Whether by happenstance or providence, the telecommunications revolution in Nigeria coincided with the dawn of the new millennium.
A breakthrough in telephone infrastructure emerged in January 2001 when the sector was totally liberalised, paving the way for the licensing of private telecoms operators to offer telephone services previously the exclusive territory of the government-owned Nigerian Telecommunications Limited (NITEL) and its subsidiary, M-Tel, which had attempted to offer mobile, albeit analogue services.
The licensing of private operators was the result of a week-long spectrum auction, code-named Digital Mobile Licensing (DML) Auction, which took place in January 2001, in Abuja, and conducted, by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC).
The DML auction and licensing introduced serious competition, among local and foreign giants for the soul of Nigeria’s telecommunications sector.
History showed that the journey actually started with several interested parties including MSI-Celtel, MTN, Econet, CIL, M-Tel, among others.
From 400,000 lines to 297m connected telephone users. The efforts of players paved the way for the transformation in the sector, which later saw investment to the tune of over $75 billion within the last two decades.
These investments are traceable to mobile towers, VSAT turnkey networks, fibre optic infrastructure backbones, data centres, call centres and service centres spread out across the country.
Also, landing stations for international subsea cables went up from one to about five, changing the communications landscape and making voice, data, and video and Internet services available at the fingertips of Nigerians.
As at August 2023, there are 220.7 million telephony subscriptions which have pushed Nigeria’s teledensity to over 115.63 per cent. The country can also boast of 159 million Internet users.
While operators have leveraged the different infrastructure to provide services, the sector has equally not failed to contribute significantly to the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
In fact, it has lifted the economy out of recession on several occasions.
Statistics from NCC shows telecoms’ contribution to GDP as at Q3 2023 was 13.50 per cent. Despite the decline in the quarter based on YoY data, however, statistics are there to show, telecoms contribution has been crucial in maintaining economic stability even during the COVID-19 era.
There are still challenges. Despite these contributions to the economy, gaps and challenges remain. Nigerians are still grappling with poor quality of service (QoS), access gaps, Right of Way (RoW) charges, multiple taxations, transparency, issues around market dominance dilemma and more.
There are still 115 access gaps as at 2022, where some 27 million Nigerian are still without basic telephony services.
The coming of Dr. Aminu Maida: Is he the right man for the job?
President Bola Tinubu must be commended for his tactical move in the appointment of Dr. Aminu Maida as the Executive Vice Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), and the strong backing of Dr. Bosun Tijani, the Honourable Minister of Communications, Innovations and Digital Economy.
Aside the high trust level, a lot of factors point to the fact that Dr. Maida is the right man for the job.
With a solid academic background, Dr. Maida holds a MEng in Information Systems Engineering from Imperial College London, a Ph.D. Electrical & Electronic Engineering from Bath University UK as well a Post Graduate Diploma in Entrepreneurship from Cambridge Judge Business School.
His educational credentials have played an instrumental role in shaping his ability to tackle complex technical challenges and devise robust, future-proof strategies.
Dr. Maida’s technical prowess is further evidenced by the numerous patents he holds to his name in the areas of wireless communication and self organsing networks.
Throughout his career, Dr. Aminu Maida has held various leadership positions in top-tier organizations.
He has successfully managed teams of engineers, developers, and researchers, fostering a collaborative and innovative work environment.
His expertise in strategic planning, business development and project management has contributed significantly to the growth and expansion of the companies he has worked with.
Dr. Maida is an active participant in industry conferences and forums, where he shares his insights and experience with fellow professionals.
He is committed to the ongoing advancement of technology in the telecommunication and payments sectors, mentoring young professionals, and contributing to research that shapes the future of these industries.
In summary, Dr. Aminu Maida is a seasoned technology executive with a proven track record of success in the telecommunication and payments industries. His vast experience, strong leadership skills, and commitment to innovation make him a valuable asset to Nigeria and telecoms sector in particular as we seek to thrive in today’s rapidly evolving technology landscape.
