The Federal Government says it will begin deploying a 90,000-kilometre fibre optic network across Nigeria within the next few weeks as part of efforts to expand digital connectivity nationwide.
Minister of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy, Bosun Tijani, disclosed this after briefing President Bola Tinubu on key projects being implemented by the ministry at the Presidential Villa.
Tijani said the government had completed funding arrangements and contractual processes for the nationwide project, paving the way for physical deployment.
“We’re now at the point where, in a few weeks’ time, we should start to lay those fibre, so people will start seeing us around the country deploying the fibre. This is going to transform Nigeria for good,” he said.
According to the minister, the fibre network will extend to every state, geopolitical zone, local government area and ward, significantly improving internet connectivity across the country.
“This is a project where every state, every geopolitical zone, every local government and every ward in this country will be covered with fibre optic cables, which will transform the quality of connectivity,” Tijani added.
He attributed the recent growth in Nigeria’s telecommunications sector to reforms introduced by the Tinubu administration, including the designation of digital infrastructure as critical national infrastructure, telecoms tariff adjustments and tax harmonisation.
The minister also announced plans to begin deploying about 3,700 telecommunications towers from October to improve mobile network coverage in underserved communities.
He said the project, which has received presidential approval, is expected to provide reliable connectivity to more than 20 million Nigerians currently without adequate network access.
“Before the end of the year, we’ll also start to deploy close to 3,700 towers. It’s taken a lot putting this project together, raising the capital for it, but we are at a point where we should now start deploying around October,” he said.
Tijani further disclosed that Nigeria will introduce a new alphanumeric postcode system on October 1, assigning every property in the country a unique address.
According to him, the new addressing system will improve logistics, support e-commerce, strengthen emergency response and enhance public service delivery.
“The alphanumeric postcode is unique because it allows us to have unique addresses for every property. That will change the game significantly for Nigeria in terms of the delivery of public services,” he said.
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