Critical communications infrastructure is not just a technical concern — it is a national security concern. As Commissioner for Communications Technology and Digital Economy in Niger State, I visited the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) Command in Minna to discuss the protection of the state’s critical digital and communications infrastructure.
Why This Visit Mattered
Telecoms towers, fibre optic cables, government data centres, and network nodes are as much a part of Niger State’s security landscape as any physical asset. When these are vandalised, sabotaged, or left unprotected, the consequences ripple through every digital service the state delivers — from payroll to health records to citizen communications.
The NSCDC Partnership
The NSCDC has a statutory mandate to protect critical national infrastructure. Strengthening the working relationship between the state’s digital economy ministry and the NSCDC was about making that mandate operational — translating policy into practical, coordinated protection on the ground.
This is the kind of cross-agency coordination that NSITDEA’s mandate now formalises — cybersecurity and data governance are core to the agency’s remit, not add-ons.
About the Author
Suleiman Isah
Pioneer Director General of NSITDEA. MSc in Information Security and Digital Forensics. Nigeria’s leading sub-national voice on cybersecurity, critical infrastructure protection, and digital trust in government.
