By Chika Okeke
Stakeholders in the Communication and Information Technology, CIT, have united to canvas practical ways of safeguarding the fibre-optic infrastructure from damage during road construction, rehabilitation and related civil works.
At a stakeholders’ workshop on the protection of fibre-optic cables during road construction and related activities in Abuja, Executive Vice Chairman of the NCC, Dr Aminu Maida said that communications infrastructure is now a lifeline and the consequences of fibre cuts extend far beyond telecommunications operators.
He argued that telecommunications infrastructure had become a critical national lifeline, underpinning banking, government services, education, healthcare, commerce, security and emergency communications.
The EVC recalled the nationwide telecommunications disruption experienced in late February 2024, when multiple fibre cuts, including those associated with road construction activities, affected one of the country’s major telecommunications operators.
He stated that the disruption prevented millions of subscribers from making calls, sending messages or accessing the internet for several hours, while the migration of affected subscribers to alternative networks subsequently created congestion on the networks.
Maida noted that more than 5,000 fibre-cut incidents had been reported in the first six months of the year alone, arising from road excavation, construction and related civil works.
He linked many of the incidents to inadequate coordination among stakeholders before construction activities commenced, saying that the permanent secretaries of the Federal Ministry of Works and the Federal Ministry of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy, had inaugurated the Standing Committee on the Protection of Fibre-Optic Cables to address the crisis.
Maida pointed out that the committee was established to develop practical coordination mechanisms covering activities before, during and after road construction and other civil works.
He said that membership of the committee includes officials from the Office of the National Security Adviser and the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, NSCDC, reflecting the security implications of protecting telecommunications infrastructure.
Director of Critical National Assets and Infrastructure Protection at the Office of the National Security Adviser, AVM Effiom Ewa disclosed that the protection of fibre-optic infrastructure is a shared national responsibility.
He said that fibre-optic infrastructure had been designated as Critical National Information Infrastructure, cautioning that negligence, interference or actions that expose the assets to damage could constitute offences under Nigeria’s legal framework.
Permanent Secretary of the Federal Ministry of Works, Rafiu Adeladan acknowledged that road construction and telecommunications infrastructure often occupied the same physical space, creating the potential for fibre-optic cables to be exposed or damaged during excavation, reconstruction, utility relocation and related activities.
He pointed out that the Federal Ministry of Works recognised the need for a stronger institutional framework for coordination, information sharing and stakeholder engagement before and during road construction.
