In 2017, Bashir Ahmad the Personal Assistant on New Media to President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, President Muhammadu Buhari GCFR tweeted that the Federal Government had provided over 40,000 email addresses for Government officials, under the .gov.ng and .mil.ng domain extension. This portrays the importance of using secured closed .gov.ng domain name by Government Entities (MDAs).
In exercise of the powers conferred on the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) by Section 6 of the NITDA Act of 2007, NITDA published the Standards and Guidelines for Government Websites which states that Government’s Email formats should be consistent and all websites/portal of Government constituents at all levels (Federal, State and Local governments) or specialized projects of government that would last for 18 months or more are required to register on .GOV.NG zone.
For many reasons, it is important for the Government entities to use the .gov.ng or .mil.ng domain extension.
It promotes integrity of Government Data and Communication: The .gov.ng and .mil.ng domain extensions are closed domains reserved for the Government (Federal, State and Local Government) bodies and for the Military respectively. This implies that only the Government and the military are allowed to register such domain names and use these email address extensions.
It fosters trust: Since the General Public know that any domain ending with .gov.ng and .mil.ng belongs to the Government and military respectively, they are more likely to trust emails originating or being sent to that email extension.
It Promote local content and reduce capital flight: The use of .gov.ng and .mil.ng by governmental Agencies reduces capital flights and the pressure on forex since .ng domains are sold in Local Nigerian currency and promote the growth of local content in Nigeria.
It enhances privacy of Data: Recently we learnt how some governments compel Tech Giants to turn over their data. Though a controversial discussion, it must be noted that the free email account providers abide by the laws of the land of its country of origin. (Article available on http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2551277/Technology-giants-reveal-ordered-turn-information-Government.html). All correspondence using public email accounts can not be said to be safe.
With the .ng domain name and the growth in local hosting companies, the government can host its email servers locally and restrict access to its data.
It promotes Nigeria online identity.