NiRA
 | |
| Type: | Non Profit |
| Industry: | Registry |
| Founded: | March 23, 2005 |
| Headquarters: | 9 Kofo Abayomi Street Victoria Island Lagos |
| Country: | Nigeria |
| Email: | admin[at]nira.org.ng |
| Website: | NiRA |
| Facebook: | NiRA |
| Key People | |
| Mary Uduma, President A. Odeyemi, Chairman Board of Trustees | |
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]
Miss Mary Uduma, president of the organization, opposes ICANN's decision to create a .xxx sTLD.[3]
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 and was hosted in the USA by an American Randy Bush. Its Board of Trustees was elected in 2007 and its Executive Board in 2010.[4] To promote the ccTLD NiRA offered 50,000 free .ng domain names to its customers in March, 2011.[5]
Switch to .ng
NiRA has recently started a campaign 'Switch to .ng' urging Nigerian firms to register .ng domains. This will improve the visibility of Nigeria on internet by creating local content and will ensure content security. As a result of campaign local as well as International companies have started giving attention to .ng domains.[6] Further .ng is an Open ccTLD which can be registered by anyone around the globe. Google has registered Google.ng and has yet to provide local content. While Microsoft, after much resistance, finally registered bi.ng in February 2011. It is likely that Microsoft payed a high amount nearing 3 million in Nigerian currency, to register the domain.[7]
Events
NiRA, in collaboration with other internet related bodies, organized the Digital Sense Forum 2010, held in Lagos.[8] It represents Nigeria in ICANN fora and is interested in hosting an ICANN meeting planned for 2013.[9]
External Links
- NiRA registrars list.