The Federal Government is currently working towards achieving fivefold increase in broadband Internet penetration in the country by 2018.
President Goodluck Jonathan disclosed this on Thursday at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, while receiving the report of the Presidential Committee on National Broadband Strategy and Roadmap co-chaired by the former Executive Vice Chairman, Nigerian Communications Commission, Dr. Ernest Ndukwe, and erstwhile Managing Director, Zenith Bank Plc, Mr. Jim Ovia.
Jonathan pledged that his administration would take immediate steps to fully implement the report.
The President said he was confident that the successful implementation of the report, which was jointly presented to him by the Minister of Communications Technology, Mrs. Omobola Johnson, Ndukwe and Ovia, would help to positively revolutionise communications in the country.
Jonathan said that he totally subscribed to the committee’s view that broadband was to the 21st century information age what electricity was to the industrial age, and would, therefore, give the fullest possible support to the effort to ensure that Nigeria was wholly integrated into the global digital communications network.
He said, “Any country that lags behind in the current age of ICT will miss a lot. That is why we have created a separate Ministry of Communications Technology to facilitate the establishment of the best digital communications infrastructure in Nigeria and optimise our adoption of global best practices in the use of information and communications technology.
“I thank you for your work and I assure you that the report will be adopted by government, and implementation will begin immediately because our people are hungry for information, and we are in a hurry to fully integrate our country into the digital communications age.”
The committee, which was established in September 2012 to develop a broadband strategy and roadmap for Nigeria, said that the key objectives of the plan, which it had evolved, were to promote pervasive broadband deployment in the country; increase its adoption and usage; and ensure the availability of broadband services at affordable prices to maximise its socio-economic and political benefits.
It is intended that all state capitals and urban cities will have metro-fibre infrastructure installed within the period.
Speaking with State House correspondents after the presentation, the Minister of Information, Mr. Labaran Maku, said the government would immediately put machinery in place to implement the report.