By Feyisola Adeyeha
The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has called for stronger coordination between road construction companies, contractors, engineers, government agencies and telecommunications operators to prevent the recurring damage of fibre-optic cables during road construction, rehabilitation and other excavation works across the country.
The Executive Vice Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the NCC, Dr Aminu Maida, made the call on Tuesday, August 11, 2026, at a stakeholders’ workshop on the protection of fibre-optic cables held at the National Counter-Terrorism Centre (NCTC), Office of the National Security Adviser in Abuja.
Maida said Nigeria’s drive to expand physical infrastructure must go hand in hand with efforts to protect the digital infrastructure that connects citizens to information, financial services, markets and other essential services.
According to him, communications infrastructure has become a critical national lifeline, supporting banking, government services, education, healthcare, commerce, security and emergency communications, meaning that damage to fibre-optic networks can disrupt essential services while imposing significant costs on citizens, businesses and the wider economy.
“To a machine operator on a construction site, it may appear to be one buried cable. To the nation, it can mean failed calls, stalled payments, interrupted services and missed opportunities,” Maida said, stressing that the consequences of fibre cuts extend far beyond the immediate point of damage.
He disclosed that more than 5,000 fibre-cut incidents were recorded in the first six months of 2026 as a result of road construction, excavation and related civil works, describing the development as a growing challenge that requires urgent and coordinated intervention.
The NCC chief recalled that fibre cuts in February 2024, including those associated with road construction activities, resulted in an almost network-wide disruption for one telecommunications operator, affecting millions of subscribers for several hours and placing additional pressure on other networks.
Maida, however, stressed that the problem should not be viewed as an issue of assigning blame, noting that road contractors do not deliberately set out to disconnect communities, just as telecommunications operators do not intend to obstruct infrastructure development.
Rather, he said, the recurring incidents demonstrate the need for a dependable system of early coordination between the various stakeholders before construction and excavation activities begin.
“Our central message is simple: Nigeria must build the roads that connect our communities while protecting the fibre networks that connect our economy. We need both forms of infrastructure, and we need them to work together,” he said.
He disclosed that the Permanent Secretaries of the Federal Ministry of Works and the Federal Ministry of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy had inaugurated a Standing Committee on the Protection of Fibre Optic Cables to develop practical coordination mechanisms for protecting telecommunications infrastructure before, during and after road construction works.
According to him, the committee’s membership has recently been expanded to include representatives of the Office of the National Security Adviser in recognition of the broader security implications of protecting telecommunications infrastructure, which has been designated as Critical National Information Infrastructure.
The designation, Maida explained, means that telecommunications infrastructure must be treated as critical national infrastructure and protected accordingly, with appropriate legal, regulatory and remedial measures applicable where such infrastructure is damaged.
He urged telecommunications operators, construction companies, government agencies, regulators and security organisations to take responsibility for their respective roles in preventing damage to fibre infrastructure, stressing that coordination must become an integral part of project planning and execution rather than an intervention that takes place after damage has occurred.
The workshop, he said, forms part of ongoing efforts by the NCC and other stakeholders to institutionalise mechanisms for protecting telecommunications infrastructure, reducing service disruptions and supporting Nigeria’s digital transformation agenda.
The engagement is expected to contribute to the development of a framework for protecting fibre-optic infrastructure during road construction, excavation and other civil works, with the broader objective of making coordination among infrastructure stakeholders a standard practice across the country.
Maida said the success of Nigeria’s digital economy depends not only on expanding telecommunications infrastructure but also on protecting the networks already in the ground, urging stakeholders to work together to ensure that the country’s physical and digital infrastructure can develop side by side without one undermining the other.
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