5G Deployment: Communications Minister cautions against Nigeria’s disunity

 

Pantami made the appeal virtually at the 10th edition of the Nigeria Internet Governance Forum (NIGF 2021) organized by Nigeria Internet Governance Forum Multistakeholder Advisory Group (NIGF-MAG) led by Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) in Abuja.

 

The theme of the forum was “Internet That Works For All” with sub-themes in the areas of “Accessibility, Infrastructure, Policy and Regulation and Capacity Building and Development”.

 

The Minister said that rather than using 5G for disunity in the country, it would go a long way in impacting positively in the area of education, health, security management,  governance and many more.

 

“We must ensure 5G deployed is not used against the nation and its unity. Let us use it for the good of our country and benefit of all.

 

“We are working to ensure that  broadband infrastructure is accessible and affordable in the rural communities. It is for this reason that most of our policies are arranged to address the challenges that make internet expensive,”  said Pantami.

According to the Minister, spectrum are available for 5G deployment:

 

“This will increase  broadband penetration and also the speed because 5G is at least 20 times faster than 4G when it is available”.

 

He, however, noted that in rural communities, only 10 percent globally have access to fixed broadband infrastructure, adding that there was a lot to be done in terms of broadband penetration, especially in these areas.

 

The Minister also informed that the use of internet was not a luxury anymore as it was a prerequisite to economic development of the country:

“It has also become a prerequisite to governance activities. It is a forum that brings public sector on one hand and private sector on the other.

 

“It is because of this that internet is beyond being a luxury or for socialization but rather  an important ingredient for economic development.

 

“Also, we need internet to leverage on to secure our nation, deliver healthcare services, same with our  offices.

 

“Some of us in the urban areas can access internet and afford to buy it, but  unfortunately, some of our citizens in the rural areas do not have access to internet; some have access  but cannot afford to buy it,”  he said.

 

 

He explained that the forum was a strategic place where both private and public sectors were interwoven to ensure the goal was achieved for all, adding that, most activities on the social media would have shut down, without the use of Internet.

 

 

The Executive Vice-Chairman of the NCC, Professor  Umar Danbatta, said that the internet remained one of the most important and critical resource world over, adding that it has been an essential part of people’s daily activities since the COVID-19 pandemic.

 

 

“The Internet is governed using a collaborative model of multi-stakeholder approach, thus, everyone who has a stake in the use and future of the internet needs to participate in its governance.

 

“Internet governance includes more than just the administration and distribution of internet resources; it also involves fundamental questions of social, cultural and economic participation in a digital society,”  said Prof. Danbatta.

 

 

Danbatta said that the outcome of the NIGF 2021 was expected to build consensus among stakeholders on actionable recommendations for both State and non-State actors in the internet ecosystem.

 

 

“It will focus on engaging multi-stakeholder nature of the Forum to harness and aggregate productive ideas towards brainstorming the national Digital Economy policies by the Nigerian government,” he added.

 

 

The yearly forum gives stakeholders the opportunity to actively participate and make contributions to the development and governance of the Internet in Nigeria.