Sheriff Adepoju has cautioned that Nigeria’s planned N12.4 billion fines on telecom operators for poor service delivery may not lead to better user experiences without deliberate investment in recovery engineering.
Speaking in Abuja, Adepoju reacted to the Nigerian Communications Commission’s decision to sanction operators for breaches of service standards. The move follows a directive from Bosun Tijani, instructing the NCC to introduce automatic penalties for network failures within 90 days to improve accountability.
While penalties may punish operators after service failures, Adepoju stressed that they do not inherently improve systems needed to resolve failures faster. He identified recovery engineering—a structured process to restore services quickly and efficiently—as the critical missing link.
“Telecom networks are routinely affected by fibre cuts, power outages, equipment faults, software glitches, and congestion during peak periods. Without strong recovery systems, these disruptions often lead to prolonged outages and poor customer experience,” Adepoju explained.
He highlighted that recovery engineering combines tools, processes, and trained responses to ensure disruptions are detected early, assigned promptly, resolved safely, and clearly communicated to users. Without such systems, customers face repeated service failures, vague timelines, and ineffective support.
Citing NCC data, Adepoju noted the rapid growth in telecom demand: monthly mobile data usage rose from 518,000 terabytes in January 2023 to over 1.23 million terabytes by November 2025, while broadband subscriptions climbed to roughly 109.6 million, pushing penetration to 50.58%.
He warned that demand now outpaces operators’ ability to recover from routine failures, creating broader economic and social consequences as Nigerians increasingly rely on mobile connectivity for work, education, and financial transactions.
Adepoju outlined key elements of effective recovery engineering, including rapid fault detection, clear responsibility assignment, controlled system restoration, proactive safeguards, and transparent customer communication tied directly to actual recovery steps.
“Customers want honest updates and realistic timelines. That is only possible when communication is tied to detection, diagnosis, repair, and verification,” he said.
