General News
Undersea Cables and Nigeria’s Cloudy Mobile Ecosystem
“Plenty water for Africa…water for ordinary man to drink nko o…e nor dey.”
Fela Anikulapo-Kuti, the late Afrobeat music legend was apt in his hit track: ‘water nor get enemy’. There is so much water around us in Nigeria, yet there is not a single city in the country that boast of sufficient drinkable water for the citizens.
The Nigeria communications landscape is gradually becoming like the ‘water’ legend with so much bandwidth available, yet it’s easier to board a Lagos-Abuja bound night bus than opening an email account in Lagos.
With the landing of the first private open access undersea cable in June 2010, the expectations were that the days of snail speed internet connection from the unreliable SAT-3 would be over. SAT-3 had served its tenure, but with explosion of communications in Nigeria as a result of the new open market operations, the yearning to have addition infrastructure became loud.
Ms. Funke Opeke, a former executive of Verizon Wireless returned to Nigeria from the United States full of hopes and energy. She worked at MTN Nigeria and later Nitel/Mtel with mindset to turn around the public telecom giant into live. It did not work out, and her next project was MainOne undersea cable. MainOne is a novel idea to get people communicating effectively by providing them with enough bandwidth.
MainOne has initial capacity to deliver 1.92tb/ps of bandwidth and everyone said it has enough capacity to serve Nigeria’s broadband requirements.
Globacom also landed a massive 2.5tb/ps capacity Glo-1 undersea cable, also promising to deliver Nigeria from its epileptic bandwidth challenge. The combination of the two cable systems have more than enough bandwidth capacity to deliver fast internet connectivity…but what do we have, poor services. Just like in the days of SAT-3.
The expected landing of the 5.1Tbps WACS cable system would even give more verve to Nigeria’s bandwidth capacity which some say could lead to glut. But it doesn’t seem so easy.
Bandwidth is outrageously priced in Nigeria. Ms. Opeke had stated at public function that the cost of bandwidth from London (UK) to Lagos was about 10 times cheaper than it cost to carry the same capacity from Lagos to the capital, Abuja in the North of the country.
At the heart of this seemingly intractable debacle is the dearth of transmission infrastructure in Nigeria. The old Nitel infrastructure inherited from the defunct post and telecommunications (P & T) department of the Ministry of Communications are all decayed due to poor maintenance. Nigeria is notorious for its lack of maintenance culture in both public and private institutions.
Nigeria has tried desperately to enter into the digital age, but appears to be going round the circus in what appears an unending trek. There has to be a balance in the digital ecosystem to build a successful digital society.
These would include inculcating the right education to the population from the very early nursery age. But nursery is still elitist in Nigeria where primary school enrolment is far below the United Nations recommendation.
Nigeria’s performance in the 2011 Connectivity Scorecard was quite dreadful – finishing in the same bracket with Bangladesh. Areas of concern raised include weak public institutions and poor literacy level.
“Nigeria scores 1.09 and retains the 23rd position among the resource and efficiency-driven economies on the Connectivity Scorecard 2011 index. With this score, Nigeria continues to rank among the bottom five countries along with India, Pakistan, Kenya and Bangladesh.
“The public sector is another area where Nigeria exhibits poor performance, featuring in the bottom-five of the resource and efficiency-driven economies. Though the infrastructure component is relatively higher, indicating that there may be online services available, Nigeria suffers from gross inefficient utilization. This can be attributed to either a lack of resources or unaffordability that most Nigerians face, thus bringing down its score on this metric. The country also posts a relatively lower literacy rate of around 70 per cent.”
Building a successful digital fibre ring to carry the glut of bandwidth in the shores of Lagos would require a concerted effort by both the public and private sectors to finance. The private sector has already taken the lead in this regard by landing these fibres, the government would have to do its beat by either providing grants or guaranteeing long tenure bank facilities to these private investors to take the next step forward.
Camille Mendler, blogger with Informa notes that “being a successful digital society still means keeping a delicate ecosystem in balance. That ecosystem includes many elements – and it’s not just submarine cables. Terrestrial fiber, spectrum, Internet exchange points and datacenters are among the telecom assets also required. But that is certainly not all. Affordable devices, ICT literacy and investment, rule of law and many other factors are highly relevant.”
Nigeria would also need to bring down mobile TCO (total cost of ownership) down considerably if it must remain competitive. At present Nigeria’s TCO is valued at about $10 per subscriber per month which three times more than in Kenya. Despite the huge market potentials here, more ICT firms are finding it easier to domicile their African hub either in South Africa or Kenya – Nigeria hardly comes to the picture.
General News
House of Reps Releases Certified Copies of Tax Reform Acts amid Gazette Discrepancy Claims
House of Representatives has released certified true copies of the four tax reform Acts signed into law by President Bola Tinubu, addressing public concerns over alleged discrepancies between legislative versions and circulated gazetted documents.
