To Forestall Collapse of Telecoms Services, ONSA Moves to Protect Critical Infrastructure in Kogi

Emma Okonji

Worried about the implications of the recent action of Kogi State Utility Infrastructure Management and Compliance Agency (KUIMCA), in sealing six telecoms hubs that are connected to several telecoms sites in the state and its environs, the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA) has initiated fresh moves to stop the state from further tampering with telecoms infrastructure, in line with the Critical National Infrastructure and Information (CNII) Order.

THISDAY gathered that ONSA has conveyed a workshop of stakeholders next week, where the framework for CNII would be discussed and released for implementation, beginning with Kogi State, where major telecoms hubs have been sealed, an action that negates the recently signed official Gazette on CNII by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

President Tinubu, had in August this year, signed and released the official gazette on Critical National Infrastructure and Information (CNII), which seeks to protect telecoms infrastructure from willful damage and from incessant closure of telecoms sites.

But to the utmost surprise of telecoms operators, the Kogi State Utility Infrastructure Management and Compliance Agency (KUIMCA), early this month, sealed six telecoms hubs that are connected to several telecoms sites in the state and its environs, demanding for payment of huge sums of money before the hubs will be unsealed 

The sealing of the telecoms hubs prohibited telecoms personnel from entering the hubs. 

In view of paragraph three of the official Gazette Order on CNII, which stipulates that the Office of the National Security Adviser, in collaboration with other stakeholders, should come up with a detailed CNII plan, THISDAY gathered that the ONSA had initiated a meeting and has informed all relevant stakeholders about it.

THISDAY also learnt that the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has also taken proactive measures by constituting a committee that is already working to develop guidelines and framework that will be discussed at the meeting with ONSA. So NCC will be attending the meeting with the draft guideline that is being developed by the committee set up by NCC.

NCC is also working with telecoms operators to ensure that the major hubs that are connected to several telecommunications sites in Kogi State and its environ, are up and running, to avoid total collapse of the hubs, which could affect several sites that could lead to total collapse of telecoms services.

“Even though there is an existing official Gazette Order on Critical National Infrastructure and Information, which empowers NCC to apply sanctions on anyone that wants to obstruct or destroy telecoms infrastructure, we are still reluctant to wield the big stick because of the operational terrain and business environment. The NCC is however not oblivious of the dangers around destruction of critical national infrastructure and we are working hard to address the challenges,” a source from NCC told THISDAY.        
Chairman, Association of Licensed Telecoms Operators of Nigeria (ALTON), Mr. Gbenga Adebayo, has commended the fresh initiative taken the ONSA to address the issue of telecoms hubs closure in Kogi Sate.

According to him, since the sealing of the telecoms hubs prohibits telecoms personnel from entering the hubs, it could lead to a complete shutdown of the hubs, when the diesel in the generators powering the hubs runs dry, leading to telecoms outages in the entire Kogi State, part of Abuja metropolis and its environs, since the hubs are connected to several telecoms sites. 

Adebayo further explained that the action of Kogi State Utility Infrastructure Management and Compliance Agency would have serious security and economic implications on the Nigerian economy, if it is not urgently addressed.