Galaxy Backbone has urged stronger collaboration among the government, universities, and industry to accelerate digital inclusion, broadband expansion, and indigenous technology development across Nigeria.

The appeal came on Tuesday during a virtual national technical discourse organised by the Nigerian Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers in collaboration with Galaxy Backbone.

The discourse focused on strengthening Nigeria’s digital lifelines by overcoming challenges facing resilient and sustainable Radio Access Network infrastructure. Galaxy Backbone CEO Ibrahim Adeyanju delivered the keynote address.

Mr Adeyanju said stronger partnerships would help Nigeria develop indigenous capacity and reduce dependence on imported telecommunications equipment. He urged universities to collaborate more closely with industry by commercialising research and producing practical solutions for the telecommunications sector.

“In some foreign countries, institutions drive the industry. In Nigeria, the industry is driving the institutions, which is not normal,” he said.

Mr Adeyanju challenged universities to commercialise at least one research project annually to stimulate local manufacturing and technology development. He also advocated wider adoption of Open Radio Access Network technology to reduce deployment costs and encourage locally engineered telecommunications solutions.

According to him, Galaxy Backbone is expanding digital infrastructure to support government services, research institutions and nationwide connectivity. He disclosed that the company had deployed more than 5,000 kilometres of fibre infrastructure across Nigeria while strengthening its Tier III and Tier IV data centres.

Mr Adeyanju said Galaxy Backbone was partnering with universities to improve campus connectivity and provide stronger digital infrastructure for research and innovation.

He added that the company was also engaging state governments to extend digital transformation initiatives beyond federal institutions. According to him, Galaxy Backbone envisions data centres across Nigeria’s geopolitical zones to support data localisation and increasing digital demand.

“We need to drive connectivity very well. We need to provide enough broadband connectivity across the country,” he said.

Mr Adeyanju stressed that Nigeria must also expand local cloud and data centre capacity as more critical information remains stored within the country.

Atinuke Owolabi, chairwoman of the NIEEE ICT board and vice-president of its ICT Engineering Section, reaffirmed the institute’s commitment to stronger collaboration.

She said NIEEE was already partnering with Galaxy Backbone, the Nigeria Data Protection Commission, the Transmission Company of Nigeria and NigComSat. According to Ms Owolabi, the partnerships are designed to promote national development through technology, research, innovation and professional collaboration.

“We really want to partner with individuals, institutions, universities, and organisations,” she said.

She added that professional institutions should collaborate with stakeholders to develop the country through innovation and shared expertise.

Ms Owolabi assured participants that NIEEE would work with Galaxy Backbone to strengthen advocacy for protecting critical telecommunications infrastructure. She also disclosed plans to establish a dedicated platform to deepen engagement with Galaxy Backbone and other stakeholders across Nigeria’s ICT ecosystem.

(NAN)