Professional Evaluation of Telecommunications Disaster Recovery Planning at Nigerian Commercial Banks

Telecommunications disaster recovery planning is a regulatory obligation under the Central Bank of Nigeria's cybersecurity framework and a commercial necessity for banks whose revenue-generating operations are critically dependent on continuous network connectivity. This study professionally evaluates the telecommunications disaster recovery planning maturity of selected tier-two Nigerian commercial banks, assessing plan documentation quality, recovery time objective achievement, recovery point objective definition, and testing rigor. A professional assessment methodology combining structured interviews with twenty-one IT and network operations officials at five commercial banks, review of disaster recovery plan documentation, and tabletop exercise facilitation was employed. Assessment was conducted against the CBN Risk-Based Cybersecurity Framework 2021, ISO 22301 business continuity standard, and NIST SP 800-34 contingency planning guidelines. Results indicate that all five banks maintained documented telecommunications disaster recovery plans, but plan quality varied significantly. Recovery time objectives were defined in only three of five plans, and none specified measurable recovery point objectives for telecommunications systems specifically. Live failover testing had been conducted within the preceding 12 months at only two institutions. Plan update cycles were annual at three banks but had not been executed for over 30 months at two others. Staff awareness of recovery activation procedures was inadequate at 60% of tested participants. Recommendations include mandatory bi-annual live failover testing, recovery point objective specification for all critical systems, and CBN examination integration of disaster recovery plan assessment. Keywords: disaster recovery, telecommunications, commercial bank, CBN compliance, business continuity.