They say that for 65 years, independence in Nigeria has been driven by oil. I’d argue that in 2025, it is now being held together by glass threads in the earth — fibre.
Take this for a reality check: the government’s BRIDGE project (Building Resilient Digital Infrastructure for Growth) is pushing to lay 90,000 km of fibre optic backbone across the country. That, together with private investment and a $500 million World Bank loan, should expand Nigeria’s main fibre network from ~35,000 km to beyond 125,000 km, with a goal of covering 70 % of the population.
But then, broadband penetration in July 2025 sat at just 48.01 % (down slightly from earlier months). The National Broadband Plan (2020–2025) targets 70% by December 2025, meaning Nigeria is more than 21% points short with only months left.
The Shift from Oil to Infrastructure
Oil once filled Nigeria’s coffers. Today, as global demand changes and instability returns, that model is brittle. Fibre, once laid, becomes an infrastructure asset. It supports banks, digital health systems, education platforms, e-commerce, government services. And it compounds value with each new user and service.
Economic studies reveal a 10% increase in fibre or broadband penetration usually corresponds with a 2% rise in GDP growth. The logic is simple, more connectivity means greater productivity, more innovation, and wider access to markets.
That growth is already visible in Nigeria’s digital economy. From negligible contributions in the 1990s, tech, telecoms, fintech, and digital services now approach 20% of GDP in 2025. The expansion of fibre is the silent engine behind most of that.
Backbone, Satellites, and Sovereignty
If you control pipes, you control flows. If you control flows, you control power.
Nigeria has long held satellite ambitions, NIGCOMSAT is one. But too often, the cost and complexity have sabotaged their promise. Yet as cloud systems, AI, and cross-continental data transfer become central to all industries, the question of who owns the nodes — fibre and orbital — becomes a question of national sovereignty.
Reliance on foreign satellite services or international data transit is a vulnerability. If your connectivity is built on someone else’s pipes, you lose control of latency, security, and data jurisdiction. That’s why local fibre networks paired with satellite infrastructure must become strategic foundations, not experimental projects.
5G, Edge, and the Industrial Leap
5G is not a faster YouTube. It’s real-time control of machines, sensors, autonomous systems, smart grids. Without pervasive, low-latency connectivity, Nigeria will import the technologies it should build.
Some rollout is happening, but the progress is spotty and concentrated in large cities. Yet high costs and regulatory bottlenecks are slowing adoption across much of the country.
To make things worse, large metropolitan loops, regional fibre rings, and edge data centres are often ignored in favour of centre-to-centre connections. But these are precisely the last-mile systems that deliver fast, secure services to real users.
The Local ISPs: Silent Nation Builders
When we talk big projects, we forget the real heroes: local ISPs and fibre operators who extend networks into underserved towns and rural areas. They stitch Nigeria’s digital fabric from one town to another.
These firms build metropolitan networks, regional extensions, and even manage edge data centres. Without them, the digital economy is just a Lagos-Abuja bubble, the rest of the country is excluded.
Sadly, many of them operate under limitations, including unreliable power, high Right-of-Way (RoW) fees, and inconsistent state regulation. Some states still charge operators heavily to cross roads or dig beneath streets.
If those ISPs collapse, the fibre backbone, no matter how long, means very little to people outside the map’s bright spots.
Infrastructure + Strategy: Supporting Tech Ambitions
At 65, Nigeria is already a recognised hub in Africa’s tech sector. In 2024, the country ranked second among African nations for the highest number of AI firms. That growth is promising, but without dependable infrastructure it stalls.
Nigeria’s National AI Strategy aims to build ethical, inclusive, and practical AI deployment. But strategy without connectivity is hollow, you cannot deploy digital systems that demand low latency, high bandwidth, and security on shaky networks.
That mismatch is why the fibre push must align with policy, regulation, and investment in local ecosystems.
The Challenge of Meeting 70 %
While the goal is commendable, the odds are steep. Nigeria must grow from ~48% penetration to 70% in months. The fiber backbone is being rolled, but adoption must follow.
States must cooperate. RoW charges should be slashed or waived. Local governments must allow fast deployment without bureaucratic delay. Private sector investment must be opened. The InfraCos model, licensing infrastructure companies to build metro and intercity fibre, is already in play.
But the clock is against the nation. If Nigeria misses the target at 65, the gap between promise and reality will deepen.
True Independence: Measured in Access
The day Nigeria’s citizens view broadband as essential as water or power will be the real independence anniversary.
Oil defined the last 65 years in Nigeria. Fibre will define what comes next.
If Nigeria wants sustainability, resilience, economic sovereignty, it must finish laying and activating that fibre network. It must empower local ISPs. It must own its data routes above and below earth. Because the future doesn’t run on fuel. It runs on fibre.
