Minister Inaugurates Northeast Galaxy Backbone Office 

Minister of Communication and Digital Economy, Prof. Isa Pantami,  has said the North East Regional Office of Galaxy Backbone in Gomb will  be beneficial to six states in the Northeast.
Pantami said this recently when he inaugurated  the centre in Gombe State.
He hinted that it will  improve digital economy, provide job opportunities and enhance cybersecurity.
According to him, with the contributions of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) to Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP), having the centre in the region would help consolidate the gains of the digital economy.
He  further stated that the Gombe Centre was part of the phase two of the National Information and Communications Infrastructure Backbone (NICTIB) Project.
Pantami also explained that the NICTIB 2 covers 18 states in the North and two states from Southern part of the country that were not captured in the NICTIB 1.
The Minister said the digital economy sector has supported the Federal Government’s effort at diversifying the economy.
“For many years, most probably 50 years, Nigeria relied so much on oil and gas. But today, we have reached a situation where the contribution of ICT to our gross domestic products in Nigeria is almost three times the contribution of oil and gas to the country’s GDP.
“In the last three years, we have set up three unprecedented records with regards to ICT contributions to GDP,”  he said.
He explained that in the first quarter of 2020, ICT contributed 14.07 per cent to the GDP, while in the second quarter of 2021, ICT sector contributed 17.97 per cent.
“In the second quarter of 2022, the ICT sector contributed 18.44 per cent to our GDP, another unprecedented record. So, we have set three new unprecedented records year in, year out”, he said.
Speaking earlier, the Managing Director of Galaxy Backbone Limited, Muhammad Abubakar, said Galaxy remain committed to connecting all the 36 states of Nigeria into ICT infrastructure to power the nation’s digital economy.

“This Zonal and Marketing Office in Gombe also houses the Safe City infrastructure that will form a seed for Gombe to function as a Smart City,” he said.