Senator Ali Ndume wants to connect Borno South to the rest of the digital world. That is the official summary of a new empowerment plan that promises free Subscriber Identity Module cards for 5,000 people and 1,000 Point of Sale (POS) operators added to the region.
The announcement followed a courtesy visit by MTN Nigeria’s management team to the senator in Maiduguri. It positions the effort as a bridge between communities still recovering from the Boko Haram insurgency and the financial and communication tools needed to participate in everyday life.
Borno South knows the cost of being disconnected. For years, telecom masts were prime targets for militants. Communities were plunged into silence whenever attacks forced shutdowns.
Residents lost numbers and devices while fleeing. Even when they returned, mobile signals sometimes did not. The region is rebuilding, but connection remains both a lifeline and a luxury.
The senator believes this latest push will address that.
In 2024, the same constituency led by Ali Ndume trained 800 young people in POS services and provided each one with a machine and a starter pack worth 100,000 naira.
According to Ali Ndume, the results were encouraging enough to try again with even more people. He has already directed his aides to begin registering 5,000 residents for free SIM cards.
Many are expected to be those who lost theirs during violent displacements. He also outlined plans to set up computer-based test centres in partnership with the Senate Committee on Communications. The proposal suggests a future where examinations do not require travel to distant cities or long waits for availability.
MTN Nigeria says it is committed to this future. The company confirmed improvements in network restoration in Gwoza, Damboa and other communities in the zone. More work is ongoing in parts of Uba and Chibok.
Representatives praised Ali Ndume’s continued interest in communication infrastructure and presented corporate souvenirs to seal the good mood.
The company has every reason to smile. Millions of new phone users and hundreds of POS machines also mean millions of new transactions. If there is a path to commercial success through humanitarian language, every telecom firm understands it well.
At the heart of the project is a question. Is the goal empowerment, or is it market entry dressed as charity? Digital inclusion sounds noble, but it is also the fastest way to turn one more group of Nigerians into paying customers.
The people of Borno South need economic participation more than rhetoric, and many do not care who signs the cheque as long as the signal bars finally rise. Still, the timing and the packaging of development sometimes reveal the priorities of those who offer it.
There is also the matter of what happens next. POS operators require security to operate. They need cash availability. They need residents with bank accounts and some level of financial trust.
SIM cards are a door to everything digital, from safety alerts to mobile money, but only when the network remains alive and stable.
Communities that spent years without calls will now need service consistency to maintain hope. Computer-based tests promise academic progress, but they must be sustained beyond the ribbon-cutting ceremony.
The senator frames this as a step toward self-reliance. That is a welcome ambition in a region exhausted by dependency on aid trucks and emergency interventions. Training people to transact and communicate may indeed restore dignity, one message and one payment at a time.
For now, Borno South is being invited to rejoin the national conversation. If the network stays up and the machines do not gather dust, the region might finally speak for itself instead of being spoken for.
