THE WIDE, WILD WORLD OF THE INTERNET

Lagos lays backbone for fast internet and better future, writes Kazeem Adeniji

It’s 15 years ago that I last used a computer not connected to the internet. Before then, I thought I could do so much – learn, work and have fun – with the computer already. When I installed Encyclopaedia Britannica, I was over the moon. I could easily source out information on hundreds of thousands of topics. But from the moment I started using the internet, the computer never remained the same for me. I was hooked to the wide, wild, world of the internet.

I guess that experience of ‘getting hooked’ is the same for everyone that would ever use the internet. Call it a game-changer and you would be right. In today’s world, the internet has become indispensable. It’s sine qua non to modern life. So, when the Lagos State government recently announced that it had laid 3, 000km of fibre optics cable across the state, I was thrilled. But that is just phase one.

The Commissioner for Science and Technology, Mr. Hakeem Popoola Fahm, disclosed this last Tuesday in Ikeja during a briefing to highlight achievements of the Babajide Sanwo-Olu led administration of Lagos in two years. “We plan to connect the fibre optic cables to all our public schools and institutions of learning, health centres, and all government offices and parastatals,” he said.

Fahm also noted that the government will adopt e-governance so as to serve Lagosians better. “We’re making sure that we close the digital divide in Lagos State. We’re going to reach schools, we’re going to reach medical institutions, government agencies, private sector as well as the markets because we want to make sure that we leverage the power of technology, the power of the internet to communicate and do business. We would be working with different software ecosystems to solve major challenges across Lagos – challenges in transport, in health, their varying activities going on in the software space that would be able to give Lagos State a qualified workforce to build the smart city that we want to see.”

Also, with the way the Covid-19 pandemic forced remote working on people globally, access to faster internet would surely be a game changer to everyone. With a faster internet, traffic management can be better enhanced, healthcare delivery can be better enforced and public transportation around the state be better designed. In addition, the education sector will get a terrific boost while real-time security monitoring will become our reality.

This is away from the regular interface and interactions between the citizens and government. According to Fahm who revealed that about five million residents have been registered by the Lagos State Resident Registration Agency (LASRRA), since its commencement in 2011, “this comes in various forms such as tax submission and registration of businesses, reducing the administrative burden on the public and private sectors, and improving transparency. E-governance effectively deployed can have a significant impact on poverty reduction and increase the efficiency of public institutions.”

In today’s world, after electricity, the next integral societal need is perhaps the internet. It’s the frontier where nearly everything happens. Do you want to research, learn a new skill, get entertained or just reach out to people? The internet is the backbone that has made and is making all that possible. It is the revolution. As it started, the internet progressively disrupted how we lived. Shopping now can be done with few clicks on computers and mobile devices. The place of newspaper vendors is diminishing with online news portals. Commerce, even across oceans are routinely conducted via keystrokes and keywords. Websites now compete with brick and mortar spaces.

With the laying of 3, 000km fibre optics cable, internet in Lagos can be likened to going from propeller to rocket propulsion. You see, the internet is going to be way faster and the implication is that many more people and businesses are going to thrive. Faster! Unlike antenna technology, fibre-optics cables would ensure more data can be sent and received than before. With fibre optics, uploads and downloads of data take place at breakneck speed. We’re talking of speeds in the realm of gigabytes as opposed to megabytes which antennas usually deliver. The fibre optics cables are also reliable and do not distort with rain or other weather fluctuations like wind. No doubt, fibre optics cable is way more efficient than using antennae for data transmission. As we embrace the internet and the internet of things, we would definitely need faster internet so as not to get frustrated. Kudos to Lagos for this development.

What this means is that there are going to be fewer dropped calls during audio or video call sessions, Zoom meetings are going to be smoother, and YouTube viewers would experience little or no buffering and streaming would be flowing. With our growing dependence on the internet, the laying of the fibre optics cable by Lagos is an investment not only for the present but also for the future. Aside from the laying of the cables, the state government is also encouraging IT entrepreneurs. And in his address, Fahm said the state government announced a N250m seed fund to boost technology innovation in the state.

And its use can be found in everyday activities. For instance, Fahm also highlighted the government’s effort towards achieving a better secured Lagos to include the provision of 2, 000 CCTV cameras.

“Safeguarding Lagos has gone beyond the ordinary,” he said.

“We have built new data rooms, install more cameras, and effectively deploy technology in our operations, especially as regards security and traffic management.”

Though Fahm said that only 100 CCTV cameras were currently installed around Ikeja, the rest would be installed in other areas to ensure all that upon completion, people and businesses can operate in a safe and secure environment. While this would have been possible before, the laying of the fibre optics cable just makes it more efficient.

But to ensure the Lagos Smartcity Project comes on track faster, the state would need all the support it can get, especially from the federal government. Information technology thrives on electricity and given that the whole of the country is starved of electricity, that is an area that must be looked at.

This year, the government also plans to install another 3,000km of fibre optics cables across the state. As they say in the streets, Lagos ‘is not smiling’, a street lingo referring to a determined person. And it shouldn’t. But surely, upon completion of the laying of all the cables and the arrival of fast internet, Lagos will attract more people and encourage businesses to make the state home. Inadvertently, this would create more jobs and increase production in Lagos.

I tell everyone around me that Lagos is the best Nigerian state. Home to about 26 million people, the state continually thinks on how best to improve its status as the number one destination in the country. The task of governing Lagos is serious business. And I’m happy the current administration is taking it seriously.