Senate, BPP, NITDA Push for .ng Adoption to Promote Nigeria’s Digital Identity

Stories by Emma Okonji

The Nigerian Senate, the Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP), and the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) have joined a broad coalition of stakeholders to call for the prompt implementation of .ng domain adoption to promote and solidify Nigeria’s digital identity.

The collective call was the central theme of the Tech Convergence 2.0 event, organised by the Nigeria Internet Registration Association (NiRA) in Abuja, where policymakers, government officials, and industry leaders converged to deliberate on Nigeria’s digital future.

NiRA has been advocating for increased awareness and adoption of .ng domain name, which is Nigeria’s identity in cyberspace, but the adoption rate has been slow.

At the heart of the Tech Convergence 2.0 discussions was the fundamental concept that a nation’s digital identity is an extension of its national identity. The event focused on the Nigeria First Online agenda, urging for digital patriotism by leveraging the .ng domain and the Domain Name System (DNS) industry to drive the development of the Nigerian internet ecosystem.

While the .ng ccTLD already ranks second in Africa, stakeholders stressed that the national drive to patronise ‘Made-in-Nigeria’ products and services, as espoused by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s policy, must now aggressively extend to the digital space. Owning Nigeria’s digital identity through .ng is seen as both an act of sovereignty and strategic necessity in an era where governance, business, and innovation are increasingly digital-first.

At the event, the Senate, government agencies and industry leaders strongly backed the call for increased .ng domain adoption, emphasising the critical role of government in leading the charge.

Representing the Senate President, Senator Godswill Akpabio, Senator Diket Plang underscored the vital role of government in shaping digital policy. “We now live in a digital world, and we must also take ownership of our presence online, and for us, the true mark of that ownership is through the .ng domain,” he stated, highlighting what digital identity ownership means for all Nigerians.

Chairman, Senate Committee on ICT and Cybersecurity, Senator Shuaib Afolabi Salisu, reinforced this, and said: “We must understand we are stakeholders in our internet space and must promote what is ours.”

NiRA President, Adesola Akinsanya, described .ng as a symbol of Nigerian digital pride, emphasising that ownership of the national domain reflects both national confidence and capacity. According to Akinsanya, our mission is to build trust through the Nigerian identity online, and ensure every Nigerian is identifiable online through our digital identity, the .ng domain.

Chairperson of the NiRA Board of Trustees, Mrs. Ibukun Odusote, urged stakeholders to prioritise the adoption of local digital infrastructure. She said: “There should be an urgent need to adopt what is ours, which is the .ng domain.”

The Director General of NITDA, Abdullahi Inuwa Kashifu, who was represented at the event, stressed that the public sector must be the primary representative of the Nigerian government online, adding that the internet has gone beyond just communication, but an infrastructure for innovation and identity.