Minister says Nigeria targeting national digital connectivity.....

Nigeria is shifting its focus from expanding telecommunications access to ensuring meaningful use of digital connectivity to drive national development, Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy Minister Bosun Tijani said on Friday.

Speaking at a Universal Service Provision Fund (USPF) event organised by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) in Abuja, Tijani said the country had made significant progress since the introduction of Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM), with services now widely accessible and affordable.

“Today, connectivity is almost ubiquitous, compared to the early days, when even acquiring a SIM card was expensive,” he said.

The minister said the government was investing heavily in digital infrastructure, including plans to deploy 90,000 kilometres of fibre optic network and about 4,000 telecommunications towers nationwide.

He described the scale of investment as unprecedented among developing countries, but noted that millions of Nigerians, particularly in rural and underserved areas, still lacked adequate access to connectivity.

Tijani said the USPF had helped bridge the access gap through projects such as telecom tower deployment and computer laboratories in schools, but stressed the need to prioritise how connectivity is used.

“It is not enough to connect communities; we must ensure that citizens derive value,” he said, adding that schools should be able to teach with digital tools while small businesses access wider markets.

He cited a pilot project in Kura community near Abuja, where about 12,000 residents previously had no telephony access, but now benefit from connectivity linking schools and healthcare facilities while enabling economic activities.

“Before now, farmers relied on intermediaries travelling to Abuja to connect with buyers. Today, they can communicate directly and transact more efficiently,” he said.

The project has also proven commercially viable, with increased daily internet usage and community-wide Wi-Fi access, he added.

Tijani said similar interventions would be expanded to about 4,000 communities, many in northern Nigeria where connectivity gaps remain widest.

He emphasised the importance of digital literacy, affordable devices and sustainable project models, urging the USPF board to prioritise outcomes over outputs.

“We must move from counting the number of projects delivered, to assessing how many lives have been improved,” he said.

Also speaking, NCC Executive Vice-Chairman Aminu Maida said the focus must shift from access to meaningful connectivity that delivers socio-economic benefits.

“The work of USPF is really about closing gaps,” he said, noting that earlier efforts focused on expanding access in areas unattractive to mobile network operators.

Maida said recent data showed telecommunications usage had grown by about 160% over the past two years, largely driven by urban areas, widening the divide between connected and underserved populations.

“When we drill down, we see that a lot of that growth is actually in urban centres,” he said.

He said the trend underscored the need for targeted interventions to ensure connectivity supports productivity and economic growth.

“Connectivity must go beyond social media, to support economic growth and prosperity,” Maida said, expressing confidence in the USPF board’s ability to drive inclusive digital development.