Excitement As Galaxy Backbone Welcomes New Minister

The management  and staff of Galaxy Backbone Limited were recently  thrown into excitement  when the agency  joined sister agencies to  host the newly inaugurated Minister of Communications Innovation  and Digital Economy, Dr. Bosun Tijani in Abuja.

Galaxy Backbone Limited Chief Executive, Professor Muhammad Bello Abubakar and the other Heads of Agencies and Directors from the Ministry during the meeting expressed  their suppport  as the Minister, who is noted for his expertise in the industry settles down to strengthen the implementation of the Digital Economy  policy in line with President Bola Tinubu Renewed Hope Agenda.

The GBB boss who gave remarks on behalf of other heads of agencies, noted that the Ministry has the right leadership  with the Minister having  created a track record with his experience  and expertise which will add value  to the Nigerian  economy and boost the sector especially  in the Information and Communications Technology (ICT) that has added more to the nation’s GDP.

Prof Abubakar said the Ministry looks forward to the Minister’s inspiring leadership and expressed more commitment in working with him to towards enhancing smart digital application and systems in the country.

After a brief ceremony the Honourable Minister  was taken on a tour of Galaxy Backbone Limited Corporate Headquarters, by  Professor  Abubakar. The Minister visited GBB’s Tier III Data Centre, Security Operations Centre, Network Management and Operations Centre and other ICT facilities within the building.

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He also took some time to interact with Management and Staff of the organisation even as he assured them of technical and other forms of support  to move the Ministry  to the desired heights especially to strengthen Nigeria’s leading role in the digital economy in Africa.

Recall that Nigeria has made a commitment to boost  Africa’s capacity for a single digital market within the framework Smart Africa Alliance and the GBB has been at the forefront of this ambitious move for digital transformation of Nigeria  and Africa since it was established in 2006 by the Federal Government to pursue a coordinated and harmonized approach to information and communications technology acquisition, operation and use in the public sector.

GBB has been one of the major  pillars of Nigeria’s digital sector and it has been a reference point where other African countries visit as the bastion  of digital skills, high-tech information, sophisticated facilities and the hub of expertise on digital innovation.

The Minister who obviously  was facinated  by the facilities of the GBB in Abuja, identified with the  prowess of the GBB in policy initiatives and the drive to transform the nation and the  continent into a single digital market in line with  Nigeria‘s National Digital Economy Policy and Strategy(NDEPS 2020-2030).

The GBB boss has always buttressed that much efforts are being put in  place before now in terms of policies  for NDEPS 2020-2030 and many other policies that have been  developed that will guide  the digital transformation of and  Africa.

Nigeria is reputed as the digital hub of Africa especially  on Information and Communications Technology (ICT), which has contributed immensely to the GDP of the country, making  it the investment  hub of the continent.

While hosting a delegation  from Zambia recently the GBB boss, said “Nigeria is the leading economy in Africa and in terms of digitalisation it is also a leading country in the whole of Africa, and out of seven Unicorns that we have in Africa five of them had their roots in Nigeria. This is enough to tell you the direction that we are going and we have the talent and what needs to be done so that we keep Africa together while we also lead it to the Promised Land in the 4th Industrial Revolution.

The GBB has also been at the forefront for  job creation  for the teaming Nigerian youth  through digital innovation. Recently, the GBB and Microsoft collaborated  to train the youth  on capacity building and skill acquisition.

The National Shared Services Centre (NSSC) of the GBB, which was recently  commissioned by former President  Muhammadu Buhari hosts a cyber security operations centre,  network  centre and a call centre. It is the platform  for digital  connectivity for Ministries, Departments and Agencies(MDAs) to interface with the citizens.

GBB was at the centre among the agencies that  boosted the ICT and improved the country’s GDP, which according to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) contributed an unprecedented 18.44 per cent to the GDP, in the Q2 of 2022 close to three times the 6.33 per cent contribution of the oil sector in the same quarter.

The GBB has also made enormous efforts  in broadband/Internet penetration, skills acquisition for global competitiveness and infrastructure development, like the fibre optic cable, which was about 15,000kms in 2015 and increased to more than 60,000kms.