Emmanuel Ikpeama
Technology entrepreneur and public analyst, Israel Ihaza, has said damage to fibre-optic infrastructure can affect Nigerians whose jobs and businesses depend on reliable internet connectivity, including remote workers and small businesses.
The founder and Chief Executive Officer of PropTech firm Oikus said this during an appearance on the TVC Breakfast Show while discussing the growing incidence of fibre cuts in Nigeria.
The Nigerian Communications Commission said more than 5,000 fibre-cut incidents occurred in the first six months of 2026, largely in connection with road construction, excavation and other civil works.
Ihaza said the impact of a fibre cut could be felt by people who had no knowledge of where the physical damage occurred.
He cited Nigerians working remotely as an example.
“There are people who work remotely, and they rely on some of this internet infrastructure to be able to carry out their activities,” he said.
According to him, disruptions to connectivity can translate into missed opportunities for people whose work is conducted online.
He also referred to a social-media account of a young Nigerian who complained about poor internet service and said she had lost opportunities as a result.
“And this is some of the issues that we see when fibre optic cut happens,” Ihaza said.
He said the problem also affected businesses that rely on digital payment systems.
“Imagine we have, like, 20 local market owners that deal with POS, and these 20 POS are not working, and they have lined up people. That is complete disruption,” he said.
Ihaza said Nigerians needed to understand that fibre infrastructure supports more than internet browsing.
“It powers businesses, it powers healthcare facilities, it powers the banking sector,” he said.
He identified two broad causes of fibre damage — deliberate vandalism and accidental excavation by people who are unaware of what lies underground.
“There is actual theft, when there is deliberate vandalism,” he said. “And there’s the part where they don’t know what this infrastructure is like.”
He called for clearer identification of underground fibre routes and greater awareness among construction workers.
Ihaza said government should “label and mark some areas” where fibre cables have been installed to guide construction activities.
The NCC has also called for stronger coordination during road construction and excavation, saying more than 5,000 fibre cuts were recorded during the first six months of 2026. It said telecommunications infrastructure supports critical sectors including banking, healthcare, education, commerce, security and emergency communications.
Ihaza, whose professional work centres on technology and data through Oikus, said Nigerians should increasingly regard digital literacy as a necessary life skill.
“Digital literacy is no longer just for a tech bro or a tech sis kind of thing. It’s becoming a survival skill,” he said.
Technology entrepreneur and public analyst, Israel Ihaza, has advocated greater use of surveillance and remote-monitoring technologies to protect Nigeria’s fibre-optic infrastructure from vandalism and accidental damage.
Ihaza, the founder and Chief Executive Officer of PropTech company Oikus, made the proposal during an interview on the TVC Breakfast Show on the need to safeguard infrastructure supporting Nigeria’s digital economy.
His comments followed the disclosure by the Nigerian Communications Commission that more than 5,000 fibre-cut incidents were recorded in the first six months of 2026, largely from road construction, excavation and related civil works.
Ihaza said technology could be deployed around critical fibre routes in the same way surveillance systems are used to monitor other forms of infrastructure.
He proposed the use of CCTV and remote monitoring, while noting that drone surveillance could also form part of a wider protection system.
“Some type of technology can be utilised,” he said.
According to him, critical locations could be monitored remotely, with surveillance systems capable of identifying people carrying out unauthorised excavation or other activity around protected areas.
“We have remote monitoring, where we have probably CCTV surveillance on critical areas where these cables are,” he said.
He suggested that surveillance technology could be used to capture information about people involved in illegal excavation and potentially support enforcement.
“Just the same way cars, you can’t just speed, and the car’s captured, and then ANPRs, cameras, we can leverage that even in some of these key places,” he said.
Ihaza also argued that technology should complement, rather than replace, public awareness and stronger coordination among government agencies, telecom operators and construction companies.
He said local government structures could also play a role in protecting infrastructure because fibre routes pass through different communities and local jurisdictions.
According to him, existing local surveillance and safety personnel could be trained to identify areas where fibre infrastructure is located and alert people carrying out excavation.
“They should be able to say, ‘What… that? Be careful, there are cables here,’” he said.
The NCC has said telecommunications infrastructure has been designated as Critical National Information Infrastructure and called for stronger coordination between operators, contractors, government agencies and security authorities.
Ihaza said the growing dependence of businesses and public services on digital connectivity made protection of the infrastructure a national concern.
“This infrastructure is powering the data economy here in Nigeria today,” he said.
Investigator news reports that as founder and CEO of Oikus, Ihaza works in the technology sector, where his company applies data and digital tools to Nigeria’s property market.
Public interviews with him have focused on technology, data quality, transparency and the role of digital systems in improving market efficiency.
