Mr Kashifu Abdullahi, DG, NITDA and Mr Muhammed Rudman
By Na’ankwat Dariem, Abuja.
The National Information Technology Development Agency, (NITDA), and the Nigeria Internet Registration Association, (NIRA) have agreed to put modalities in place to ensure global visibility for Nigerian companies to promote the Digital Economy Agenda in Nigeria.
This was disclosed when the Director General, NITDA, Mr. Kashifu Abdullahi received a delegation from the Nigeria Internet Registration Association (NiRA), led by the President, Mr. Muhammed Rudman.
The visit was in part to solicit for the Agency’s support in going forward and to also present the report of its 12th Annual General Meeting held virtually on Thursday, July 30, 2020 to the DG, NITDA.
Mr. Rudman revealed that the Association is making frantic effort to promote digital economy by offering free .com.ng domain name to newly registered companies by the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC). “We are seeking the NITDA’s assistance for the CAC/NIRA Integration platform.This means automation of the system such that someone registering a company with CAC will have the option of taking a .com.ng domain name.” he explained.
Mr. Rudman added that the initiative would give global visibility to Nigerian companies by giving them an opportunity to have web presence.
He disclosed further that the Association is trying to domesticate the internet with the objective of hosting websites locally with resultant effect of increasing the internet speed and reduction in the cost of data usage.
The NITDA Boss while addressing the delegates said it was important for the Agency and the Association to be strategic partners so as to make resounding impact in the IT sector.
He urged NiRA to be more innovative and improve on its activities and collaboration with NITDA.
Abdullahi encouraged the Association not only to be reporting to NITDA but to also align their activities to various NITDA’s Initiatives, adding that government and private sector need each other.
“The role of government is to create an enabling environment for you to succeed and your part is to tell the government what it is you need to succeed,” he advised.
He highlighted some of the challenges faced by the Association, noting that as registrars they need to know owners of companies they register and urged NiRA to come up with a Know Your Customer (KYC) Policy in other to assist themselves and the security agencies in case of eventualities.
During the visit, NiRA also submitted to NITDA its annual report and presented its future plans to the Agency.
This is statutory based on the Memorandum of Understanding, (MoU) between NITDA and NiRA to present annual report to the Agency.
