From Uche Usim, Abuja
Plans are in top gear to tackle insecurity and boost the economy as the Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission (ICRC) has issued two Full Business Case (FBC) certificates to the Federal Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation for the concession of a Satellite Internet Broadband project as well as a Museum and Planetarium project.
The FBCs, which were presented by the Director General of the ICRC, Michael Ohiani, were received by the Minister of Science Technology and Innovation, Dr. Adeleke Mamora.
A Planetarium is a domed building in which images of stars, planets, and constellations are projected for public entertainment or education.
The projects, which will be executed through the National Space Research and Development Agency (NARSDA) are expected to generate over N48 billion in revenue, create over 10,000 direct and indirect jobs and also aid the fight against insecurity, while providing internet penetration to rural areas.
Receiving the FBCs, the Minister commended the DG of ICRC and his counterpart in NARSDA, Dr Halilu Shaba for the work that had been put in, to get the projects to the point
“It is not over, it will not be until the Federal Executive Council (FEC) gives the approval. These are very critical projects that will enhance our development as a nation in all ramifications. Citing an example with Dubai, he said the planetarium and museum projects are some of the projects deployed by the United Arab Emirate in Dubai to generate a pool of funds through tourism. He said that with as little as 0.2 percent broadband penetration in Nigeria, the government under president Buhari was now in a hurry to bring the satellite broadband project to completion in the next six months.
“We told the agencies and the directors when we came that one of the things we are looking at is how we can deploy technology to solve the most critical challenge of this country at this time which is insecurity.
“With satellites, you can monitor movements and gain intelligence. It is very critical and this will also provide a lot of employment.
“There is nowhere in the world that the government does it alone and that is why we need the buy-in of the private sector through Public Private Partnerships (PPPs).
“We will take these projects to the Federal Executive Council (FEC) and defend them robustly and our expectation will not be cut short,” he said.