adsErnest Ndukwe, former executive vice chairman of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), has recounted how the telecommunications reforms introduced under former president Olusegun Obasanjo in 2000 rescued Nigeria from what he described as a global teledensity shame and laid the foundation for the country’s digital transformation.
Speaking during a panel session on Nigeria’s telecom policy evolution, at the National Telecommunications Policy 2000 Review Workship, in Lagos, on Wednesday, Ndukwe traced the country’s telecommunications journey from the colonial era to the liberalisation reforms that opened the sector to competition and investment.
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According to him, Nigeria’s telecom sector was in a deeply embarrassing state before the reforms, with fewer than 200,000 ordinary Nigerians having access to telephone services in a country with an estimated population of about 120 million people at the time.
“The number of connected lines was growing at an average of about 1,250 subscribers per month. This was clearly inadequate and embarrassing for a country of Nigeria’s size and economic potential,” Ndukwe said.adsads
