Nigeria Internet Registration Association
 | |
| Type: | Non Profit |
| Industry: | Registry |
| Founded: | March 23, 2005 |
| Ownership: | Multi-Stakeholder Association |
| Headquarters: | 9 Kofo Abayomi Street Victoria Island Lagos |
| Country: | Nigeria |
| Email: | admin[at]nira.org.ng |
| Website: | NiRA.org.ng |
| Facebook: | NiRAworks |
| Twitter: |  @niraworks
|
| Key People | |
| Dr. Adeola Odeyemi, Pioneer Board Chairman Deacon Chima Onyekwere, Current Board Chairman Ndukwe Kalu, Pioneer Executive President Mary Nma Uduma, Current Executive President | |
NiRA or Nigerian Internet Registration Association is the registry of .ng domain names. Besides the ccTLD it supports some other second level domains including com.ng, edu.ng, name.ng, net.ng, org.ng, sch.ng, gov.ng, mil.ng and mobi.ng.[1]
NiRA follows the Registry/Registrar model according to which .ng domain names can be registered through a NiRA accredited registrar. It does not directly register domain names.[2]
Mrs. Mary Uduma, president of the organization, had opposed ICANN's decision to create an .xxx sTLD.[3]. Nigeria's position on such issues is based on Cultural and Traditional Ethics embedded in the average African.
History
NiRA was started as a stakeholder organization in 2005 for the maintenance of .ng domain names, prior to which, the ccTLD was managed by the National Information Technology Development Agency on behalf of the Federal Government. Initially, .ng was hosted in the USA by an American Randy Bush has its Technical Contact. Its Board of Trustees was elected in 2006 and its Executive Board in March 2007.[4] To promote the ccTLD NiRA offered 50,000 free .ng domain names to its customers in March, 2011.[5]. However, in April 2013, NiRA opened its Top Level (.ng) for registration and witnessed a boom.
Switch to .ng
NiRA has recently started a campaign 'Switch to .ng' urging Nigerian firms to register .ng domains. It aims to improve the visibility of Nigeria on the Internet by creating local content with ensured content security. As a result of campaign local, as well as international, companies have started giving attention to .ng domains.[6] Furthermore, .ng is an Open ccTLD, and thus can be registered by anyone around the globe. With its innovative Executive and the support of the National Information Technology Development Agency of Nigeria (NITDA) and the excellent leadership of the Ministry of Communication Technology, Mrs. Omobola Johnson, the switchto.gov.ng has been accepted with a deadline set in August 18th, 2014 for all Government Bodies at all levels to change.
Events
NiRA, in collaboration with other internet related bodies, has organised a lot of activities to date and contributed immensely to the growth and development of various organisations across Africa and in Nigeria. NiRA is supporting the growth and sustenance of organisations and associations with related reference, towards advancing the development amongst the Internet Industry.
-The Digital Sense Forum.[7]
-The Local Internet Content Forum (LICF).
Other expectations are: -Corporate-1-Million i.e. NG Corps, NG Media College, NG Young CEOs et al; -Centenary Giveaways; -Internet Awards and Recognition, to mention a few.
It represents Nigeria in ICANN fora and is interested in hosting an ICANN meeting planned for 2015.[8]
External Links
- NiRA registrars list.