Emma Okonji
After maintaining a steady growth in seven months, from June 2022 to December 2022, Nigeria’s .ng domain name registration, renewal and restoration, grew again slightly in January 2023, to reach 184,425, statistics published on the official website of the Nigeria Internet Registration Association (NiRA), has revealed
NiRA is the body responsible for managing Nigeria’s country code Top Level Domain (ccTLD).
THISDAY had recently reported that the .ng domain name registration, renewal and restoration, grew from 178,813 in June to 183,792 in December 2022.
Ananlysis of NiRA data showed that in July 2022, the figure grew to 180,162 and from August to September same year, it increased to 181,275. From October to November 2022, the figure increased again to 183,169, before it reached 183,792 in December 2022.
The NiRA data however showed another slight increase from 183,792 in December 2022, to 184,425 in January 2023.
The increase in figure came from the active 2nd level domain name users, which rose from 81,607 in November 2022, to 84,329 in December 2022, before rising again to 87,495 in January 2023.
From the statistics, fresh registration of .ng domain name in November last year was 6,177, renewal was 4,861, while restoration was 101. In December last year, fresh registration of .ng domain name dropped to 6,102, renewal also dropped to 4,349, while restoration increased to 132. In January 2023, fresh registration of .ng domain increased to 7,082, renewal also increased to 5,186, while restoration dropped to 121.
The ccTLD .ng domain name is Nigeria’s identity in cyberspace, which has the .ng at the suffix of every official email address that originates from Nigeria. In the United Kingdom, all official email addresses end with .co.uk, in United States of America, they end with .com, while in South Africa, official email addresses end with .co.za.
In Nigeria, NiRA has carried out several campaigns to sensitise Nigerians on the need to populate .ng domain name.
Reacting to the increased number of active .ng domain name users in January this year, the President of NiRA, Mr. Mohammed Rudman, told THISDAY that Nigerians were beginning to understand the need to identify with .ng domain name for every online transaction and communication.
Determined to populate the Nigeria’s .ng domain name and advance her digital economy, the federal government, last month, launched the National policies on the 2nd level domain and the data strategy 2023-2027.
Rudman, who commended the federal government for the launch of the policy on the 2nd level domain name, told THISDAY that the policy would further sensitise Nigerians on the need to register government businesses and individual businesses with the .ng domain name, which according to him, is Nigeria’s identity in the cyberspace.
President Muhammadu Buhari had on Thursday, February 2, 2023, presided over the unveiling of two new policies developed by the Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy. The two policies: the National Policy on the Nigerian Government Second-Level Domains and the National Data Policy (2023-2027), were created to further drive the development of the digital economy in Nigeria.
President of NiRA, Mr. Muhammed Rudman, was present at the launch, representing the .ng domain name ecosystem.
The Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Dr. Isa Ali Pantami, who was also present at the launch, highlighted the importance of the policies in consolidating the gains achieved so far in the digital economy sector. He said the policies would play a vital role in further advancing Nigeria’s digital economy.
