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igeria Internet Registration Association (NiRA) was established on

March 28th, 2006 when stakeholders adopted its constitution. In 2016,

NiRA celebrated its 10th year of managing the .ng registry. To mark the

10th anniversary of NiRA, series of events were organised to celebrate this

special milestone. A total of six major events were organised.

The activities for the 10th Anniversary were:

• An organised Press Conference to announce the anniversary activities

• The presence of NiRA delegates at the Africa DNS forum and ICANN 55

meeting

• The .ng Fair and Exhibition for the DNS and Technology Industry

• The .ng Wealth Creation and Youth Empowerment Program (YEP)

which included

o The conferment of .ng Ambassadors

o The launch of .ng scout

• The .ng social media fest

• The 2016 .ng Web Award and Gala

The celebration was flagged off by a Press Conference held on February 16,

2016 with the Chairman, Board of Trustees, Deacon Mr. Chima Onyekwere,

OON and President, NiRA, Rev’d. Sunday Folayan addressing the Gentlemen of

the press, about the program of activities to celebrate the 10th anniversary.

Members of the Board of Trustees and Board of Directors of NiRA were also in

attendance at the Press Conference.

The Africa DNS Forum and ICANN 55 Meeting held in Morocco from the 5th

March, 2016. In attendance were NiRA delegates who fostered a proposed work

relationship between NiRA, ZA Central Registry (ZACR) and Kenya Network

Information Centre (KENIC).

The maiden edition of .ng Fair and Exhibition, as the third activity organised to

commensurate the 10th anniversary of NiRA held on 12th March, 2016. The aim

of the fair was to bring together stakeholders, to showcase local businesses and

build further awareness of the .ng brand.

On the 19th March 2016, the .ng Wealth Creation and Youth Empowerment

Program held at the Muson Center, Onikan – Lagos. The program targeted at

N Executive Summary

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Nigerian youth, provided entrepreneurship training to over One hundred and

Fifty (150) participants. The activities during the program included; three

Entrepreneurship presentations; Conferment of .ng Ambassadors (Students

and Press); and the Launch of .ng Scouts.

The 10th anniversary celebration was taken online with the introduction of the

.ng social media Fest. The activity which held on Easter Monday, 28th March,

2016 was conducted online through NiRA’s social media platforms, Facebook,

Twitter and Instagram. The essence of the competition was to get people

tweeting and talking about .ng online. The competition resulted in various

participants designing creative images and content to depict the importance of

using .ng domain name and to show that businesses are switching to .ng domain

name. Winners of the competition received prizes during the 2016 .ng Web

Award and Gala.

The grand finale of the commemorative activities was the 2016 .ng Web Award

and Gala. The event which held on Saturday, 2nd April, 2016 at the Oriental

hotel, Lagos, rewarded and celebrated industry leaders using the .ng domain

name.

A total of 25 organisations or/and individuals were awarded.

- 10 Web award winners - 10 Presidential awardees - 5 Competition winners

Recipients of 2016 .ng Web Award and Gala

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The winners that emerged at the Web Award are:

1. Technology Company of the Year o google.com.ng (Google)

2. Most Innovative Web Company/Organization o jumia.com.ng (Jumia)

3. Best Banking Website/Portal o fidelitybank.ng (Fidelity Bank)

4. Best Educational Institution website/portal o unilag.edu.ng (University of

Lagos)

5. Technology Startup Company of the year o eazyhire.com.ng (Eazyhire)

6. Best Hosting Company o galaxybackbone.com.ng (Galaxy

Backbone Limited)

7. .ng Media Award o guardian.ng (The Guardian

Newspaper)

8. Most Valuable Youth Organization o nacoss.org.ng (Nigeria

Association of Computer Science Students)

9. Best State Government

o lagosstate.gov.ng (Lagos State Government)

10. Public Sector: Star Website Award

o jamb.org.ng (Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board)

The awardees of the Presidential

Award are:

1. Best .ng ccTLD Registrars a. Standard Category:

galaxybackbone.com.ng

(Galaxy Backbone Limited)

b. Silver Category:

webindices.com.ng (Web

Indices)

c. Gold Category:

icecoolcontracts.com.ng

(Icecool Contracts Limited)

d. Platinum Category:

whogohost.com.ng

(Whogohost Limited)

