Welcoming .ng Country Code Top Level Domain

Nigeria has effected the redelegation of the .ng country code Top Level Domain (ccTLD) and attained full local management of the domain, fourteen years after she began the journey to carve out own Internet top-level domain.
It means that Nigerian individuals and businesses can now register their Internet domain names locally and have them identified as such, rather than having to channel the process through foreign countries.
The.ngccTLD is Nigerias’ identity in the cyberspace and this handing over implies that internet names registered here will end in the appellation ‘.ng’ which properly identifies them as Nigerian, rather than the current trend whereby they bear appellation such as ‘.com’ or ‘.co.uk’ or foreign appellations.
This effectively brings to an end the long drawn desire and expectation of the Nigerian Internet community to effect redelegation of the .ng ccTLD and full local management.
The .ng ccTLD journey started in 1995 with the first delegation to Ibukun Odusote as the then administration contact.
By 2004 with the intervention of the former president of Nigeria Chief Olusegun Obasanjo the Nigerian Internet community represented by the G22 reached a consensus on a not for profit all inclusive body to manage the .ng ccTLD. With the formation and final election of the Internet Registration Association of Nigeria (Nira) executive board in May 2007 the stage was then set for conclusion of the redelegation process and fully localize the management of the ng ccTLD
Faced with a lot of challenges as a totally new entity the executive had to concentrate on putting in place the required structure and infrastructure that would sustain the .ng ccTLD. Today that effort has paid off as the .ng ccTLD would be offering its domains in the ccTLD with the most robust technical infrastructure in Africa.
“The .ng ccTLD is the only ccTLD with multiple anycast name servers offering local resolutions of .ng domain in over 40 cities in five continents with a 100 percent uptime guarantee.
Not only that, Nigeria is the second country in Africa to have a fully automated registry with full EPP access making it of global standard that allows registrars from all over the world to interact with it.
The rebranding Nigeria project should start with recognizing the roles of Mrs. Ibukun Odusote and Nira in achieving this great feat.
Nigeria businesses and individuals are also encouraged to register their domains locally.
Importantly, the registering of domain on .ng should be made attractive enough for businesses and individuals.
Government should also fashion out some form of subsidy to ensure that Nigeria businesses register in the .ng ccTLD