By peter oluka
National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) said it has observed the disregard to the use of .gov.ng domain in the transaction of government business despite previous press statements by the agency.
According to the Agency, it will henceforth ensure strict compliance with the directive by ensuring that all government business transactions are strictly carried out on the Country Code Top Level Domain of the Nigerian government (ccTLD.ng).
A statement signed by Dr Isa Ali Ibrahim Pantami, director general/CEO of NITDA, the Agency, he said, has put measures in place to ensure that all government MDAs (Federal, State, and Local Government) operate within the .gov.ng.
Part of the These measures, Dr. Pantami said, include:
- Ensuring that all request for .gov.ng domain are verified and approved within 24hours provided all conditions are met. (For details, see http://nitda.gov.ng/procedure-for-gov-ng-domain-registration/);
- Provision of a Special Purpose 24/7 mobile phone number (+2348140504418) for responses to enquiries and technical support;
iii. Regular evaluation of government websites in collaboration with relevant agencies of the government; and
- Blacklisting of all MDA sites running on Generic Top Level Domain (gTLD), other than the .gov.ng.
“For the avoidance of doubt, the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) is an Agency of the Nigerian Government tasked with the implementation of the Nigerian Information Technology Policy and co-ordination of general IT development and regulation in the country.
“Section 6(l) of the NITDA Act mandates that NITDA renders advisory services in all Information Technology matters to the public and private sectors. NITDA is also mandated “To ensure Internet governance and supervision of the management of the country code top-level domain (cctld.ng) on behalf of all Nigerians.”
“Furthermore, .gov.ng domain names are free with no rental or renewal cost attached. We therefore call on MDAs and service providers to support the Federal Government effort of moving Nigeria up on the scale of ‘ease of doing business’ by ensuring that all government websites are ONLY hosted on the .gov.ng as this will promote Government service delivery in Nigeria”, he said.
