NCC Cedes Internet Facility at Federal Secretariat to Galaxy Backbone

The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) last week in Abuja, ceded a multimillion naira Internet project installed at the Federal Secretariat, Abuja, to Galaxy Backbone Plc, to manage and sustain the service which the Commission conceived and funded to provide Internet services to all civil servants located at the Secretariat.
Engr. Ernest Ndukwe, EVC of the Commission who handed over the infrastructure to Gerald Ilukwe, CEO of Galaxy Backbone, during a visit to the company’s operations office in Abuja, said he was impressed with what the company is doing and is confident that the services are in good hands for the benefit of the civil servants.
He said the Commission had initiated the project in line with its mandate to facilitate and promote the use of ICT in Nigeria, and had obtained the approval of Government to deploy Internet services to facilitate governance and the operations of the civil servants that work at the Secretariat.
Ndukwe also said the Internet service for the Federal Secretariat was conceived in 2006 before Galaxy backbone came into existence, and that the Board of the Commission approved the handover of the facility according to the mandate of Galaxy Backbone, to coordinate the provision of ICT facilities for government agencies.
The NCC boss, who inspected different communications and ICT facilities installed at the operational office of Galaxy Backbone, said he is much more assured that the company would add a lot of value in the provision and maintenance of the Internet services and other facilities that it is set to provide within the ICT sector.
Ilukwe commended the NCC management for this initiative and the liberal mindedness in handing over the facility to Galaxy Backbone, saying this is one of the unsung achievements of Ndukwe in providing the needed intervention to ensure that the use of ICT facilities is spread and applied for the benefit of governance and management of resources at all levels, as well as in improving the lives of the people.
He said it is crucial that the public sector is empowered so that they do not become a cog in the wheel in the progress of the private sector, adding that the initiative is a very profound one in empowering the public sector - this gesture of the NCC being part of that empowerment.
Ilukwe said Galaxy Backbone is thankful to NCC, not only for this gesture but also by its track of achievements in the industry which has opened new vista for the benefit of the nation and has made many things possible in Nigeria’s ICT space.
“What we have got from NCC is unmatched in a relationship between two organizations of this nature in Nigeria. We have done a joint inspection of the site. Huge investments have already been made, the facilities are high end and government will have lots of benefits to derive from this infrastructure,” Ilukwe said.
He expressed gratitude to the Commission for the gesture and requested that the Universal Service Provision Fund (USPF) be made to collaborate with Galaxy Backbone on numerous projects which fall under the purview of management and provision of ICT infrastructure to the private and public sector.
Ilukwe informed that Galaxy Backbone is building its capacity to provide services to both public and private sectors and would continue to improve on what NCC has transferred to it. He noted that more than N85 Billion has been invested by several organs and agencies of Government and that Galaxy Backbone is in the position to coordinate this entire infrastructure to deliver value from the potentials of these deployments.