By Patrick Aigbokhan
Telecom industry regulator, the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) and other industry operators, including IHS Towers, Digital Realty and 9mobile Nigeria, have thrown their weights behind the Maiden Edition of the CNII & Telecom Sustainability Conference 2025.
The conference is being organized in collaboration with the Nigeria Information Technology Association (NITRA) and Industry advocacy group, the Association of Licenced Telecom Operators of Nigeria (ALTON).
Scheduled for August 7, 2025 in Lagos, the event, which is expected to host the Minister of Communication, Innovation and Digital Economy, Dr. Bosun Tijani, will also bring stakeholders from Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) and the Peace Corps Nigeria, to discuss the security of infrastructure, stakeholders’ roles, and the practical implementation of the Critical National Information Infrastructure (CNII) Presidential Order.
The event with its theme as “Telecoms Industry Sustainability and the CNII Act – Way Forward”, will discuss the “Role expectations of stakeholders in the implementation of the CNII Act”
The Nigerian Designation and Protection of Critical National Information Infrastructure (CNII) Order, 2024, aims to safeguard critical infrastructure like telecommunications networks, financial systems, and power grids by designating them as CNII and outlining measures for their protection. This order, signed in June 2024, is an extension of the Cybercrimes Act of 2015 and seeks to reduce disruptions to these vital systems.
Some of the questions stakeholders will give answers to at the Panel Discussion are: How to ensure the Order is implemented to the letter, the roles of each stakeholder in the industry and so on.
According to the General Secretary of NITRA, Mr. Chidiebere Nwankwo, this industry collaborative event will allow stakeholders in the public and private sectors to sit back together and review how well the CNII Order has thus far been implemented, and to re-strategise, if need be, on the way forward.
“This event is key because it will bring Stakeholders to the CNII plan to a roundtable to re-evaluate the decision, make amends, and continue the journey. This has to be a periodic gathering to make the goals of this order achievable,” he said.
ALTON is the official private sector industry body for all providers of telecommunications and subsidiary services in Nigeria.
The Chairman of ALTON, Gbenga Adebayo and the Chairman of NITRA, Mr. Chike Onwuegbuchi will be on hand to welcome industry stakeholders.