Tax Reform Acts
House spokesperson, Akin Rotimi, disclosed this in a statement, noting that Speaker Tajudeen Abbas directed the immediate publication of the Acts—including endorsement and presidential assent pages—for public verification, in collaboration with Senate President Godswill Akpabio.
The move followed allegations raised by Rep. Abdulsamad Dasuki on the House floor, highlighting inconsistencies between Bills passed by the National Assembly and executive gazetted versions, which he warned could erode legislative integrity and public trust.
Abbas constituted a seven-member ad hoc committee chaired by Rep. Aliyu Betara, with members including Idris Wase, Sada Soli, Adedeji Faleke, Igariwey Iduma, Fred Agbedi and Babajimi Benson, to investigate the alleged alterations, unauthorised circulation and preventive measures.
The committee’s mandate includes probing circumstances around the discrepancies, while Abbas ordered internal verification and public release of certified copies to dispel doubts and safeguard legislative records. Legal experts, tax professionals and civil society had demanded clarification and implementation suspension amid heated debates triggered by Dasuki’s intervention.
The released laws comprise the Nigeria Tax Act, 2025; Nigeria Tax Administration Act, 2025; National Revenue Service Establishment Act, 2025; and Joint Revenue Board Establishment Act, 2025, described as foundational to modernising Nigeria’s tax system.
These reforms aim to enhance compliance, curb inefficiencies, eliminate overlaps and bolster fiscal coordination across federal, state and local tiers, following extensive stakeholder consultations, committee reviews and plenary debates under Abbas’s leadership.
Rotimi reassured Nigerians: “The National Assembly is an institution built on records, procedure, and institutional memory. Every Bill, every amendment, and every Act follows a traceable constitutional and parliamentary pathway.”
He emphasised that only National Assembly-certified versions hold authority, urging the public, institutions and stakeholders to disregard all other circulating documents as unofficial.
MultiChoice, a CANAL+ company, has retained the distribution rights to 12 Warner Bros. Discovery thematic channels following the signing of a new multi-year, multi-territory agreement between CANAL+ Group and Warner Bros. Discovery, marking a significant expansion of their long-standing partnership.
MultiChoice
The new deal, which spans several regions across Africa and Europe, covers the distribution of HBO Max as well as the renewal of selected Warner Bros. Discovery thematic channels. It represents a major milestone in the companies’ international collaboration and strengthens content offerings across MultiChoice Group territories.
MultiChoice disclosed that this agreement builds on earlier partnerships concluded in Europe. “It builds on the landmark agreements concluded in France in 2024,including the renewal of the exclusive pay-TV window for Warner Bros. Pictures films just six months after their theatrical release in France and the integration of HBO Max within select CANAL+ group offers – as well as in Poland in 2025, with the renewal of the distribution agreement for 22 thematic channels (including TVN 24 and Eurosport) and 4 free-to-air channels (including TVN).”
Under the renewed arrangement, MultiChoice Group will continue to distribute 12 Warner Bros. Discovery thematic channels across its territories, with some channels offered on an exclusive basis. CNN International and Cartoon Network will remain exclusive to South Africa while being distributed non-exclusively in other markets. Cartoon Network Porto will be exclusive in Angola and Mozambique and non-exclusive elsewhere. Other channels such as Discovery Channel, TLC, HGTV, Food Network, TNT Africa, Travel, ID and Cartoonito will be offered on a non-exclusive basis.
According to the partners, the deal reinforces CANAL+ Group’s channel portfolio on the continent. “This agreement enables CANAL+ Group to strengthen its entertainment, kids, news, and documentary channel offerings in African markets.”
The agreement is also expected to improve access for CANAL+ Group subscribers to Warner Bros. Discovery’s premium content through HBO Max and selected channels, including globally recognised series and films, further extending the studio’s international reach while consolidating MultiChoice’s content offering in key markets.
Nigeria Police Force has suspended nationwide enforcement of its tinted glass permit policy, hours before its scheduled rollout, in compliance with a Delta State High Court order.
Tinted glass permit
The policy, set for January 2, 2026, aimed to curb vehicle-related crimes but faced legal challenge from a private citizen against the Inspector-General of Police, the force, and Delta Police Commissioner.
An ex parte injunction issued in December 2025 restrained enforcement pending suit determination, prompting the hold announced by spokesperson Benjamin Hundeyin on January 1.
Police entered appearance, filed preliminary objections, and sought injunction vacation; hearing adjourned to January 20, 2026.
The Nigerian Bar Association condemned initial police plans as “executive recklessness,” accusing disregard for rule of law, while police insisted no permanent bar existed on statutory duties.
IGP Kayode Egbetokun reiterated adherence to law while prioritising public safety via intelligence-led strategies during proceedings.
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