Galaxy Backbone Pledges Nationwide Connectivity, Data‑sovereignty, Marks 20 Years

Galaxy Backbone (GBB) Limited has mapped out strategies to strengthen Nigeria’s digital infrastructure in order to make the country globally competitive in the face of Artificial intelligence, blockchain, cloud computing and other emerging technologies aimed at securing the digital future of the country.

The managing director and CEO of GBB, Prof Ibrahim Adeyanju, made this known during a press conference to unveil a flurry of activities to celebrate the 20th anniversary of GBB in Abuja on Monday, stressing that Galaxy Backbone has evolved from a connectivity provider into one of Nigeria’s most strategic digital infrastructure institutions.

Galaxy Backbone is a public enterprise of the Federal Government of Nigeria incorporated in 2006 with the primary mandate of setting up and operating a unified Information and Communication Technology (ICT) infrastructure platform that addresses the connectivity, transversal and other technology imperatives for Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) of the federal government and private entities.

He said in the last 20 years, the agency has invested in world-class data centre infrastructure, including uptime certified Tier III and Tier IV facilities that provide secure, resilient and reliable environments for hosting missions critical to systems and applications.

He noted that these facilities strengthen data sovereignty, ensure business continuity and help keep Nigeria’s most critical digital assets secure.

“Through our cloud infrastructure and the 1Government Cloud platform, government institutions can access scalable digital services without the burden of building costly infrastructure independently. This shared-services model improves efficiency, reduces costs and accelerates innovation.

“We have delivered platforms such as GovMail (the homegrown Official government email), collaboration tools, hosting services, connectivity solutions and shared applications that support thousands of public servants and hundreds of institutions every day,” he said.

He emphasized that the true value of Galaxy Backbone is not measured by kilometres of fibre, data centres or technology alone but by impact.

He explained that the GBB fibre infrastructure today spans almost 30 states of the federation, connecting government institutions and creating the foundation for digital government even as he pledged that the remaining states and local areas will all be captured in due course.

On cyber security, the GBB boss noted that the agency has strengthened cybersecurity capabilities and continues to invest in protecting government systems and critical national digital assets, against cyber-attacks.

“We have the digital infrastructure and we are collaborating with partners to use these emerging technologies. We also have a top tier cyber security operation center and they are multilayered such that even when there is a spike in cyber-attacks none of them have been successful so far.

He added that the GBB is collaborating with other government agencies like the National Security Adviser, The Nigeria Police, and Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) to ensure that government information is protected.

The executive director Finance and Corporate Services of the GBB, Ibrahim Sani Mohammed, while fielding questions noted that the agency has created enormous value and has contributed immensely in the digital ecosystem of Nigeria helping to support small and medium enterprises (SMEs).

Executive Director Customer Centrality and Marketing of the GBB, Olusegun Olulade, said that customers have remained the formidable partners in the GBB journey of 20 years, adding that the agency has developed the mechanism to ensure customer satisfaction as it intensifies efforts to build trust.