Former Aviation Minister Osita Chidoka praised Galaxy Backbone Limited (GBB) and Interra Networks for STORM.ng, an Internet Service Provider (ISP) project in the country.
Speaking at the project launch in Enugu on Tuesday, Chidoka described STORM as a well-thought-out project that would boost digital skills and innovation in the South East and South South regions.
The Nigerian News Agency (NAN) reports that the STORM.ng ISP project under Phase I of Nigeria’s National Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Infrastructure Network (NICTIB) would cover Enugu, Ebonyi, Owerri, Port Harcourt, Awka, Onitsha and Asaba. as part of its National Fiber Roll Out program.
According to the former minister, the STORM project is in the right direction and state governments must resume it.
“They need to borrow a sheet of it; they need to push the story further; they need to step out of the infrastructure of yesteryear and discuss the events of yesterday.
“Nigeria’s future is not in its oil, oil is over. Nigeria’s future lies in its human capital and the only way to transform human capital is through the use of ICTs.
“I have to say that technology has been a major catalyst for improving the business of government and the private sector.
“Today we are still facing the growth of technology in our country.
“When the GBB was brought to the national level, it was made possible through the initiative of the Jigawa State government.
“They (the Jigawa) brought the original idea of a government agency to provide technological support to the government and the federal government adopted it.
“This shows you that the Jigawa state government was thinking ahead of its time, so there is no reason for the Southeastern states, especially a place where we have a lot of young people involved in it. technological industry;
“In fact, there is no reason why Imo, Enugu and other states cannot partner with regional infrastructure and partner Galaxy Backbone and other private companies to provide high speed internet infrastructure. to the East.
He reminded regional leaders that the infrastructure of tomorrow is ICT and high speed internet (cables).
He added that they had to find work for young people in Nigeria working for international companies, a global organization; sitting in their room and attending universities around the world.
“The pandemic has made it possible for people to agree to use the IT infrastructure for their day-to-day activities.
“We should stop focusing on the infrastructure of the past. We need to move on to the infrastructure of the future.
“We should move on to any infrastructure that will allow Enugu to be the place where you look for young graduates who will work for you around the world to design projects, develop applications, review or store your medical records, make centers of calls. jobs.
“The Southeast can get all the work here.
“No one is landlocked in today’s world. Rwanda does not have a seaport but it is the center of all economic activities and all global businesses in Africa.
“We have to move on to tomorrow and how we move to tomorrow is through building the infrastructure of tomorrow, the infrastructure for law enforcement; for justice in the South East to come together and be Nigeria’s fastest court system.
“There is no reason that the South East with educated elites cannot have a basic system capable of providing an automated document delivery system.
“There is no reason why our universities in the South East should not be connected to world universities as campuses.
Also speaking, Enugu State Science and Technology Commissioner Mr. Carl Obi said the state government is delighted that GBB and Interra Networks have chosen Enugu as the first stopover for the launch of fiber optic broadband service.
Obi said the initiative is not only aimed at improving the quality of internet services for regions, but also helping to raise living standards and create more opportunities for residents.
He said that although Nigeria ranks first in Africa for Internet consumption, there were, however, issues with most of the service providers currently playing in the market.
The commissioner expressed the state’s willingness to partner with the promoters of STORM.ng “because we know that if it succeeds, we will all succeed with STORM.ng, in order to further strengthen the economic values of the state.
“We sincerely hope that with STORM, people can have an efficient and reliable supplier who can meet people’s demands and also provide excellent customer and technical support.
“Now, with digital communications becoming an inelastic community, it’s almost as if there is absolutely nothing we can do without the Internet.
“So if it has become a de facto commodity in business transactions, communication between us, then we have to get it right.
“That is why I fully support the investment and the excellent work of the organizers,” he said.
Nodding in agreement, IMO State Commissioner for Science and Technology Professor Boniface Nworgu said the state understands the power of information technology in the conduct of government business.
“Indeed, for Governor Hope Uzodima, information technology is a cardinal objective of his administration.
“In his inaugural address, he made it clear that one thing he would pay special attention to was the digitization of the state.
“In less than a year, he has been very successful in getting the state wage structure digitized, the workforce structure has also been digitized; we have 27 departments in the state and we are trying to digitize their operations.
“We all need the services of GBB and we would like to collaborate with GBB in terms of providing Internet and connectivity services to all MDAs in the state as well as the ICT centers of LGAs. “
He said education was serious business hence the number of higher education institutions and government agencies in his field.
“Imo State plans to ensure that Internet services are extended to these institutions. “
Delta State Ministry of Science and Technology ICT Director Rocky Ighoyota said he was very impressed with the level of ICT services Nigeria has achieved.
“What GBB is doing now is a stepping stone to smart cities because this will give birth to smart cities and for us to be able to operate on smart cities you obviously need high internet connectivity.
“If Galaxy Backbone offers new services, I think we are on very good ground,” he added.
STORM is a GBB powered Internet Service Provider (ISP) to provide quality and reliable Internet and other related services to all locations in the South East and South South regions of Nigeria.
