FG connects 45 LGs to Internet, others for completion by 2026
26 August 2024 |
1:47 am
The Federal Government has connected 45 local council secretariats in seven states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja, in the implementation of the Project 774 LG Connectivity plan.
90,000km fibre deployment to commence shortly
The Federal Government has connected 45 local council secretariats in seven states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja, in the implementation of the Project 774 LG Connectivity plan.
The Minister of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy, Dr Bosun Tijani, disclosed this, at the weekend, as part of the ministry’s achievements in the last one year.
Via his X handle, Tijani said the country “is providing all 774 local councils’ secretariats with reliable Internet access and digital literacy resources”, required to deliver efficient public service, promote transparency in service delivery and improve citizen engagement.
“So far, we have provided connectivity to 45 LG secretariats in seven states and the FCT. With connectivity, our LG secretariats will be enabled to deliver government services such as birth and death registration, National Identification Number (NIN) registration among others to citizens more efficiently,” he stated.
According to him, NIGCOMSAT, Galaxy Backbone and the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) will continue to collaborate to facilitate Internet connectivity in more councils.
“Our target is to have full coverage of all 774 local councils in the next 12 to 18 months,” Tijani stressed. In addition to Project 774, the minister disclosed that the Federal Government is targeting the planned deployment of 90,000 kilometres of fibre-optic cable across Nigeria to start within the next six months.
The project aims to increase Nigeria’s backbone network from 35,000km to 125,000km by adding 90,000km of fibre-optic cable to the country’s national connectivity backbone. Tijani disclosed that the funding partners, which include the World Bank, were finalising arrangements for the project’s financing.
“The Federal Executive Council (FEC) has approved the Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) that will deliver on this project, and our development funding partners are finalising the SPV structure to ensure the aggregation of funding required for the effective deployment of the fibre-optic network.
“Our target is for this deployment to start within the next six months,” the minister stated.
The project, according to him, will improve services, stressing that an improved quantity and quality of connectivity would create opportunities in the short and long term by stimulating a more vibrant digital ecosystem.
“By connecting more communities across the country, we will ensure that many more of our citizens can connect to the benefits of the digital economy,” he added. He added that the project would also help in increasing Internet penetration in Nigeria to over 70 per cent and reduce the cost of access by over 60 per cent.
Through the project, Tijani said, Nigeria would achieve the inclusion of at least 50 per cent of the 33 million Nigerians reportedly excluded from access to the Internet.
Tijani also announced that the ministry was developing the framework and capacity for a robust Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) to improve service delivery and e-governance initiatives.
He said implementing the DPI would enable the government to support citizens through life events from birth to legacy, based on a platform of interoperability across all government services.
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