Ilukwe frowns @ duplication of infrastructure

MANAGING Director of Galaxy Backbone Plc, Mr. Gerald Ilukwe, has frowned at what he described as unnecessary duplication of infrastructure, lamenting that the situation has left Nigeria to be perpetually building infrastructure.

This is coming as the government-owned company plans to create about 10,000 electronic mails for government Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) before the end of 2009.

Addressing newsmen at the weekend at the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Abuja after a facility tour of Galaxy installations, Mr. Ilukwe noted with dismay that individualizing structure in the country has not been helpful for the growth of the nation.

He pointed out that this was what the government realized and decided to set up Galaxy to correct that error, stressing that though Galaxy is a business concern of the government, they are not in business to take over business from the private sector operators, but to help government to drive its processes adequately and remain competitive in the face of Information
and Communication Technology (ICT) unprecedented growth in the past few years.

Individualizing infrastructure per state, for instance, he said, does not offer opportunities for sustainability of such projects for the holistic advancement of the nation.

“What happens now is that you have a lot of people when they have a project similar to ours, the huge chunk of money that is spent is on civil works, built this, built that and perpetually building, instead of exploring the existing assets and structures that we have and equipping those structures adequately by taking a holistic view of development,” he opined.

He advised corporate institutions in the country to be mindful of this by erecting infrastructure that could offer the populace many other options, citing the deployment of solar energy in some parts of the world to push penetration of access and maximization of Information and Communication Technology (ICT).

He also disclosed that Galaxy has operational presence in 2,300 site locations nationwide and is massively collaborating with other government agencies, through Very Small Aperture Terminal (VSAT), explaining that Galaxy is not limiting itself to usage of VSAT, but looks at other solutions that would make its objectives achievable.

“So, in some of the rural communities we go to, we have solar equipment to support that. It is easier to pick that via a helicopter and drop it anywhere in Nigeria,” he declared.

Ilukwe, therefore advocated strongly that Nigeria as a nation begin to use and subsequently begin to use existing infrastructure, thereby saving more money and channeling such savings into other infrastructure where it would be most needed.

“Take for instance, if you want to build a cybercafé, why don’t I say to somebody using existing infrastructure give me 10 x 10 or 20 x 20 room space and take the money and put in power generation or something else,” he suggested, maintaining on the need to take a holistic approach to let somebody bring this structures upto standards.

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