By Olayemi Esan
President Muhammadu Buhari has launched the National Policy on Fifth Generation (5G) technology for Nigeria’s Digital Economy.
The President also directed all security institutions to immediately leverage the new technology to enhance security in the country.
He said the Federal Government will take full advantage of the opportunities provided by5G for the economy, security, and well-being of the nation.
He spoke at the presentation of the national policy on 5G, approved at the Federal Executive Council meeting.
Buhari also allayed fears over the health safety of 5G, affirming that such issues have been ”effectively addressed” in developing a Policy that suits the country.
On the benefits of 5G technology, the President noted that it can support virtually every sector of the economy, including enhanced connectivity, improved healthcare, support education while fostering smart cities and boosting agriculture, among other advantages.
He said: ”It will also support security institutions with real-time communication.
”5G technology is significantly faster than earlier digital technologies and it provides near real-time communication. This can play a key role in boosting our efforts towards enhancing security across the nation.
”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 explained that the National 5G Policy includes a deployment plan to ensure that major cities across the country benefit from the technologies.
Buhari added that the policy is in line with the commitment of his administration to supporting the digital economy as an enabler of economic diversification.
He assured investors that the Federal Government would continue to provide an enabling environment for their businesses to succeed as Nigeria begins the roll-out of the technology.
President Buhari directed the Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Isa Ali Ibrahim Pantami, to supervise the implementation of the Policy, being done by the Nigerian Communications Commission with the support of other government institutions.
The President also used the occasion to provide a rundown of how his administration has created an enabling environment for investments to thrive in Nigeria’s digital economy.
He recounted that the journey to the launch of the 5G National policy started with the launch of the National Digital Economy Policy and Strategy in November 2019 as well as the launch of a number of policies to strengthen digital economy, including the Nigerian National Broadband Plan and the National Policy for the Promotion of Indigenous Content in the Nigerian Telecommunications Sector.
