NCC Boss Warns: Nigeria Risks Being Left Behind in Global Digital Race
Oru Leonard
The Executive Vice Chairman of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Dr. Aminu Maida, has sounded the alarm on the country’s digital future, warning that Nigeria risks being left behind in the global digital race if urgent action is not taken to remove barriers to broadband expansion.
Speaking at a high-level business roundtable on “Improving Investments in Broadband Connectivity and Safeguarding Critical National Infrastructure”, Dr. Maida warned that without urgent, unified action to remove barriers to broadband expansion, Nigeria’s digital future and its youth could be locked out of the global economy.
“How much is an hour of connectivity worth?” Maida asked, opening his speech with a haunting hypothetical that linked broadband outages to economic collapse and even the loss of life. From tech entrepreneurs in Lagos to geologists in Zamfara, connectivity, he said, is now the lifeblood of commerce, security, education, and national development.
“In today’s world, a community without digital connectivity is invisible,” Maida declared. “It is cut off from healthcare, markets, education, and opportunity.”
Despite achieving 48.81% broadband penetration and over 140 million internet users, Nigeria’s progress is hamstrung by infrastructure vandalism, Right-of-Way (RoW) extortion, multiple taxation, and sluggish state-level coordination.
In just eight months of 2025 alone, the NCC recorded:
19,384 fibre cuts
3,241 telecom equipment thefts
19,000+ cases of access denial to telecom sites
“These are not just numbers. These are digital lifelines being severed,” Maida emphasized.
He reaffirmed the nation’s goal to hit 70% broadband penetration by the end of 2025 and deploy 90,000km of fibre-optic cable, but warned that progress depends on urgent cooperation from state governments.
Maida praised the 2024 Critical National Information Infrastructure (CNII) Presidential Order, which empowered security forces to protect telecom infrastructure and prosecute vandals.
Working with the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA), NCC has dismantled major sabotage cartels—but gaps remain, especially at the state level.
While 11 states have waived Right-of-Way charges and 17 more capped them at the recommended N145/meter, Maida lamented that “fragmented, unpredictable RoW regimes are still slowing rollout, inflating costs, and scaring off investment.”
In a move that signals private sector confidence, operators have pledged over $1 billion in new broadband infrastructure investments.
But Maida made it clear: these investments won’t materialize without a stable policy, lower deployment costs, and guaranteed infrastructure protection.
In a moment of direct confrontation, Maida told governors and state officials in the room:
“You hold the levers. Waive RoW. Protect fibre. Fast-track permits. Or your states will stagnate while others prosper.”
He issued five sharp policy asks:
1. 100% RoW waivers or benchmark compliance
2. Strict enforcement of telecom infrastructure protection
3. Coordination with public works to prevent fibre cuts
4. Transparent permitting and approval timelines
5. State-backed incentives to attract rural broadband investment
To ensure transparency and accountability, Maida announced the imminent launch of:
The “Ease of Doing Business Portal” A digital dashboard linking all 36 states and FCT for permitting and investment processes.
The Nigeria Digital Connectivity Index (NDCI), A bold new scorecard to rank states by digital readiness, infrastructure, and investor-friendliness.
Maida ended with a chilling warning: “In earlier eras, a community without rail or electricity could subsist. Today, a community without broadband is not just behind, it is nonexistent.”
As the digital economy accelerates globally, Nigeria stands at a crossroads. The question is no longer if it can transform into a digital powerhouse but whether it will act fast enough to seize the moment.
“This is not just an NCC agenda. It is a national survival imperative,” Maida concluded.
Maida ended with a chilling warning: “A community without broadband is not just behind, it is nonexistent.” He emphasized that Nigeria’s digital future is a national survival imperative, and that urgent action is needed to seize the moment.
