Nigeria to launch communication satellite
Dr Halilu Shaba, Director-General of the National Space Research and Development Agency (NASRDA) says Nigeria is considering building a communication satellite which has huge returns on investment.
Shaba said that the plan was delayed due to insufficient funds.
According to him, because of less funds, they decided to go borrowing.
“We are moving towards building Nigeria communication satellite which will be prime in the present economy.
“The way the agency was made is that you can build all kinds of satellites and we have been looking at which satellite now that our Earth Observation satellite is clearly going out of orbit.
“We are thinking about communication satellite and Earth observation.
“We tried at shot at Sukuk in the last administration and we missed with just a mark because the government was looking at our plans to pay back. We were saying give us the loan to be paid back.
“There was the issue of moratorium that was supposed to exist between the person lending and the lender, and that understanding was not reached within the specific time.
“Now we are going back again to try another shot,’’ he said.
Shaba emphasised that satellites required so much funds, adding that while the Federal Government contends with limited resources, the agency would want to be allowed to take responsibility for the loan.
“We will borrow the money as loan, build our satellite and be made to be accountable for it and I can assure you, that is one way to deal with this mechanism,’’ Shaba said.
The director-general said the agency was exploring all angles to fund the satellite project.
“The idea is that we are going to launch communication satellite which is part of what most media organisations use and then also see what other fund sources will give us.
“With that alone, we should be able to pay for a quarter of the money invested within the first three months,’’ he said.
