Omobayo Azeez
The registration of Nigerian domain name, .ng country’s code top-level domain (ccTLD) has recorded traction by 9.97 percent in the last eight month.
A country’s code top level domain name is a country’s identity in the cyberspace and for Nigeria, this is the .ng and websites that bear the ccTLD indicate that they originate from Nigeria.
According to the latest statistics on the .ng domain registration, obtained by our correspondent for the custodian of the country’s internet identity data, the Nigerian Internet Registration Association (NiRA), the total number of .ng websites currently stands at 144,169.
This figure has grown as internet registrars enlivened some 13,069 new websites between January and August this year with the number growing from a total 131,100 .ng active websites in the country as at December, 2018.
Of the latest figure, 141.169, 124,297 are classified as third level domains while 19,872 are second level active domains.
Similarly, on-year-year basis, NiRA shows that total active websites that originate from Nigeria rose from 93,317 in August 2017 to hit 125,814 in August 2018, and 144,169 in the corresponding period of 2019.
In the last two months also, the figure has increased from June’s 140,709 to 142,476 and 144,169 in July and August, showing appreciations by 1.26 per cent and 1.19 per cent as 1,767 and 1,693 new websites with the Nigerian internet identity were added in the last two months respectively.
Meanwhile, August activities showed that registrars registered 5,483 new .ng websites, while they renewed 3,488 and restored 100 others.
As the custodian and promoter of adoption of the indigenous internet domain name, NiRA has emphasized the need for businesses, individuals, private and public enterprises to cultivate the habit of giving their operations internet presence by activating websites.
It however insists that in doing this, adopting the Nigerian ccTLD, which is the identity of the country on the internet, would indicate that the websites not only originate from Nigeria but also, gives the country broader reach to the rest of the world.
According to Muhammed Rudman,, NiRA president, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) assigns to each country and territory, a country code top level domain.
He said for almost twenty years, ICANN had worked closely with managers of ccTLDs, adding that “For Nigeria the ccTLD is .ng, for Uganda the ccTLD is .ug, for Egypt the ccTLD is .eg, among others.”
Rudman, who spoke at the Fintech Nigeria Social Meet 5.0 organised recently by the Fintech Association of Nigeria, said “the .ng Registry is dynamic. As an organisation, NiRA is determined to continue to respond to the specific challenges of the DNS Industry in Nigeria, while striving to ensure compliance with international best practices.”
He further highlighted benefits attached to operating .ng websites to include security, as the Nigerian .ng will prevent Nigerian sites from being regulated by foreign laws; prevention of capita flight, better speed, brand protection, local targeting and search engine optimization (SEO), among others.
Rudman, who took the mantle of leadership of the Association in May, 2019 stated that for the next four years, NiRA would strive to record 100 per cent increase in new domain registrations annually, 30 per cent in the number of registrars and excel in the provision of its core services, by ensuring 99.9 per cent uptime within the period.
Meanwhile, observers have noted that the traction recorded in the number of registered websites with Nigerian identity indicates that month-on-month and year-on-year, players in the country’s socio-economic scene are taking their operations and presence online to give them global access via the digital process.
