Buhari: We’ll Use 5G To Deploy Robotics, Virtual Reality In Fight Against Insecurity

Ahead of Nigeria’s deployment of 5G network, President Muhammadu Buhari has charged security agencies in the country to leverage the technology to combat crime and other security challenges facing the country.

Buhari gave the charge at the State House on Tuesday during the launch of Nigeria’s National Policy on Fifth Generation (5G) networks.

The president assured that the fears over the safety of 5G have been “effectively addressed” in the policy, adding that the technology can be used in virtually every sector of the economy, including healthcare and education.

“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 said.

According to the GlobeNewsWire, major armed forces across the globe are increasingly investing in Virtual Reality training capabilities.

The Federal Executive Council had approved the 5G policy in September 2021 following the presentation of a report by the Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Isa Pantami.

At the launch today, Buhari directed Pantami to supervise the implementation of the policy by the Nigerian Communications Commission and other government institutions.

Speaking further, Buhari noted that the ICT sector played a key role in helping the country exit its last recession in 2020.

”The GDP Report of the National Bureau of Statistics showed that the ICT sector was the fastest growing sector in the fourth quarter of 2020 and entire year 2020, recording double-digit growth rates of 14.70 per cent and 12.90 per cent respectively.

”The sector also recorded a 17.92 per cent contribution to our GDP in the second quarter of last year- this was its highest ever contribution. All these impressive and significant achievements have justified our efforts to support the growth of our digital economy.”

Buhari further described the process of developing the 5G policy as ‘”painstaking, inclusive and focused” and recalled that trials of the technology commenced in some locations in November 2019.

”Multi-sectoral stakeholders then deliberated on the report of the trials to ensure that health, security and other concerns were effectively addressed in developing a policy that suits our country.

”The National 5G Policy will position Nigeria to harness the potentials of 5G technologies to further develop the economy and improve the indices of well-being in the nation,” he said.