Agency Report
President Muhammadu Buhari on Tuesday inaugurated the National Policy on 5G for Nigeria’s Digital Economy, which he said will enhance the country’s security when deployed.
“It will also support security institutions with real-time communication,” Mr Buhari said, just as he directed all the security institutions to immediately leverage the Fifth Generation (5G) technology.
The Federal Executive Council (FEC) had approved the 5G technology on September 8, 2021, following a robust debate.
Inaugurating the technology, the president said the federal government would take full advantage of the opportunities that 5G provides for the economy, security, and well-being of the nation.
He also allayed fears over the health safety of 5G, affirming that such issues had been “effectively addressed” while developing a fitting policy for Nigeria.
“It will enable our security institutions to effectively deploy robotics, autonomous vehicles, augmented and virtual reality to address any security challenges that we face,” he said
He said the National 5G Policy included a deployment plan to ensure that major cities across the country benefit from the technologies.
According to him, the policy is in line with the commitment of this administration to support the digital economy as an enabler for the diversification of the national economy.
Mr Buhari directed the Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Isa Pantami, to supervise the implementation of the policy, being done by the Nigerian Communications Commission and with the support of other government institutions.
Describing the process of developing the National 5G Policy as “painstaking, inclusive and focused,” Mr Buhari recalled that 5G trials commenced in some selected locations in November 2019.
Mr Pantami affirmed that the sector had recorded unprecedented achievements with increased remittances to the Federation Account, resolution of lingering issues in the industry, and successful auctioning of the 3.5 gigahertz (GHz) spectrum for the deployment of 5G technology. (NAN)
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