By Emma Ujah, Abuja Bureau Chief

ABUJA—Galaxy Backbone, the Information and Communications Technology shared services provider of the Federal Government, has reached a deal with Ericsson Nigeria to design and deploy ICT-based solutions and services to fight terrorism and other security threats in the country.

Chief Executive Officer, Galaxy Backbone, Mr. Yusuf Kazaure,  and Managing Director, Ericsson Nigeria, Johan Jemdahl, signed the deal on behalf of their respective organizations in Abuja, yesterday.

The collaboration between the two companies would ease efforts of the military and other security agencies to effectively address the nation’s security challenges, especially in the North East and the Niger Delta, through the deployment of state-of-the-art technology.

In addition, the IT solutions to be developed from the partnership would support the delivery of efficient public services in such sectors as transportation, utilities, as well as agriculture in the country.

Galaxy Backbone boss said: “This partnership is in keeping with the Nigerian government’s commitment to leverage ICT for job creation, improved security, economic diversification and social inclusion as well as supports the Minister of Communication’s vision to deploy e-Government as a tool to improve governance and efficiency in the delivery of quality public services.”

On his part, Ericsson Nigeria CEO said:  “A recent report by Ericsson and the Earth Institute at Columbia University on the impact of ICT on sustainable development, calls on governments to harness technology, investment and new types of partnerships to meet the Sustainable Development Goals.

“This  MoU  with Galaxy Backbone touches upon all of these criteria and places Nigeria on a clear path towards meeting the needs of a growing economy using ICT.”