He has done before. As Executive Director, Tech & Ops., the heartbeat of Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement Systems (NIBSS), in delivering its core mandate of providing shared services to the Nigerian e-payments ecosystem, Dr. Aminu spearheaded the provisioning of global technical and strategic direction for the highly service oriented organization.
On joining NIBSS in 2019 he setup a cross functional team that identified tactical measures to restore platform stability and build ecosystem confidence successfully as demonstrated by the ~36% CAGR in transaction volumes since 2019 whilst maintaining stability.
Prior to his appointment as the EVC/CEO of NCC, Dr. Aminu Maida oversaw a $30m+ digital transformation at NIBSS to modernise the platforms by taking advantage of Cloud technologies, APIs 1st approach and adopting an Agile/DevOps culture.
Dr. Aminu is an infrastructure man. As the Chief Technology Officer, ARCA Payments, he was responsible for all infrastructure, system development, platform operations and customer support covering smart Android based PoS devices and cloud based account/QR/card switching infrastructure.
He understands that the growth of telecommunications in Nigeria depends on how robust the infrastructure become.
The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has put the number of masts and towers in the industry at 40,451 as at 2022. Now, with launch Nigeria has growing need for cell towers. The country needs not less than 40,000 additional cell towers.
While investments are needed in the infrastructure segment; towers, fibre optic cables, smartphones, etc., there is greater challenge of ensuring the Critical National Infrastructure (CNI) protection.
Dr. Aminu also has to reassure investors of government’s backing such that their indigenous investors shall remain in business as foreign counterparts can repatriate their funds without harassments or intimidation.
Again, looking at what Dr. Aminu Maida did as the Consultant Lead Technical Designer, Special Projects, British Telecoms UK, providing technical consultancy to UK Home Office on design and deployment of replacement systems for mission critical communications for use by UK emergency responders, then, his choice as EVC/CEO of NCC by President Tinubu, was strategic!
Before his Cisco Systems UK days, Dr. Aminu worked as the Smallcells Design Consultant, EE Ltd UK (Merger of Orange UK & TMobile UK).
He was the technical lead for implementation of strategic indoor coverage solutions for service provider. Major tasks/achievements included.
He managed entire technical RFI process including preparation of RFI document with inputs from relevant departments, assessment/scoring of vendor responses and providing recommendations to project steerco.
Responsible for High/Low level designs of security & access gateways, OSS nodes and customer provisioning nodes covering solution resiliency, dimensioning, service profiles, mobility, emergency call strategy, expansion strategy etc.
Interestingly, Dr. Aminu was pioneer staff member of a 3G/LTE small cell development company, the Systems Engineer, UbiquiSys Ltd UK (acquired by Cisco Systems in 2013).
We have a man who understands Quality of Service. Industry players should expect a great change, probably KPIs in this regard. With the backing of the Federal Government and MNOs, Dr. Aminu can do it again; he led systems analysis effort at Systems Engineer, UbiquiSys Ltd., for development of Self-Optimising Network (SON) algorithms which addressed key deployment issues.
This involved requirements/data gathering, spreadsheet modelling, design/test documentations and coordinating peer reviews.
SON functionality currently activated in full commercial smallcell deployments by tier 1 EMEA mobile operators. Several key patents filed as a result of work.
In conclusion, Dr. Aminu Maida is a highly accomplished technology executive with extensive experience spanning across the telecommunication and payments industries.
Throughout his illustrious career, he has consistently demonstrated his expertise in leading cutting-edge innovations, managing cross-functional teams, and driving growth for businesses in competitive markets.
As a result, he has earned a reputation for being a forward-thinking leader with a keen eye for spotting industry trends and implementing groundbreaking solutions.
Good I need more info about this “Before his Cisco Systems UK days, Dr. Aminu worked as the Smallcells Design Consultant, EE Ltd UK (Merger of Orange UK & TMobile UK).” I didn’t understand