2. .ng most supporting Sponsor

o nitda.gov.ng - National Information Technology Development (NITDA)

o ncc.gov.ng - Nigeria Communications Commission (NCC)

3. NiRA Presidential Award for

Youth Development o Chukwuemeka Fred Agbata

Jnr(techpoint.ng)

4. NiRA Presidential Award for Women Development

o Dr. (Mrs.) Wunmi Hassan (hitech.org.ng)

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5. NiRA Special Recognition Award o Mrs. Mary Uduma

(Immediate Past President, NiRA)

o Dr. Isaac Odeyemi

(Immediate Past Chairman,

NiRA BOT)

The winners of the .ng competitions, #ngselfie and .ng Social Media Fest are:

1. NiRA Facebook Friend talk Winner:

Ibrahim Oladimeji 2. Instagram Pix Winner:

Salako Oluwagbemiga Joshua

3. NiRA TweetFEST Winner:

Ahmad Mukoshy 4. #ngselfie Winner:

Juliet Chidinma Onuoha 5. #ngselfie Runner up:

Simeon Udoh

The 2016 .ng Web Award created additional publicity for the .ng brand and

recipients of the awards were appreciative of the honour bestowed on them.

The Guardian Newspaper published its award on the front page, seventh page

and eight page of the Monday, 4th April, 2016 Guardian Newspaper. Numerous

recipients also publicized their awards on social media and their websites.

Cross-section of NiRA Board of Directors, Board of Trustees and .ng ambassadors (Media)

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REPORT OF THE

PRESS CONFERENCE

HELD ON

FEBRUARY 16, 2016

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Anniversary celebration was flagged off by a Press Conference

held at the NiRA Office Complex, Surulere – Lagos on February

16, 2016. The Press Conference was addressed by NiRA Board of

Trustee (BOT) Chairman, Deacon Chima Onyekwere, OON and NiRA President,

Rev’d. Sunday Folayan.

The Press Conference aimed at bringing Gentlemen of the Press together, to

notify them of the 10th anniversary of NiRA and the official events and programs

for the 10th anniversary. Conversed at the press conference was also the history

of NiRA and the infographics of the DNS Sector within Nigeria.

.ng

Cross-section of NiRA COO, Board of Directors and Board of Trustees

Cross section of Gentlemen of the Press at the 2016 Press conference

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Twenty (20) Media houses were in attendance including AIT, RAV TV, The

Guardian Newspaper, Punch Newspaper, etc.

The outcome of the Press Conference led to various articles written about NiRA,

the 10th anniversary of NiRA, and the DNS industry in Nigeria.

The Press Conference garnered additional awareness of the .ng band, drawing

attention to the business benefits and potentials of the .ng brand.

Press release was circulated by NiRA to various media houses. A copy of the

press release is attached below.

Left to Right: Mrs Edith Udeagu (NiRA COO), Revd. Sunday Folayan (NiRA President) and cross-section of gentlemen of the press

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February 16, 2016

Nigeria Internet Registration Association (NiRA)

Nigeria Internet Registration Association, (NiRA) was established on

28th March 2006 when stakeholders within the Nigerian Internet

Industry got together to adopt its constitution, under the

stewardship of an Interim Board of Trustees (iBoT).

The iBoT thereafter conducted an election that day, and the Pioneer

Board of Trustees (BoT) was elected, with Dr. Isaac Odeyemi as the

Chairman of the BoT. The current Chair of the BoT is Deacon Chima

Onyekwere, OON. The BoT thereafter conducted elections for the

Pioneer Executive Board (EBoD), with the late Engr. Ndukwe Kalu

being elected as the Pioneer President of NiRA. The late Kalu was

succeeded by Mrs Mary Uduma, our immediate Past President who

completed her term of office in 2015. The current President of NIRA

is Reverend Sunday Folayan.

The transfer of the appropriate management of the .ng National

Resource was coordinated by the National Information Technology

Development Agency (NITDA) on behalf of the Federal Government

of Nigeria.

