Nigeria resolves system shutdown, resumes NIN verification, other services ─Galaxy Backbone

*Galaxy Backbone Limited, the Federal Government’s ICT service provider to most public institutions, discloses the recent outage experienced by its clients is ‘completely resolved’, as it expresses appreciation to all stakeholders during the downtime

Gbenga Kayode | ConsumerConnect

The Federal Government has announced reactivation of the West African country’s Internet connection platform for several public institutions after a recent outage.

ConsumerConnect reports Galaxy Backbone (GBB) Limited stated the general shutdown earlier reported and experienced by some of its clientele has been resolved completely.

Galaxy Backbone is the government Information Technology Communication (ICT) service provider to most public institutions in Nigeria.

Chidi Okpala, Spokesman of Galaxy Backbone, who disclosed this development in a statement at the weekend, commended the dedication of all the engineers and application experts who the company said worked round the clock since the issue occurred to fully resolve it.

Okpala further stated: “Galaxy Backbone (GBB) is pleased to report that the outage experienced by some of our customers earlier reported has now been completely resolved.”

GBB as well dismissed the reported insinuations in some quarters that security breach must have instigated the temporary system outage.

The company further clarified that the 13-day outage experienced by consumers had nothing to do with any form of security breach on its infrastructure.

However, statement noted that GBB has reset all the necessary structures to prevent a recurrence of such an experience going forward.

Recall the ICT service provider had disclosed it experienced a technical glitch that affected the systems of several public institutions hosted on its platform, including the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC).

The outage was beluebved to have negatively impacted the ongoing mandatory National Identity Number (NIN) verification exercise.

It is noted the NIN verification exercise is mandatory in several public and private organisations, such as the Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS), banks and telecommunications companies to access various services.

Thousands of Nigerians seeking such services were left stranded as alternative platforms provided by NIMC management proved ineffective.

Appreciation to Nigerians and other stakeholders

The GBB Spokesman as well stated that Prof. Muhammad Bello Abubakar, Managing Director and Chief Executive of Galaxy Backbone Limited, and the entire Management “thank all our customers for standing by us and believing in our ability and competence to get this resolved.”

Okpala also noted: “We are proud of the doggedness and dedication of all the engineers and application experts who worked round the clock since this issue occurred and never gave up until this was fully resolved.

“We also thank well-meaning Nigerians and our stakeholders who believed in our ability to get this resolved.”

GBB as well applauded Prof. Isa Ali Pantami, Honourable Minister for Communications and Digital Economy, for his guidance, intervention, and unwavering support during the outage period.

Reassurance of security of clients’ data

Accordinmg to Okpala, the Management of GBB reiterated that the temporary outage experienced by its clients had nothing to do with any form of security breach on our Infrastructure as earlier stated on some platforms.

“The security of data of our customers and stakeholders is extremely paramount to us and we maintain the highest level of international standards, equipment and policies in ensuring data is kept secure at all times.

“During the period of this temporary outage, the organisation has worked closely with its customers and all communication shared has been consistent at all levels with no contradictions,” stated the Spokesman.

The company also said that all the necessary structures are based on global standards to ensure that such an outage is never again experienced by any of its clienteles in either the public or private sector of the economy.

“As our customers resume their services to the public, our team of engineers, service delivery and support experts would be working closely with them in the event of any problems that may need resolution.

“We are committed to maintaining excellent service delivery and enhancement of the digital services experience of our customers,” said Okpala.

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