The board of the Nigerian Communications Satellite Limited has said that the proliferation of foreign Information and Communications Technology vendors in Nigeria is dangerous and must be corrected fast.
The firm, in a statement signed by its Head, corporate Communications, Mr. Sonny Aragba-Akpore, said if the dangerous trend was not addressed, it would undermine the war against insecurity.
The Chairman of the board, Prof. Turner Isoun, after a board meeting, condemned the ugly trend, saying the foreign ICT vendors proposing and supplying security solutions to Nigerian para-military and other critical infrastructure bodies portended serious threats.
According to him, the danger is that the nation is exposed “to a myriad of potential security threats from otherwise restricted data being exposed to numerous vendors.”
Isoun, a former Science and Technology minister said, “This predicament is particularly worrisome not only because of the present state of national insecurity but also because NigComSat is the only government agency mandated to act as a clearing house and solution provider for security-related ICT solutions to Ministries Departments and Agencies and institutions.”
NigComSat said it currently managed the National Public Safety Communications Systems, a national safety network. A network upgrade had commenced for the public safety system, Isoun explained.
This, the board Chairman said, was to protect the nation’s borders and other key infrastructure such as oil and gas pipelines.
He, therefore, cautioned all government agencies to direct their ICT needs to NigComSat or the Federal Ministry of Communications Technology within the next four weeks.
Isoun also advised state governments interested in providing security solutions for their respective states to liaise with NigComSat for effective planning and integration into the NPSCS.
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