NIRA, the leading Country Code Top Level Domain Name Registry in

West Africa, is proud to celebrate a decade of managing Nigeria's

critical national resource and identity flagship on the Internet, the .ng

name string.

Today, NiRA Represented by the Current Chairman Board of

Trustees, Deacon Chinma Onyekwere and the President, Executive

Board of Director, Reverend Sunday Folayan, announce the

commencement of NiRA’s 10th year anniversary with this Press

Conference. The activities for the celebration, which will contribute

to building awareness and appreciation of .ng includes

Press Release

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- The presence of NiRA delegates at the Africa DNS Forum/ICANN

meeting holding in Morocco from 4th to 10th March 2016

- The NiRA Fair and Exhibition of the DNS industry to be mounted by

NiRA Accredited

- Registrars, resellers, web hosting companies and software

developers, on 12th March, 2016

- A Youth Empowerment and Wealth Creation program on the 19th

March 2016

- conferment of .ng Ambassadors

- launch of .ng Scouts programme

- the .ng Social Media activities, and

- a climax with the .ng 10th Anniversary Gala and Award Night on

the 2nd of April 2016.

At NiRA, we are passionate about local content development and we

believe that great ideas begin with a simple inspiration and thereafter

become stories that entertain, educate and capture the imagination

of the audience. With our passion in mind, we will launch the NiRA

.ng selfie and animation competitions to create compelling local

contents that inspire. We encourage Nigerians to take advantage of

the opportunities offered by these competitions.

The Domain Name Systems (DNS) industry is a revenue generator

with abundant business opportunities in the .ng domain industry. We

request that all Nigerians join in the noble act of promoting our

businesses, our culture, our heritage and our economy online, by

promoting .ng.

We appreciate your presence and the role of the media in projecting

.ng and communicating NiRA’s activities.

We equally have the press at heart. The Media College event, for

engaging

Gentlemen of the Press, would hold in the 2nd quarter of 2016. We

thank you for coming today and encourage you to register your .ng

domain names and use it for your websites, blogs and email activities.

Thank you

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REPORT OF THE

AFRICA DNS FORUM

AND ICANN 55

MEETING HELD IN

MOROCCO

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frica DNS Forum and ICANN 55 meetings held in Marrakech, Morocco.

The 5-days program started on the 5th of March 2016 with NiRA

delegates in attendance. The NiRA Executive Board of Directors, led by

Rev’d. Sunday Folayan, hosted the Nigerian delegates at ICANN 55, with the

Permanent Secretary Federal Ministry of Communications, Arch. Sunday

Echono, Mr. Shola Taylor, Secretary-General, Commonwealth

Telecommunication Organization (CTO) and numerous other dignitaries in

attendance. Two NiRA accredited Registrars were invited to ICANN 55 by NiRA

based on their registration activities namely Smartweb and Whogohost.

At ICANN 55, NiRA had the opportunity of hosting the Nigerian community and

sowed a positive seed, which will eventually engender appropriate Nigerian

government participation in subsequent ICANN meetings. NiRA sponsored the

CCLD/CCNSo Marrakech Cocktail at ICANN 55 and the Africa DNS Forum 2016

with a monetary donation.

NiRA delegates were able to secure a collaborative relationship between NiRA,

ZA Central Registry (ZACR) and Kenya Network Information Centre (KENIC).

The proposed collaboration which is of mutual benefit to NiRA, ZACR and

KENIC Registrars would allow Registrars from this Registry to conduct Registry

activities across their platforms. This collaboration will result in the increase of

.ng domain name registration.

NiRA indicated willingness to volunteer its services to the Federal Government

of Nigeria in its representation at the Government Advisory Committee (GAC)

at ICANN. NiRA demonstrated its leadership role and was the rallying point for

other African countries at ICANN 55.

Cross-section of some of the Nigeria delegate at ICANN 55

A

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REPORT OF THE .NG

FAIR AND EXHIBITION

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he maiden edition of the .ng Fair and exhibition was organised to bring

stakeholders together and contribute to building awareness of the .ng

brand. The NiRA Fair and Exhibition was hosted on the 12th March, 2016

at the NiRA Office Complex, Surulere – Lagos.

