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Tasks before Adeyanju’s Galaxy Backbone
- Staff rationalization and training to address overstaffing and improve service delivery.
- Development of a customer-centric approach to improve customer care relationships.
- Clear policy direction and support from the government to address patronage and pricing issues.
- More investment in infrastructure to enhance service delivery.
- Adoption of a more competitive pricing strategy to attract and retain customers.
Galaxy Backbone Limited, Nigeria’s government-owned information and communications technology (ICT) company, is strategising to boost profitability amidst challenges stemming from overstaffing, weak customer care relationships and dwindling patronage from its primary clients: government ministries, departments, and agencies (MDAs).
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Sources close to the company reveal that Galaxy Backbone Limited is grappling with a bloated workforce, a legacy of political expediency that has left many employees underutilised or redundant. This surplus staff has become a financial burden, with a significant portion of resources allocated to salaries and benefits.
Bloated workforce and revenue downturn
“The last administration over bloated the workforce from below 200 to over 400 to meet political expediency,” noted one source.
Adding: “People were employed not because they were needed. The result is so many idle hands lacking prerequisite skills in a shared infrastructure company. The wage bill skyrocketed and for the first time since its establishment, Galaxy struggled with salary obligations.”
With the company facing waning patronage from MDAs increasingly opting for private sector alternatives citing superior services and competitive pricing, Prof. Ibrahim A. Adeyanju, the Managing Director/CEO, is actively engaging with MDA heads to rebuild confidence and reclaim patronage.
Adeyanju was appointed in February to stir the affairs of the connectivity services company.
While its workforce bloats, Galaxy Backbone Limited, has suffered considerable revenue downturn impeding its operational sustainability. To address these challenges, Adeyanju is pushing to get the company to be prioritized as the primary ICT service provider to government agencies.
Private-sector orientation to improve customer engagement
Also, a key focus area for the company is enhancing its customer care relationships, which have been marred by complaints of poor service delivery and unresponsive support. Adeyanju wants to revamp the sales and marketing team with a private-sector orientation to improve customer engagement and satisfaction, according to our sources. There are plans to invest in staff training.
“The new man wants the entire sales and marketing team retrained to make them have private-sector orientation,” said one inside source.
Adding: “Adeyanju believes the challenges facing Galaxy Backbone Limited are not insurmountable, but require a fundamental transformation of the company’s business model and operational structure.
“The company needs to urgently address its overstaffing issue, invest in staff training and development, and adopt a more customer-centric approach to service delivery.”
However, experts stress the necessity for clearer policy direction and government support to enable Galaxy Backbone Limited to effectively compete with private sector players. This entails ensuring MDAs’ utilization of the company’s services and providing a level playing field in terms of pricing and service quality.
Galaxy Backbone was incorporated in 2006 as a public enterprise with the primary mandate of setting up and operating a unified ICT infrastructure platform that addresses the connectivity, transversal and other technology imperatives for MDAs.
