Emma Okonji
Nigeria Internet Registration Association (NiRA), the Registry for .ng Internet Domain Names, which maintains the database of names registered on the .ng country code Top Level Domain (ccTLD), recently met with Registrars of .ng domain name in Lagos.
At the meeting, which was attended by the media, NiRA tasked Registrars on innovative solutions to increase the adoption of .ng domain names across Nigeria.
In his opening remarks, the President of NiRA, Muhammed Rudman, thanked the Registrars for their efforts towards the growth of .ng domain names in Nigeria. He noted that the growth of .ng domain name could be attributed to continuous efforts by the executive board, and staff of NiRA as well as the discounts offered during the .ng promo.
He added that the fall in the value of Naira, made it clear that it is capital flight to register non- .ng domain names.
Giving update from the second .ng promo, the Vice President of NiRA, Toba Obaniyi, said the .ng domains were sold to Registrants at a discounted price, as a way of making the domain names more accessible to many.
He said although there was an increase in registrations, compared to previous months, the expected number of registrations has not been attained.
Obaniyi stated that in addition to the price reduction, NiRA introduced a 50 per cent refund of Registrars’ marketing costs for the period of the promo.
He informed the meeting that 31 Registrars indicated interest in the promo and that in two months, there was a noticeable increase in the number of registrations.
Obaniyi also said there was need for a few Registrars that were yet to adjust their prices, to do so and that Registrars needed to be more involved in ensuring the sector thrives.
Chief Growth Officer at WhoGoHost, Aransiola Damilola, advised that the promo should be moved to hold at the beginning of the year rather than towards the end, when organisations were already closing up business for the year.
The feedback from Registrars’ community indicated that it would be great for .ng to match .com domain pricing to improve adoption.
Programme Officer at NiRA, Ike Ezeji, who spoke on the proposed training for NiRA Accredited Registrars in 2022, said the training would include: Linux, Networking, DNS Security, Digital Marketing, Business Marketing, and Effective Service Delivery
The forum resolved among other things, to further engage stakeholders on enforcement of price reduction. NiRA is also expected to lead a campaign for the compulsory adoption of .gov.ng by government agencies, which is in line with the provisions of the Federal Government’s policy statement.
As one of the recommendations for creating awareness around .ng, the Registrars advised that campaigns be extended to schools.
Former President of NiRA Rev. Sunday Folayan, said: “One thing we should not ignore is that there are government policies that totally weigh on the adoption of .ng”. He gave an example of the government’s ban on Twitter as a risk factor. He therefore proposed the need for a change of negative perspectives and mindsets.
Responding to this, Rudman said NiRA cannnot predict government policies but can continue to show the sector in good light, while focusing on making people accept and stick to the .ng domain.
