned with national priorities.
She said that “the policy is not just industry-based but national-based and policy matters when it creates a clear roadmap and yields results.”
She added that Nigeria’s digital economy ambition requires a regulatory framework that is adaptive, forward-looking, and capable of supporting innovation and investment.
The Executive Vice Chairman of the Nigerian Communications Commission (Nigerian Communications Commission), Aminu Maida, said the telecoms sector has become central to economic productivity and national development.
“This is no longer a narrow telecommunications conversation. The sector is no longer just a sector within the economy. It is the productivity infrastructure for the entire economy,” he said.
Maida noted that the proposed updated framework, expected to guide the next phase of reforms, often referred to as NTP 2026, will focus on investment growth, consumer protection, cybersecurity, and improved service delivery.
He added that the sector must now prioritise meaningful connectivity rather than simply expanding subscriber numbers.
Despite Nigeria’s position as Africa’s largest telecom market by user base, stakeholders said the country continues to face persistent challenges, including poor network quality, slow internet speeds, and uneven access, particularly in rural communities.
Experts attributed these issues to infrastructure vandalism, fibre cuts, high energy costs, multiple taxation, and delays in securing approvals for telecom infrastructure deployment.
Former Managing Director of MainOne, Funke Opeke, called for stronger infrastructure sharing among operators and better coordination between government agencies.
She said, “If we’re going to have meaningful connectivity down to the rural areas in Nigeria, we need to consider the affordability and capacity of our networks to drive usage to the very least of our villages.”
She also stressed the need to address right-of-way bottlenecks and improve protection for telecom infrastructure, noting that these challenges continue to slow network expansion.
Other stakeholders warned that unless the review leads to concrete implementation, Nigeria risks repeating long-standing challenges where policy reforms do not translate into improved service delivery.
The review is expected to produce a refreshed policy framework aligned with global digital trends and Nigeria’s broader economic goals.
However, stakeholders said the real measure of success will be implementation, not documentation, insisting that enforcement across all levels of government will determine the impact of the reforms.
