Billions of naira poured into Nigeria's digital backbone over the past decade are failing to reach their final destination: the country's rural communities. A critical breakdown in last-mile connectivity is leaving millions without reliable internet, stalling the promise of a Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) and exacerbating a nationwide income gap.
The Human Cost of Digital Isolation
For Yusuf Abdullahi, a yam farmer in Kaduna State, the global digital economy is a distant myth. Each dawn, he embarks on a two-hour motorcycle journey to market, unsure of the day's prices. "If I had the Internet, I would know when to go and whom to sell to," he laments. His smartphone, a gift from the city, is useless without a signal, serving more as a torchlight than a tool for commerce.
Roughly 230 kilometres away, near the nation's capital, the digital gap turns deadly. Aminat Hauwa, a community health worker in Plateau State, struggles with analogue tools in a solar-powered clinic lacking internet. Critical services like telemedicine, digital patient records, and emergency referrals remain out of reach, turning connectivity failure into a matter of life and death.
The future is also at stake. Fifteen-year-old Amina in Jigawa State dreams of being a nurse but faces a curriculum requiring computer literacy her school cannot provide. Dusty computers sit unused, a symbol of educational aspirations cut short by the last-mile disconnect.
Infrastructure Rails Without Tracks
Nigeria is building the 'rails' of a modern digital society—digital identity (NIN), payments, and data platforms. Yet, these DPI components depend entirely on physical connectivity. While massive undersea cables like Google's Equiano land in Lagos, the journey inland falters.
An estimated 21 million Nigerians across 4,834 communities lack basic mobile access, with most concentrated in the North and riverine areas of the South. Insecurity has compounded the problem, with damaged infrastructure in states like Zamfara often left unrepaired. The digital invisibility extends to governance: checks reveal that only seven out of 774 Local Government Areas (LGAs) maintain active websites, creating a serious accountability gap.
Why the Final Connection Fails
The challenges are a complex mix of economics and logistics. Building a new, fully equipped base station can now cost between N150 million to over N350 million, while laying fibre optic cable runs from $5,000 to $15,000 per kilometre. Regulatory hurdles and high Right-of-Way (RoW) fees imposed by states further slow deployment, though about 12 states have now waived or committed to zero-cost RoW.
The telecom sector also grapples with an overwhelming 54 different taxes and levies, eroding investment gains needed for rural expansion.
Bridging the Gap: A Multi-Pronged Approach
The government is pursuing several initiatives to address the crisis. The flagship Project Bridge aims to lay 90,000 km of open-access fibre, connecting every LGA. Backed by a $2 billion World Bank fund for its first phase, it seeks to create Points of Presence (PoPs) to facilitate private last-mile connections.
Complementing this is Project 774, spearheaded by NIGCOMSAT, which has covered 45 LGAs in its first phase and is expanding to nine more states. The Universal Service Provision Fund (USPF) plans to deploy 1000 base stations in rural areas by 2030, while regulatory interventions have facilitated over $1 billion in investments from mobile operators for 4G and 5G deployment.
Despite these efforts, the race to connect Nigeria's last mile remains a critical test for inclusive development, determining whether the digital economy will be a nationwide reality or a privilege for the urban few.
