Fulfilling Social Contract with Nicep

Most government owned businesses are virtually bankrupt and hopelessly incompetent,  apologies to the 'business' management tactics of sleek 'businessmen' politicians”.
Because of the “businessmen politicians”, people are wont to say that government has no business in business.
But Galaxy Backbone Plc, a public enterprise of the federal government under the supervision of the office of the secretary to the government of federation is a proven exception.
With imported private sector concepts and management techniques into the  public sector environment, Galaxy Backbone has made landmark progress with the implementation of the Nicep project. .
Nicep, an acronym for National Information, Communication and Education Programme, is an ICT policy intervention by government targeted at the facilitation of digital inclusion, the realization of the key objectives of e-governance and the millennium development goals (MDGs)..
The eight MDGs focus on eradicating extreme poverty and hunger, achieving universal primary education, promoting gender equality and empowering women, reducing child mortality, improving maternal health, combating HIV/Aids, malaria, and other diseases, ensuring environmental sustainability and developing a global partnership for development.
Galaxy Backbone believes ICT can address some of these goals, if not all. That is why  the company  is pursuing with verve , the deployment of Vsat nodes all around the country including federal government ministries, departments and agencies, the 36 state capitals and 774 local government areas under Nicep
Since it was commercially launched mid last year, Galaxy Backbone has deployed over 2,300 Vsat nodes out of the 5,000 that will dot all parts of the country.
Unlike government businesses, Galaxy Backbone has deliberately and painstakingly stuck to best practices as it delivers ICT to fire the kiln of Nigeria’s public sector service delivery, productive sectors and improve the wellbeing of the citizens.
Even in some hard-to-reach and underserved communities without access to electricity, there are solar powered nodes already in use.
The Nicep infrastructure is based on IP Technology and supports the entire spectrum of ICT services, focusing especially on such initiatives as e-government, e-education, e-health, e-commerce and so on, and are all connected directly to the Government Data Centre in Abuja.
It is a fulfillment of one of the terms of the social contract between the government and the citizenry.
Nicep is also a purposely built physical infrastructure and human capacity project to improve both economic and social lifestyle of Nigerians.
We commend the management of Galaxy Backbone for its commitment to making access to a digital society a routine part of every citizen's life.
We also laud Galaxy Backbone’s aggressive outreach initiatives that are designed to target all major underserved groups, including low-income families and individuals, children, seniors, people with disabilities and other special groups of Nigerians.
Other government agencies should also emulate this uniquely built government enterprise which has clearly demonstrated that government business can be conducted in the most responsible and transparent manner.