By Prince Osuagwu, Hi-Tech Editor

Nigeria’s landmark National Telecommunications Policy of 2000 was born out of national embarrassment, economic urgency and the realisation that the country was being left behind in the global communications revolution.

That was the central message from former Executive Vice Chairman of the Nigerian Communications Commission, Ernest Ndukwe, during discussions at the National Telecommunications Policy 2000 Review Workshop.

According to Ndukwe, before the policy was introduced under former president Olusegun Obasanjo, Nigeria’s telecom sector had become a symbol of underdevelopment despite the country’s huge population and economic importance in Africa.

At the time, fewer than 200,000 ordinary Nigerians had access to telephone services in a country of nearly 120 million people. The nation’s teledensity – the number of telephone connections relative to population – ranked among the worst globally.

“The number of connected lines was growing at an average of about 1,250 subscribers monthly. This was clearly inadequate and embarrassing for a country of Nigeria’s size and economic potential,” Ndukwe recalled.

For decades, the sector operated under state monopoly through the now-defunct Nigerian Telecommunications Limited, but expansion remained painfully slow, infrastructure weak and service quality poor.

Although Decree 75 of 1992 had established the NCC as an independent regulator and attempted partial liberalisation, the reforms failed to attract the level of investment needed because government still retained monopoly control over critical telecom services.

By the late 1990s, it had become obvious that Nigeria could not modernise its economy without overhauling telecommunications infrastructure.

When democracy returned in 1999, the Obasanjo administration identified telecoms as a strategic sector capable of accelerating national development, attracting foreign investment and connecting millions of Nigerians previously excluded from communication services.

Government subsequently constituted a multi-stakeholder committee chaired by the vice president to draft a fresh telecom framework that would dismantle barriers to growth.

“The committee was tasked with removing the bottlenecks hindering rapid expansion of telecom services and positioning telecommunications as a major driver of national infrastructure and economic development,” Ndukwe explained.

The result was the National Telecommunications Policy of 2000, a policy that fundamentally changed Nigeria’s economic trajectory.

The policy opened the sector to full competition, empowered the NCC to regulate independently and created the foundation for the licensing of digital mobile operators in 2001.

What followed was one of Africa’s biggest telecom success stories.
Mobile phone penetration exploded. Foreign investment poured in. Network coverage expanded beyond major cities. Call tariffs crashed. Millions of Nigerians gained access to communication for the first time, while entire industries, from banking and fintech to e-commerce and digital media, emerged on the backbone of telecom infrastructure.

Today, experts say the same policy that once rescued Nigeria from telecom isolation may itself need urgent modernisation to address a vastly different digital economy.

According to Ndukwe, the telecom ecosystem has evolved far beyond the realities of 2000. Technologies such as artificial intelligence, 5G, cloud computing, data centres, fintech ecosystems, satellite broadband and the Internet of Things now dominate global conversations.

He argued that while the 2000 policy succeeded in opening the sector, Nigeria now requires a fresh framework capable of supporting emerging technologies, digital infrastructure resilience, cybersecurity, spectrum efficiency and deeper broadband penetration.

“The Nigerian Communications Act may now require another review after more than two decades,” he said.

Ndukwe warned that regulators must remain independent and shielded from political interference if investor confidence is to be preserved in the next phase of telecom growth.

prescriptive on technology because technology changes so quickly. That is why regular review is necessary,” Ndukwe added.

Industry stakeholders believe the ongoing review presents Nigeria with another historic opportunity, similar to what happened in 2000, to reposition telecommunications not just as a communications sector, but as the backbone of the country’s digital economy ambitions.