Nigeria's Bosun Tijani Withdraws from ITU Deputy Secretary-General Race to Focus on Domestic Digital Transformation
Nigeria’s Minister of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy, Dr. Bosun Tijani, has withdrawn his candidacy for the position of Deputy Secretary-General of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU). Tijani announced his decision in a statement, indicating that while the ITU role presented a significant opportunity for both himself and Nigeria, he believes his most impactful contribution at this time is to concentrate on critical digital projects within Nigeria. He acknowledged that securing the ITU position would have marked a historic first for Nigeria, allowing one of its citizens to serve as an elected ITU official in the organization's 160-year history. However, Tijani emphasized the current opportunity Nigeria has to implement several major digital infrastructure and transformation programs under the leadership of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu. These initiatives include Project BRIDGE, which aims to deploy 90,000 kilometers of open-access fiber infrastructure across Nigeria, and NUCAP, a c...