Once upon a time, our National broadband plan was always on the front burner but not anymore. This can sadly be attributed to the fact that in Nigeria, government is nowhere near being a continuum.
A new government comes in and literally throws away the baby with the bath water. Otherwise, I see no reason why some of the forward thinking initiatives kick-started by erstwhile Minister of Communications Technology, Omobola Johnson, have been partially or completely jettisoned.
The broadband vision for Nigeria captured in the National Broadband Plan (2013 – 2018) is one of a society of connected communities with high speed internet and broadband access that facilitate fast socio-economic advancement of the nation and its people.
How far have we been able to achieve this with less than one year to the end of the plan? Not much, to the best of my knowledge.
With regards to the progress of our broadband policy, I had the opportunity to interview the current Minister of Communications, Adebayo Shittu, on Tech Trends and I asked him about the state of Nigeria’s broadband plan?
His reply: “The policy was largely politicised and, therefore, not worth pursing as it is and my office will do something.” I must point out that he did not explain his plans in that interview and I hope there is an action plan indeed.
Be that is it may, as a stakeholder who followed the entire process and thoroughly reviewed the plan as put together by the office of the then minister and the Presidential Committee for a National Broadband Strategy and Roadmap, I wish to state that the plan as put forward has the capacity to transform Nigeria for good, if properly implemented.
I therefore recommend that the present government takes a second look at the plan and continue with its implementation.
Joseph Tegbe, Partner and Head, Telecoms, Media and Technology Management Consulting, KPMG Nigeria, made an overview of the National Broadband Plan at the Commonwealth Broadband Forum in June 2015.
He said, “The Nigerian telecommunications sector is one of the fastest growing sectors, receiving over $32bn in foreign investment to date, with a contribution of 11.04 per cent of the Gross Domestic Product in the fourth quarter of 2014.”
What interests me here is that all these were achieved with only about 40 per cent internet penetration rate and about 10 per cent broadband penetration rate as of December 2014, as quoted by Tegbe. You can imagine what can be achieved when the broadband comes fully on stream.
Nigeria is indeed a paradox: so rich yet so poor; so blessed, but seems to have a penchant for poverty. I am not trying to be tough with these statements, but research results from — Finish Reading on the Punch
