NIRA registers 16,981 domain names in 2013

Mary Uduma, the President of Nigeria Internet Registration Association, said the association registered 16,981 (dot ng) domain names in 2013.
Uduma disclosed this on Wednesday in Lagos at the sixth Annual General Meeting of the association.
According her, NIRA renewed 7,571 domain names during the period.
A domain name is a unique address that can be used on the internet.
It is what one sees on the address bar after the ”www.” in web browser.
Uduma said that the association was creating visibility for the .ng and that the domain was increasingly becoming a model for other African country code Top Level Domains.
According to her, some countries across the globe have adopted the practice and seek to understand NIRA’s challenges and approach.
She said: “The domain name industry is constantly evolving and change must come from within us if our ccTLD must remain relevant.
“As part of our advocacy to increase the visibility of the association and .ng, NIRA has engaged Internet Protocol lawyers, publishers, medical groups and youth camps.
“NIRA also engaged its stakeholders associations, various ICT events in advocating for the preferred uptake of .ng string as the domain name brand.”
Uduma said the association was determined to register more than 250,000 .ng domain names by the end of 2014.
She said: “We are expecting to reach 250,000 domain names by the end of the year.
“We have already drawn up programmes on how to create awareness on the .ng domain names.”
Uduma said that one of the strategies put in place to achieve the 250,000 target was the “Domain Name Fiesta”.
According to her, the fiesta will entail going round the states and local government areas to ensure that Nigerians know about the .ng domain name.
She said that another strategy to be taken by NIRA was to collaborate with the Corporate Affairs Commission.
The NIRA president said that the collaboration would ensure that anybody registering its company’s name with the CAC should also take a domain name.
She said that the association was already fine tuning the process with the commission to ensure that the exercise was hitch-free.
Uduma also said that NIRA registrars would be giving out 100,000 .ng domain names for free in order to attain the 250,000 domain target.
She said that one of the advantages of taking up the .ng domain name was that it would launch individuals and businesses into the Internet.
According to her, it will further create employment and help to build local content.