NCC commends Minister for championing girls digital empowerment initiative

The Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Dr Tijani Bosun has been commended by the Nigerian Communications Commission for championing girls digital empowerment initiative.

The NCC said the initiative will effectively equip the younger generation with digital knowledge and skills that would make them relevant in the society.

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The Executive Vice Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the NCC, Dr Aminu Maida, speakig while conducting 185 contestants of the 2026 National Girls in ICT (NG-ICT) Competition on a tour of the National Communication Museum at the Commission’s headquarters in Abuja on Thursday, said the initiative also aligns with the Commission’s digital literacy advocacy.

The Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy selected contestants from the six geopolitical zones of the country in order to promote
digital inclusion and inspires greater participation of girls in ICT and other Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) disciplines.

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The visit formed part of activities organised by the Minister under the National Girls in ICT Programme, an initiative aimed at bridging the gender gap in the technology sector by equipping young girls with digital skills, mentorship opportunities, and exposure to innovation.

Maida, represented by the Director of Research and Development, Babagana Digima, noted that the museum tour was designed to create a link between old and new generations in Nigeria’s telecommunications journey, helping young people appreciate the sector’s transformation from analogue systems to the current digital revolution.

During the study tour, NCC officials guided students through exhibits and historical artefacts documenting key milestones in Nigeria’s telecommunications history and the evolution of the communications sector to date.

He emphasised that understanding the industry’s history would inspire participants to contribute meaningfully to the future of digital innovation in Nigeria.

The EVC noted that exposing young people to the history of technological advancement is essential to building a new generation of leaders for Nigeria’s growing digital economy.

“The whole idea behind this is that we are looking at the younger generation. We want to show them what communication is all about. This place is a museum meant to preserve the history of what has gone before and to keep the artefacts, ensuring that people see the evolution from the postal system to telegraphy, from analogue systems to the digital era.

“This is essentially what we are showing them in the shortest amount of time and, of course, to excite the curiosity of the young ones. When they see what happened in the past and how it has progressed into the future, they can also take it up from here and think about what it will look like going forward. That is the whole essence of having them here,” he said.

During the tour, the participants learned about generational trends in telecommunications development, dating back to 1886 when the colonial administration established the first communication facilities primarily to support administrative functions.

They were also taken through the history of the country’s early telegraph services, which linked Lagos to other parts of West Africa and Europe through submarine cable connections.

The tour highlighted the state of telecommunications at Independence in 1960, when Nigeria had only 18,724 telephone lines serving an estimated population of about 40 million people.

The students were also briefed on various development plans that followed Independence, the operations of the former Department of Posts and Telecommunications (P&T) and Nigerian External Telecommunications (NET) Limited, as well as the establishment of the Nigerian Telecommunications Limited (NITEL) in 1985 to coordinate internal and external telecommunications services.

A major highlight of the visit was the display of rare historical artefacts preserved at the NCC Museum.

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