Nigeria Internet Registration Association (NiRA), the body responsible for the nation’s .ng domain name, has urged the Government of Nigeria to create the country’s local Internet protocol.
Nigeria’s country code Top Level Domain (ccTLD) said the need for Nigeria’s local Internet protocol stems from the tougher challenges posed by cybercriminals who had bastardised the nation’s reputation, The Guardian reported.
In an interview with reporters in Lagos, the association’s chief operating officer Ope Odusan said Nigerian Internet users have been blacklisted by a number of websites, thus being unable to shop online or transact businesses with their MasterCard due to the profiling of Nigeria’s IP address.
According to Odusan, the sad situation results in the loss of billions of dollars that could have been added to the economy via eCommerce.
He asked the federal government to partner with relevant agencies such as NiRA, the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Ministry of Communications Technology and other stakeholders to create a local IP Registry with fortified database that would be accessible to all Internet Service Providers (ISPs) who will be required to register with the IP Registry.
When the local IP registry is established, Odusan said tracing and tracking dubious transactions originating from Nigeria would become easier and the nation would be delisted from the various international blacklists.
“Once it is established, fraudsters will be afraid to transact fraudulent online businesses, since they will be aware they will be traced and arrested,” Odusan said.
On the issue of who will be in charge of the local IP Registry, Odusan suggested NiRA since the body has the responsibility of regulating the country code Top Level Domain Name for Nigeria on the internet.
“The local IP Registry would redeem Nigeria’s already battered image, and open opportunities for clean online business of choice, from any online shopping centres,” he concluded.
