Agriculture
Nigeria Loses N10bn Annually, Hosting Domain Names Offshore
Nigeria is losing not less
than N10 billion yearly through hosting its country code Top Level Domain (ccTLD), dotng (.ng) domain names outside the country, the Nigeria Internet Registration Association (NIRA) said on Monday.
President of NIRA, Mr Sunday Folayan, disclosed this in an interview with The Tide source in Lagos.
Domain hosting is ‘renting a space’ on the Internet to hold a Website, so that anyone can find your Website, by typing in your domain name.
He said that hosting of domain name was a pure business decision, which had both security and economic implications.
According to him, just one per cent of the .ng domains registered by NIRA’s registrars, is what is hosted in the country.
“And if we estimate, hosting has the income of about five times to 10 times the cost of domain name registration. You will see that it is a lot of money we are talking about.
“So 99 per cent of what NIRA has registered is hosted outside and NIRA has conservatively put what Nigeria is losing by today’s value of not less than N10 billion, in terms of hosting from the .ng domain.
“There are other .com domains that are also registered by NIRA, which could be more than five times the .ng registered.
“So we are talking of not less than N50 billion, plus the N10 billion from the .ng, making a total of not less than N60 billion,’’ he said.
The president added that information put on the internet were not safe, as people from anywhere in the world could hack into it.
He said that such data would be better secured, if hosted within the country, than outside.
Folayan decried the hosting of .ng domain names outside Nigeria, as it amounted to capital flight, and was not good for Nigeria’s economy.
The president said that NIRA had a total of 56 accredited registrars, who handled the actual registration of the domain names.
He said that of the 56 registrars, 79 per cent were Nigerians, while the remaining were from the UK, Germany and other countries.
According to him, of the 19,649 domain names registered and hosted by NIRA’s registrars, only 1.33 per cent is hosted in Nigeria.
“All the rest are hosted outside Nigeria. This is capital flight, it is something that bothers NIRA and we are looking at ways to mitigate that and help reserve foreign exchange, particularly at this very tight time for the country,’’ he said.
Folayan said that .ng (like our currency, the Naira and the +234 for country code) was the official Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN)-approved ccTLD for Nigeria.
According to him, the availability of names is better on the .ng ccTLD than on the generic top-level domain (gTLD) like .com, .org.
“With the .ng, our primary Domain Name System (DNS) servers are secured and locally managed with multiple cast servers located around the world,’’ he said.
Folayan added that hosting businesses on the .ng would help to support the Nigerian economy and provide jobs for local Information Technology (IT) professionals.
Federal Government and the Ogun State Government, on Wednesday, distributed farm inputs to farmers as part of effort to address food security challenge.
The State Director, Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security, Dr. Toyin Ayo-Ajayi, during the flag-off ceremony of Inputs Redemption Under The National Agricultural Growth Scheme-Agro Pocket (NAGS-AP), in Ogun State, disclosed that beneficiaries of the gesture were primarily rice, maize and cassava farmers across the State.
Ayo-Ajayi commended the Ogun State Government for partnering with the government at the centre for the effort in supporting farmers with inputs that would bring about yieldings for local consumption and likely exportation.
She noted that government is supporting rice, cassava and maize farmers with inputs worth N212,000; N189,000 and N186,000 respectively.
The Permanent Secretary in the State Ministry of Agriculture, Mrs Kehinde Jokotoye, who represented the Commissioner in the Ministry, Bolu Owotomo, stated that traditional farmers are critical in food production, hence the need to encourage and support them with inputs that would bring about desired results during harvesting.
Owotomo said: “Let us make good use of this opportunity, so that the success of this phase will make farmers benefit more from the state and federal governments of Nigeria.”
Earlier, State Coordinator, Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security, Dr. Oluwatoyin Ayo-Ajayi, appreciated the present administration for partnering with the federal government for the initiative, adding that the programme is designed to support farmers at the grassroots level in cassava, rice and maize with inputs such as, seeds, pesticides, herbicides and fertilizers, to boost their production and enhance their livelihood.
The Niger State Government has mapped out 10,000 hectares of farmland in Gbapo Community of Katcha Local Government Area of the State for smallholder farmers to benefit from the state government’s agricultural intervention programme.
Two thousand out of the 10,000 holders of the farmlands have already received inputs.
At a flag-off ceremony in Yinti Village, the facilitator of the programme, Shinkafan Nupe, Malam Idris Usman Makanta, assured the farmers of increased distributions to the mapped-out ten thousand (10,000) farmlands if farmers respond positively.
He explained that the commencement of the two thousand is to measure the positive response of farmers before obtaining full-scale support.
Malam Makanta stated that this initiative aligns with the farmers’ initial commitment through Niger Foods, whose mission is primarily geared towards establishing efficient and profitable agricultural businesses to support the present administration of Governor Mohammed Umaru Bago’s quest to boost agricultural productivity in the state.
He also commended Niger Foods for their steadfastness and resilience in the effective implementation of the input financing scheme.
Makanta reiterated the commitment of the State Governor in making judicious use of the arable land in the state.
Shinkafan Nupe, therefore, urged the farmers to support the Governor by using the inputs wisely so that the dream can be actualised.
The Gombe State Government has empowered a total of 573,429 farmers and entrepreneurs under the 4th phase of the GO-CARES programme.
The programme was officially flagged off by Governor Inuwa Yahaya in another major step towards alleviating poverty and supporting the state’s vulnerable populations.
The Governor, while inaugurating the disbursement in Akko Community of Akko Local Government Area, restated his administration’s commitment to the welfare of vulnerable citizens in the state.
He was represented by the Commissioner for Budget and Economic Planning, Salihu Baba Alkali, who is also the Chairman of the Steering Committee on GO- CARES implementation.
“The 4th phase of GO-CARES will directly and indirectly impact a total of 573,429 citizens across the state. Of these, 152,429 individuals will benefit directly through cash transfers, livelihood grants, agricultural inputs, and operational grants to small businesses”, he stated.
The Governor added that, “421,000 people will be indirect beneficiaries through infrastructural projects such as classroom blocks, healthcare facilities, WASH services, and rural infrastructure projects like culverts and drainages”.
Yahaya, reaffirmed his commitment to ensuring that the state’s most vulnerable citizens are not left behind in the state’s development.
According to him, “Earlier this year, on June 25, 2024, we flagged off the distribution of improved seedlings, fertilizers, and herbicides to less privileged farmers in Malam Sidi, Kwami Local Government Area, signaling the commencement of the 4th phase implementation of GO-CARES under Result Area 2”.
The Governor reiterated that these initiatives have had a significant impact on the livelihoods of beneficiaries and the overall agricultural sector.
He explained that, “Today’s ceremony marked the simultaneous launch of activities under all three GO-CARES Result Areas for the 4th phase. These areas include: State Cash Transfer Grants: 2,500 direct beneficiaries; Labour Intensive Public Works: 2,700 direct beneficiaries; Livelihood Grants: 10,000 direct beneficiaries; and Basic Services: 405,000 indirect beneficiaries”.
