By George Ozalla
PHOTO CAPTION:
L-R: Rafiu Adeladan, Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Works; Air Vice Marshal Effiom Ewa, Director, Directorate of Critical National Assets and Infrastructure Protection (DCNAIP), Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA); and Dr. Aminu Maida, Executive Vice Chairman/CEO, Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), during the Stakeholders’ Workshop for the Protection of Fibre Optic Cables During Road Construction, held on August 11, 2026, at the National Counter Terrorism Centre, Office of the National Security Adviser, Abuja.
The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has called on road construction companies, contractors, engineers, government agencies and other stakeholders to strengthen coordination and adopt preventive measures to protect fibre optic cables during road construction, rehabilitation and other excavation activities across the country.
The Executive Vice Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the NCC, Dr. Aminu Maida, made the call on Tuesday at a stakeholders’ workshop on the protection of fibre optic cables during road construction, held at the National Counter Terrorism Centre, Office of the National Security Adviser, Abuja.
Maida disclosed that more than 5,000 fibre cut incidents were recorded in the first six months of 2026 as a result of road construction, excavation and related civil works, warning that continued damage to telecommunications infrastructure could disrupt essential services and impose significant costs on citizens, businesses and the wider economy.
He said Nigeria’s drive to expand physical infrastructure must be pursued without undermining the digital infrastructure connecting Nigerians to information, services, markets and economic opportunities.
According to him, communications infrastructure has become a critical national lifeline, supporting banking, government services, education, healthcare, commerce, security and emergency communications.
“To a machine operator on a construction site, it may appear to be one buried cable. To the nation, it can mean failed calls, stalled payments, interrupted services and missed opportunities,” Maida said.
The NCC chief executive said the issue should not be viewed as a contest between road contractors and telecommunications operators, noting that no road contractor deliberately seeks to disconnect a community, just as telecommunications companies do not intend to obstruct road construction.
He, however, stressed that the growing frequency of fibre cuts made early coordination among stakeholders imperative, particularly before excavation and construction work begins.
“Our central message is simple: Nigeria must build the roads that connect our communities while protecting the fibre networks that connect our economy. We need both forms of infrastructure, and we need them to work together,” Maida said.
He recalled that in February 2024, fibre cuts, including those caused by road construction, resulted in an almost network-wide disruption for one telecommunications operator, affecting millions of users for several hours and placing additional pressure on other networks.
Maida said the experience demonstrated the extent to which damage to a single critical fibre route could have consequences extending far beyond the immediate location of the construction activity.
He disclosed that the Permanent Secretaries of the Federal Ministry of Works and the Federal Ministry of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy had inaugurated a Standing Committee on the Protection of Fibre Optic Cables to develop practical coordination mechanisms before, during and after road works.
According to him, the committee’s membership had recently been expanded to include representatives of the Office of the National Security Adviser, reflecting the security implications of protecting telecommunications infrastructure.
Maida explained that telecommunications infrastructure had been designated as Critical National Information Infrastructure, requiring it to be treated as national infrastructure and protected accordingly, with appropriate legal, regulatory and remedial consequences for damage.
He urged telecommunications operators, contractors, government agencies, regulators and security institutions to take responsibility for their respective roles in preventing fibre damage and ensuring that infrastructure protection becomes part of the planning and execution of relevant projects.
The EVC said the objective should be to make coordination a standard practice rather than an exception, noting that road projects and telecommunications infrastructure could coexist effectively when relevant stakeholders shared information and planned their activities together.
He urged participants at the workshop to develop practical measures that would improve the identification and protection of underground fibre infrastructure before road construction, excavation and other civil works commence.
The workshop forms part of ongoing efforts by the NCC and other stakeholders to institutionalise mechanisms for safeguarding telecommunications infrastructure, minimising service disruptions and supporting Nigeria’s digital transformation agenda.
The engagement is expected to culminate in a framework for the protection of telecommunications fibre optic infrastructure during road construction and other excavation activities.
