Niger State applauds Galaxy, NIMC on database centre

The Niger State Government has applauded the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) and Galaxy Backbone Plc (GB) for their commitment toward the provision of reliable database centre for the country.

Giving this commendation at the weekend on behalf of the government of Niger State, the deputy chief servant of the state, Alhaji Ahmed Musa Ibeto, said during a courtesy visit to the Government House by the top officials of two organizations, said the current situation in which non-Nigerians infiltrate parts of the country to wreak havoc on Nigerian citizens was due to the absence of a national database.

The availability of a national database, he noted would help security agencies to effectively monitor illegal migration into the country in addition to other gains.

He assured his visitors of the state government’s support and safety of the project, affirming that it is a national asset which requires everybody’s attention and interest.

Commenting at the occasion on the activities of NIMC, its Director General, Dr. Chris Onyemenam, said that the team was an inspection tour of the NIMC Data Centre to learn the progress of work done so far by its contractor, Galaxy Backbone Plc.

He also informed the Governor that the project would serve as an Offsite Data Backup cum Disaster Recovery and Business Continuity facility of the commission upon completion.

“NIMC has the responsibility to establish, manage and integrate national identity databases across the country as well as ensure the databases is made available for a range of value propositions including the national driving license, National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS), tax identity card and so on,” he said.

Onyemenam equally said that the series of ID cards presently in use in the country are not secure as they lack biometric identification matrix.

Also speaking, the Head, Federal Public Group at Galaxy, Mr. Frank Ugbodaga said that his organisation’s role as the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) infrastructure company of the government affords the company a vantage position as the project contractors.

This, he pointed out would make certain that the project meets international standards and best practice of locating disaster recovery sites outside of 50 kilometres (Km) from the primary site.

“… but more importantly is the fact that we are looking at the Minna Data Centre location as a Disaster Recovery site for Government transversal projects like IPPIS, GIFMIS,” he said.

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