The Nigerian Communications Commission, NCC has lauded the Minister of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy, Bosun Tijani, for spearheading initiatives aimed at equipping Nigerian girls with digital knowledge and technology skills.
The commendation came as the Commission hosted 185 contestants of the 2026 National Girls in ICT, NG-ICT Competition on an educational tour of the National Communications Museum in Abuja.
Speaking during the visit, the Executive Vice Chairman of the NCC, Aminu Maida, said the initiative aligns with the Commission’s commitment to promoting digital literacy and inclusion across the country.
The students, drawn from Nigeria’s six geopolitical zones, were selected by the Ministry to participate in the competition designed to encourage greater participation of girls in Information and Communication Technology (ICT) and other Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) disciplines.
Represented by the Director of Research and Development, Babagana Digima, Maida explained that the museum tour was designed to expose the students to the history and evolution of Nigeria’s telecommunications sector, from analogue systems to the modern digital era.
According to him, understanding the industry’s journey would help inspire the next generation of innovators and technology leaders.
“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,” he said.
“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.”
During the tour, officials of the Commission guided the students through historical exhibits and artefacts documenting key milestones in Nigeria’s telecommunications development.
Participants were taken through the history of communication infrastructure dating back to 1886, when the colonial administration established the country’s earliest communication facilities. They also learned about the evolution of telegraph services that connected Lagos with other parts of West Africa and Europe through submarine cable networks.
The students were further introduced to Nigeria’s telecommunications landscape at Independence in 1960, when only 18,724 telephone lines served a population of about 40 million people.
They were also briefed on the operations of the former Department of Posts and Telecommunications (P&T), Nigerian External Telecommunications (NET) Limited, and the establishment of Nigerian Telecommunications Limited (NITEL) in 1985.
A major attraction of the visit was the display of rare historical artefacts preserved at the museum.
These included a Post Office Counter dating back to 1852, Sorting Racks introduced to Lagos in the same year, the Grand “T” Key used at the Lagos Post Office in the nineteenth century, leather mail bags dating back to 1863, telegram machines, teleprinters, cordless PBX systems, digital card phones and several other relics that trace the development of communication technology in Nigeria.
The visit formed part of activities under the National Girls in ICT Programme, an initiative championed by the Ministry of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy to bridge the gender gap in technology by providing young girls with digital skills, mentorship opportunities and exposure to innovation.
The NCC said exposing young people to the history of technological advancement remains critical to building a new generation of leaders capable of driving Nigeria’s rapidly growing digital economy.
