<html><head><style type="text/css"><!-- DIV {margin:0px;} --></style></head><body><div style="font-family:times new roman,new york,times,serif;font-size:12pt"><div>Dear all,<br><br>Jambo! It has been a long time I last posted on this list, but I've been following the discussion as much as I can. First off, let me take this opportunity to congratulate the new Executive of AfriNIC (Vika and Co.), and wish them all the very best during their tenure of office. It also goes withouth saying that they would need the support of all of us to succeed, and I hope we all bear this in mind moving forward. Vika's team is a dynamic one, and I'm sure they'll deliver.<br><br>I'd also like to congratulate Mauritius and Nigeria on their success in getting the redelegation of their ccTLDs. Coming as they do shortly after the ATU-organized and ICANNN-sponsored forum on ccTLDs in Mauritius, this is really great news. Not only does this
build confidence, it also proves that we can, despite the odds, achieve a lot once we agree to work together. I hope the rest of us get inspired by this, and implore both Mauritius and Nigeria to share their experiences and lessons learned with other countries. To paraphrase Nkrumah, the reledelegation of the .mu and .ng ccTLDs is meaningless unless it is link to the redelegation of all African ccTLDs. Remember the grand theme of the ATU forum: a ccTLD for every African country.<br><br>Finally, I'd like to encourage all and sundry again to take an active part in ICANN's organs and activities. Anne-Rachel has been posting a lot of information about ICANN, especially solicitations of comments and feedback on various documents and issues. Your input into these discussions is invaluable. For example, the draft FY2010 Operating Plan and Budget (<a
href="http://www.icann.org/en/financials/proposed-opplan-budget-v1-fy10-17may09-en.pdf">http://www.icann.org/en/financials/proposed-opplan-budget-v1-fy10-17may09-en.pdf</a>) has been posted for comments, and as you can imagine, feedback received is going to determine the allocation of resources on such expenses as fellowship programs to sponsor people like us attend ICANN meetings. Ditto for discussions on the upcoming introduction of internationalized domain names (IDNs), and new gTLDs. Finally, you can make valuable contributions via the various supporting organizations and committees that make up ICANN.<br><br>That's about it for now. Again, congratulations to every one, and keep up the great job!<br><br>Katim<br></div><div style="font-family: times new roman,new york,times,serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br><div style="font-family: times new roman,new york,times,serif; font-size: 12pt;"><font face="Tahoma" size="2"><hr size="1"><b><span
style="font-weight: bold;">From:</span></b> Dr Yassin Mshana <ymshana2003@gmail.com><br><b><span style="font-weight: bold;">To:</span></b> africann@afrinic.net; cangaye@nitda.gov.ng<br><b><span style="font-weight: bold;">Sent:</span></b> Wednesday, May 20, 2009 12:05:20 PM<br><b><span style="font-weight: bold;">Subject:</span></b> [AfrICANN-discuss] Re: Nigeria Attains Full Control of .ng ccTLD<br></font><br>Dear Professor,<div><br></div><div>I am very pleased to see that the effort made to have the management of .ng has reached this important stage.</div><div><br></div><div>Congratulations to you and the .ng management and its communities.</div>
<div><br></div><div>Well done and God Bless</div><div><br></div><div>Dr Y Mshana</div><div>(ex-ccNSO Council Africa)</div><div><br></div><div><br></div><div> 2009/5/19 Anne-Rachel Inné <span dir="ltr"><<a rel="nofollow" ymailto="mailto:annerachel@gmail.com" target="_blank" href="mailto:annerachel@gmail.com">annerachel@gmail.com</a>></span><div class="gmail_quote">
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<div style="text-align: left;"><a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://www.thisdayonline.com/nview.php?id=143666">http://www.thisdayonline.com/nview.php?id=143666</a><br></div>
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</p><h2 style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 3px;">Nigeria Attains Full Control of .ng ccTLD</h2>
<tt style="color: black;">By Efem Nkanga, 05.18.2009</tt><p>The
Nigerian Internet community has effected the redelegation of the .ng
ccTLD and attained full local management of the domain. The
President, Internet Registration Association of Nigeria , Engr Ndukwe
Kalu, disclosed this in a statement made available to THISDAY yesterday.<br>Ndukwe
stated that Nigeria had for long sought for full control which if
finally attained at ‘’exactly 4pm GMT May 13, 2009, when Verisign made
the ICANN approved root server changes to the .ng ccTLD, a few hours
later ICANN/IANA effected the board approved redelegation of the
Nigerian ccTLD on the IANA website’’ He reiterated that ‘’This
effectively brings to an end the long drawn desire and expectation of
the Nigerian Internet community to effect redelegation of the .ng ccTLD
and full local management’’.<br>Ndukwe went down memory lane and
disclosed that the .ng ccTLD journey started in 1995 with the first
delegation to one of Mrs Ibukun Odusote as the then admin contact. He
added that by 2004 with the intervention of the former president of
Nigeria Chief Olusegun Obasanjo the Nigerian Internet community
represented by the G22 reached a consensus on a not for profit all
inclusive body to manage the .ng ccTLD. With the formation and final
election of the NIRA executive board in May 2007 the stage was then set
for conclusion of the redelegation process and fully localize the
management of the ng cc TLD<br>He added that the attempt to obtain full
control met with a lot of challenges because as a totally new entity
the executive had to concentrate on putting in place the required
structure and infrastructure that would sustain the .ng ccTLD. He added
that the efforts has however paid off because the .ng ccTLD would now
be offering its domains in the ccTLD with the most robust technical
infrastructure in Africa . The .ng ccTLD according to him is the only
ccTLD with multiple anycast name servers offering local resolutions of
.ng domain in over 40 cities in five continents with a 100% uptime
guarantee. He reiterated that apart from that Nigeria is the second
country in Africa to have a fully automated registry with full EPP
access making it of global standard that allow registrars from all over
the world to interact with it. Now with the Nigerian registry anyone
can register a .ng in seconds and be sure that the name would always be
available and visitors to the websites would get translations of the
domain names in over 40 local cities making for better web experience.</p>
<p>Ndukwe added that this was a defining moment for
the Nigerian Internet community and Nigerians. He added that the
redelgation makes NIRA the sponsoring organization and manager of the
.nccTLD bringing the .ng as desired to the greater participation of
all stakeholders both government and private sector. He stressed that
it has also accorded the former head of NITDA the late Prof Ajayi a new
peace as one of his key desires comes to pass and his name is rested
from the IANA website. According to him, with the change NIRA has
deemphasized personalization of the domain managers but rather has used
roles with the admin contact as the role of NIRA President.</p>
<p> He also emphasized that the issue NIRA has to
grapple with now is that of the full population of the .ng ccTLD, a
task which he described as very daunting because of the primary reason
that all of the African ccTLDs put together cannot make the ccTLD Top
25. He stated that for an Information Age where the main asset is
knowledge, a firm presence in cyberspace cannot be overemphasized.
According to him NIRA is set to tackle this challenge by massively
pursuing the population of the .ng ccTLD. It would start this quest by
coming out with key projects to achieve this. The vision of NIRA is
domiciled in making Nigeria to make the ccTLD top 20 by year 2011. He
emphasised that this vision is not just for the sake of making the top
20 but to positively impact the Nigerian economy because with the
development of the Nigerian cyberspace countless opportunities would be
born for both the state and citizens.</p>
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