It was unbelievably exciting, recanting the re-delegation process of .ng to NiRA, which was made possible by the Elder Statesman, Former President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Chief Olusegun Mathew Okikiola Aremu Obasanjo GCFR. The occasion of the reminiscences, was the 2017 NiRA Retreat, at the Green Legacy Resort, Abeokuta, Ogun state.
Chief Obasanjo graced a session of the retreat and was briefed of the progress made, since the re-delegation of the national resource. Mrs. Ibukun Odusote, the Secretary of the NiRA Board of Trustees was on ground to take Chief Obasanjo down the memory lane of how he, as the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria through the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), ensured that the .ng country code Top Level Domain (ccTLD) delegation management was handed over to a multi-stakeholder body which birthed NiRA. Despite the fact that this occurred in 2005, and with his many experiences in life, Chief Obasanjo could recall the events of that time, unbelievably and with remarkable ease!
Chief Obasanjo was inducted by the President of NIRA, as a .ng Ambassador. The President emphasized on the need for all Nigerians to identify with the .ng brand, our online identity. The use of the .ng brand would promote local content, local businesses, cultural heritage, grow the Nigerian economy, job and wealth creation, empower our youths, and conserve foreign exchange.
In his response to the conferment, Chief Obasanjo thanked the NiRA team for the great job done so far and promised to ensure that all his online presence would be .ng compliant
The NiRA 2017 retreat was remarkably different as it was graced by members of the Board of Trustees, Executive Board of Directors as well as Staff. The Trustees in attendance were Mr. Yunusa Zakari Ya’u, representing the NiRA BOT Chairman, Deacon Chima Onyekwere OON and Mrs. Ibukun Odusote the Secretary to the NiRA BOT.