A Nigerian network engineer whose work helped shape the internet backbones of Ntel and Airtel has been admitted as a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Information and Strategy Management (CIISM), at a time when the country is racing to bring fast, affordable internet to millions of its citizens.

Oluranti Ogundapo was admitted to the grade of Fellow on 5th October 2022 under Membership Number CIISM/F/50429, after satisfying the Institute’s requirements as a Professional Information and Strategy Manager. Under the Institute’s by-laws, he is now authorised to use the designation FCISM after his name.

CIISM, a professional membership body with a secretariat in Abuja, says its fellowship grade is reserved for members with outstanding achievement. The status remains valid for as long as the holder’s name stays on the Institute’s register of members.

“The fellowship reminded me that infrastructure is never only a technical question. Every network decision is also a business and strategy decision,” Mr. Ogundapo said.

The recognition comes at a pivotal moment for Nigeria’s digital economy. Broadband penetration stood at 45.55% in October 2022, with about 86.9 million broadband subscriptions, according to data from the Nigerian Communications Commission. The National Broadband Plan 2020 to 2025 targets 70% penetration by 2025, leaving a wide gap to close in little more than three years. In September, MTN Nigeria began rolling out commercial 5G services, adding fresh demand on the networks that carry the country’s data.

Mr. Ogundapo argues that expanding coverage is only part of the task.

“Laying fibre is the beginning, not the finish line. Whether Nigerians actually feel the difference depends on how well the network on top of it is designed, monitored and repaired, and today that work runs on automation,” Mr. Ogundapo said.

In practice, that means using software to configure devices, detect faults and roll out new services, tasks engineers have traditionally carried out by hand, line by line. Automation reduces human error and speeds up service delivery, Mr. Ogundapo explained, and it has been a thread through his career, from the network programming tools he developed at Airtel to his work in Canada.

His view is shaped by a decade of building networks, much of it in Nigeria. After graduating in Computer Engineering from Ladoke Akintola University of Technology in 2011, he joined Huawei Technologies in 2012, where he integrated 2G, 3G and 4G LTE mobile sites into IP networks and supported the planning and design of Globacom’s core IP/MPLS network, with a focus on uptime, scalability and redundancy. He later earned a Postgraduate Diploma in Computer Science from Caleb University.

At Ntel between 2017 and 2018, Mr. Ogundapo designed the operator’s IP/MPLS core across 23 states and brought Google, Netflix and Facebook cache servers onto the network to cut reliance on costly international transit. He returned to Huawei as an IP/MPLS Network Consultant, building IP infrastructure in several international markets, where he led requirements workshops with operators and produced high-level and low-level designs for their core networks, before joining Airtel in 2020.

At Airtel, he redesigned the internet edge for geographic redundancy, which he said raised throughput by about 30%, and deployed cache servers that, by his account, saved more than 40Gbps of upstream traffic. He also migrated the operator’s internet edge, core and provider edge routers from Huawei to Juniper, Nokia and Cisco platforms.

His Airtel portfolio also included building a test laboratory where new solutions were trialled before going live, which he said reduced errors on the production network, and planning peering arrangements with content providers and the Internet Exchange Point of Nigeria (IXPN). Such peering keeps Nigerian internet traffic within the country, lowering latency for subscribers and cutting the cost of international bandwidth.

Most recently, he worked with NetBrain Technologies in Canada between 2021 and 2022, writing Python automation for clients including Bell, AT&T and USAA, and working alongside software developers to automate network operations and troubleshoot customer networks across time zones. Mr. Ogundapo’s credentials include the Huawei Certified Internetwork Expert, number 13722, alongside Cisco’s CCNP and CCNA certifications.

Mr. Ogundapo believes Nigeria’s connectivity drive will rise or fall on its people as much as its infrastructure.

“My advice to young Nigerian engineers is simple: learn the fundamentals deeply, then learn to code. Certifications open doors, but automation skills keep you in the room,” Mr. Ogundapo said.

As Nigeria pushes toward its 2025 broadband target, professionals with that blend of skills may prove as important as the cables themselves.