States Get 12 Months To Switch To Nigeria’s Internet Address

As part of measures to ensure Nigeria plants its feet firmly on the cyberspace, all the 36 states governments and their agencies have been given till August 18, 2014, to complete the switch to www.gov.ng in order to maintain a secured presence on the internet using Nigeria’s country code top level domain (ccTLD).

The move would create a single signature for the federal and state governments and their agencies on the internet; help minimise fake government websites as well as increase the use of .ng, Nigeria’s suffix on the cyberspace. 

This decision was part of 30 others taken at the just concluded National Council on Communication Technology (NCCT) which ended few days ago in Akure, Ondo State.

The NCCT recommended that the National Policy on Information and Communication Technology in principle by the Federal executive Council (FEC) recently be adopted and states should develop ICT policies that are aligned to the National ICT policies; the Ministry of Communication Technology be established in each state of the federation and the ICT secretariat in the Federal Capital Territory.

They also agreed that each state should hold Microwork/Elancing workshops with the objective of creating awareness about the work opportunities in the Microwork and Elancing space, creating job opportunities for the youths and reducing unemployment and underemployment, and also that all states and local government areas should collaborate with the NITDA on the development of their IT policy and establish the necessary institutional framework.

Others were that state governments be encouraged to commence the immediate implementation of National Economic Council (NEC)’s decision on multiple taxation and levies by the issuance of executive order and ensure strict adherence to its implementation;  be encouraged to, as part of executive order, ensure that all access to telecom infrastructure by states and local government operatives would require the consent of the governors as part of the measures for protecting them as critical national infrastructure.

The NCCT recommended that state governments be encouraged to take necessary policy action on the implementation of relevant aspects of Nigeria’s National Broadband Plan; a collaborative framework to stem irregular/illegal use of radio frequency in Nigeria should be developed and in collaboration with NIPOST,  build post offices in local communities within their states to enable NIPOST provide financial and ICT services.

The meeting chaired by Mrs Omobola Johnson, Minister of Communications Technology, had in attendance Dr Olusegun Mimiko, Ondo State Governor, who declared the conference open; Dr Henry Akpan, Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Communication technology; commissioners and officials of ICT, science and technology sector and other related areas from 22 states of the federation and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) as well as the Office of the Head of Civil Service of the Federation (OHCSF).

Others present were Oyetunde Ojo, chairman, House of Reps Committee on Communication; other National Assembly committee members; representative of the Speaker of the Ondo State House of Assembly, Dairo; the Presidents of Nigeria Computer Society (NCS), Association of Licenced Telecomm Operators of Nigeria (ALTON), Computer Registration Council of Nigeria and executives and captains in the ICT private sector/industry.