Hon. Minister of Science, Technology and Innovation, Dr. (Sen.) Adeleke Olorunnimbe Mamora (3rd right), Hon. Minister of State for Science, Technology and Innovation, Chief Henry Ikechukwu Ikoh (2nd left), Director-General National Space Research and Development Agency (NARSDA), Dr. Halilu Ahmad Shaba (right), Director-General Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission (ICRC), Barr. Joe Michael Ohiani (2nd right), and Director Chemical Technology Department, Federal Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation Mr. M. E. J BASSEY (left), during the official Presentation of the Full Business Case (FBC) Certificates for the Public Private Partnership (PPP) to the Hon. Ministers office yesterday in Abuja.

The Federal Ministry for Science, Technology, and Innovation has entered into a partnership agreement for a Public-Private Partnership (PPP) funding model, with the Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission (ICRC) to boost the Nation’s space program of the National Space Research and Development Agency (NASRDA).

Receiving the certificate on Monday, the Minister of Science, Technology, and Innovation Sen. Adeleke Olorunnimbe Mamora assured of his readiness to present the case model before the federal executive council (FEC) for approval

Frank by the Minister state for Science and Technology, Henry Ikechukwu Ikoh, Sen.Mamora expressed his commitment to defend the agreement to fruition

The Government according to the Minister cannot do it alone, “it is inevitable to partner with the private sector to drive the economy.

“There is not much time and the elections will obstruct administrative activities soon, my colleague and I have set up a target of 6 months to make sure we create an impact on the system.

“This is one of such projects we hope to tackle for the benefit of Nigerians. Our concern is, how can we deploy technology to solve our critical challenges of insecurity, and job creation, Mamora said.

On his part, Minister of State, reiterated the need to be serious about innovation and technology and assured the DGs of NASRDA and ICRC of the ministry’s support to ensure that what is required on their part is also done.

Dr. Halilu Ahmad Shaba, the DG of NASRDA, in his remarks stated that the two projects titled, Upgrading, operating, and marketing of the museum and planetarium under a Public-Private Partnership, as well as research and development of satellite technology and equipment for the provision of cost-effective satellite broadband service to rural Nigeria, seek to leverage on the private sector to maximize the plethora of benefits the projects are expected to offer Nigerians.

Dr. Shaba explained that the NASRDA planetarium and museum building were commissioned in April 2018 with the ultimate objective of providing educational and entertainment services to Nigerians about space science and technology while also generating revenue for the federal government as it is the practice globally.

Unfortunately, according to him, “this objective has not however been fully realized due to inadequate budget allocation for the operationalization of the facilities”

He however,said the project when operationalize shall contribute significantly to the knowledge about space and astronomy of those who would visit the two places, adding it is a major policy direction of the federal government.

For the provision of cost-effective satellite broadband service to rural Nigeria, he said the project emanated from the Agency’s research on the atmospheric effect on radio propagation especially rain attenuation across Nigeria.

The NASRDA boss further said

“It was a result of the unsolicited proposal the Agency received from Gilat Satelite Network, Isreal to commercialize research results about four years ago.

” It was designed by Agency in collaboration with the private sector to contribute toward Nigeria’s aspiration of providing up to 90% of Nigerians with fast, affordable, reliable, and high-speed fixed broadband internet at a price, of not more than NGN390 per 1GB of data by the year 2025 as captured in the national broadband plan 2020 – 2025″

The broadband penetration project he said is expected to “tremendously increase the fixed broadband penetration for Nigeria from its current abysmal level of 0.2%, explaining that it will also offer cheap and reliable broadband service by removing the high cost of providing the infrastructure needed for the project which is usually the biggest barrier to setting it up.

“An integral part of the project is the transfer of technology and skills acquisition that will be contributed by the private partner which holds global and leading experience in satellite technology among many other benefits.

“It is consequent on the above that, in the year 2020, the Agency was prompted to receive an unsolicited proposal from Messrs. Atlantic Factorial Nigeria Limited to upgrade, equip, operate and market the facility for a concession period of 15 years, and will be managed by Messrs. Milky Way Nigeria Limited with a shareholding of 70% to 30% in the first Ten(10) years and 60% to 40% in the last five years of the concession period for the private proponent and federal government respectively.

“More so, the research and development of satellite technology and equipment for the provision of cost-effective satellite broadband service in rural Nigeria will be managed by Messrs. Go360 Nigeria Limited with a shareholding of 70% to 30% for the  private proponent and federal government respectively over the fifteen years concession period”.

Mr. Joe Aniku Micheal Ohiani, the DG, Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission, ICRC while presenting the certificate this singular effort will bring a lot of employment opportunities, noting that the broadband penetration alone is capable of offering ten thousand direct and indirect jobs to the Nigerian citizenry for 15 years.

The museum he said will serve as a tourist site, capacity building, and education opportunities and also attract about 2000 visitors, with the potential to generate about twenty billion naira for the betterment of Nigerians and the advancement of innovation and technology in the country.