By Ralph Tathagata

Bosun Tijani, Nigeria’s Minister of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy, has said that it will cost the incumbent government about $2bn to lay fibre optics cables across the country.

Speaking as a guest on Channels Television’s Politics Today programme on Tuesday,  the minister also revealed that advanced technology, the Fifth-Generation (5G) network, exists in Nigeria.

Noting that there is 5G network already in Nigeria, Mr. Tijani, however, said the infrastructure that supports the advanced technology is not yet everywhere in the country

“We do have 5G in some places,” he said, adding that, “The infrastructure that drives 5G is not something that is across the nation.”

The minister said the government is doing everything possible to increase the kilometre of fibre optics cables in Nigeria.

“We are about 35 to 40 kilometres right now and the goal is to go to 95,000 km,” he said. “It’s going to cost us roughly about $1.5bn to $2bn to wire the entire of Nigeria,” he said.

Mr. Tijani is hopeful that under his leadership, the ministry, would in the first four years of the President Bola Tinubu ‘s administration, achieve the aspiration of connecting the entire country.