President Bola Ahmed Tinubu will likely adjust the structure and the functions of the ministry in charge of tech and communications in Nigeria to allow for oversight by more ministers as well as drive efficiency. This is according to some people who know enough about the matter.
The reorganisation will likely separate the oversight of the telecommunications, policy and identity management which hitherto had been under the purview of the Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy into the Ministry of Communications. This ministry will oversee the activities of the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), the Nigerian Telecommunications Commission (NCC) and the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC).
Consequently, a new ministry will be created to cater for supporting innovations, driving digital wealth and promoting the growth of the Nigerian startup ecosystem. According to our sources, the ministry will drive activities around indigenous talent development via supporting hubs and edtech platforms as well as attracting foreign investment.
This will be similar to some of the impact activities of the country’s federal minister of information and communication between 2011 and 2015, Dr Omobola Johnson. In 2011, President Goodluck Jonathan appointed Johnson as Nigeria’s pioneer minister of communication technology.
During her four-year tenure at the ministry, she oversaw the launch and execution of the 2013-2018 National Broadband Plan and provided the needed structure and effort to bring down the cost of internet access in Nigeria. She also pioneered the involvement of the Nigerian government in a local venture capital fund and a network of start-up incubators.
Notable among these is the founding of the Co-creation hub and the ideation hub in Lagos.
Read also: Fact Check: Did Bola Tinubu really bring Econet to operate in Nigeria in 2001?
About the Ministry of Communications
Prior to 2011, Nigeria’s ICT sector was supervised by the Ministry of Information and Communications.
Then, in 2011, the Federal Ministry of Communications Technology was created by former President Goodluck Jonathan. In 2015, it was renamed the Ministry of Communications by President Muhammadu Buhari. He appointed Barrister Adebayo Shittu as the Minister. In his second term in office in 2019, President Buhari renamed the ministry the Federal Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy and appointed Dr Isah Pantanmi as the minister for four years.
In October 2019, Dr Pantanmi told the press that the old name was limiting in scope and had become obsolete in light of contemporary trends.
Among other things, the Ministry was created to facilitate ICT development in the country in specific areas: job creation, economic growth and transparency of governance.
The Ministry has 7 portfolio parastatals that are responsible for the overall governance of specific sectors, revenue generation and licensing.
These include the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC). Established in November 1992, the NCC regulates the telecommunications space in Nigeria. Established in April 2001, the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) makes laws that guarantee the safety of individuals and businesses in the country’s cyberspace as well as guarantee fairness and competitiveness.
Also read: NIPOST Would Have Been this Government’s Brightest Tech Initiative, but for Politics
Established in 2007, the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) is responsible for the country’s identity system and issues the National Identity Number (NIN) and drafts regulations about its use. Established in 1987, the Nigerian Postal Service (Nipost) is the country’s postal agency. it is also responsible for regulating addressing and logistics business spaces.
The other two parastatals include Galaxy Backbone, the ICT and shared services provider of the Federal Government and Nigerian Communications Satellite Ltd (NIGCOMSAT), the agency designed to operate the country’s Communications Satellite systems. NigComSat was established by President Olusegun Obasanjo in 2006 to build and launch satellites. That mandate has now been transferred to the National Space Research and Development Agency (NASRDA), an agency under the Ministry of Science and Technology.
The last, The Universal Service Provision Fund (USPF) was established in 2003 to facilitate the achievement of national policy goals for ICT development across the country.
Possible reasons for the split
According to our sources, the first likely reason for the separation of functions is to create additional roles to cater for the president’s extensive list of ministers. President Bola Tinubu has set the record for the highest number of ministerial nominees in Nigeria’s Fourth Republic (1999 to date).
A few weeks ago, he sent a total list of 48 cabinet nominees to the upper chamber of the legislature and the Senate approved the appointment of 45. In his first coming, Tinubu’s predecessor, President Muhammadu Buhari named 36 ministers. He appointed 42 ministers during his second term.
The first elected President in the present democratic dispensation, President Olusegun Obasanjo initially named 42 ministers in 1999 but reviewed his cabinet to reduce the number of ministries and ministers to 27 and 40, respectively, before he left office in 2007.
In 2007, Yar’Adua named a 39-member cabinet, which included 32 men and seven women. Goodluck Jonathan 2011 named 33 nominees to be ministers in his cabinet — including nine people from the Umar Yar’Adua administration.
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The second likely reason is the need to separate the traditional regulatory functions of the ministry from the young people and international players facing functions. According to observers, both elements require ministers with different personality types. The regulatory functions of the ministry require an experienced bureaucrat with some experience in public service as the minister will need to liaise with governors, traditional rulers, civil servants, corporate leaders and other agencies.
The nomination and confirmation of the co-founder and CEO of Co-Creation Hub, Bosun Tijani has positioned him as a favourite to lead the Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy. But, we learnt that some close advisers to the President feel that although he is a major influencer among young tech players and foreign investors, Bosun might find it hard to command the respect of traditional key stakeholders in the space.
The suspicion is that President Tinubu might assign him to lead a new ministry with an unclear title that will not be far from the “Digital Economy” that was in the previous name. Consequently, another nominee with civil service or political experience will be assigned to the communications ministry.
Our source believes that the nominee that comes to mind is Information and Technology expert, Lola Ade-John. With an impressive track record in the banking and technology sector. Lola has the profile to be the potential favourite.
She started her career as a System Analyst at the Shell Petroleum Development Company Of Nigeria Ltd for 7 years and 3 months. Then, she joined Magnum Trust Bank Ltd. (now part of Sterling Bank Nigeria Plc.), where she pioneered the use of structured cabling in the Nigerian banking industry and successfully implemented new technology platforms for the bank, ensuring its competitiveness and growth.
She moved on to Access Bank Plc as the Group Head of Support Services and Technology. Over a period of 13 years and 1 month, she led transformative projects, including the construction of a new Head Office building and data center with an investment of $3 million in technology.
Lola Ade John also served as the Head of Applications at United Bank for Africa and later at Ecobank Nigeria. Presently, Lola Ade John is the Principal Consultant at Novateur Business Technology Consultants, a company she founded in 2014.
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