The Fair and Exhibition created an avenue for local businesses to come together

to show case the products and services they have to offer and market their

products to participants. All sectors of the DNS industry were represented with

a total of 26 diverse exhibitors spanning from NiRA Accredited registrars,

Technology companies offering various products and services, training

Institutes, technology governing bodies, Insurance companies,

Entrepreneurship Institutes and Pension organisation.

The fair was declared opened by the BOT Chairman, Deacon Chima Onyekwere

(OON) after the welcome address presented by NiRA President, Rev’d. Sunday

Folayan.

At the opening ceremony was a diverse groups of exhibitors, participants,

gentlemen of the Press and NiRA stakeholders.

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Right to Left: NiRA President (Revd Folayan) delivering his welcome Address and NiRA BOT chairman (Deacon Onyekwere)

Cross-section of exhibitors, press and participants

Mr Destiny during an interview with RavTV

Cross-section of Exhibitors and participants

Participants during a presentation by Galaxy

backbone

LASACO representatives and a participant

Exhibitors and participant

Mr Destiny with a reporter from RavTV

New Horizon offering various training programs to

participants

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A fair magazine was developed to advertise the companies exhibiting and the

program of events. The magazine was offered free to participants and

exhibitors at the Fair.

The offering on the day of the Fair was free .name.ng domain name registration

by NiRA Accredited Registrars for participants at the

exhibition. This gesture was patronized and well

appreciated. A total of 44 .name.ng domains were

registered. Below is the distribution of the registrations: l

Gigalayer 8 domains

Upperlink 13 domains

Whogohost 10 domains

Nigeriadomains 13 domains

Over 200 participants registered their attendance online. Galaxy backbone and

LASACO Insurance made presentations to participants at the fair. A group of

Secondary school students and National Youth Service Corps were in

attendance. The secondary Students were able to gain better knowledge of the

DNS industry as a short discussion facilitated by Icecool Contracts Limited was

presented to them.

At the end of the exhibition, the participants were able to gain access to diverse

group of exhibitors under one platform, learn about some of the latest

technology trends and apps, learn about some of the available resources for

start-ups to grow and manage a business. Exhibitors were also able to attain

sales, engage prospective customers and network with participants and other

business owners.

Both the Exhibitors and the participants appreciated the initiative. Some

participants and exhibitions registered .ng domain names from the Accredited

Registrars. For NiRA this was an enlightenment program that strengthened the

brand and created further awareness and familiarity with the .ng domain name.

NiRA was able to achieve its aim by bringing stakeholders together, building .ng

brand awareness, facilitating local content development through reported

news articles on the events and showcasing the DNS Industry and technology

sector at large.

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Welcome Address from the NiRA President

@ .ng Fair and Exhibition

Saturday, 12th March, 2016

Dear Participants and guests of .ng Fair & Exhibition, NiRA is

celebrating its 10th year anniversary! On behalf of Nigeria Internet

Registration Association (NiRA), it gives me great pleasure to

personally welcome everyone to the maiden edition of .ng Fair and

Exhibition 2016, which is one in the series of activities lined up, in

celebrating NiRA’s 10th year anniversary.

This .ng Fair and Exhibition is specifically aimed at bringing the

stakeholders together and to contribute to build awareness of the .ng

brand. This, in addition will showcase the Domain Name System

Industry and Technology Sector and present opportunities for our

various stakeholders to display their businesses.

.ng is Nigeria’s identity on the Internet. Over the years, all relevant

stakeholders have worked to ensure the online presence of the

Nigerian Corporate Identity and entities. NiRA was founded on

March 28, 2006 as a Stakeholder - led organization, charged with the

management of Nigeria’s country code Top Level Domain Name

(ccTLD), dot ng. Stakeholders within Nigeria’s Internet community

participated in its formation, with the co-ordination of the National

Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) on behalf of

the Federal Government of Nigeria.

Over the years, we have witnessed growth in the .ng ecosystem. NiRA

operates the 3R Model (Registry/Registrar/Registrant) of operation

and management of the .ng ccTLD.

The opportunities are vast. There are employment opportunities

especially for the youth. Using the .ng brand, enhances Nigeria’s local

content, visibility of Nigerian businesses, products and services

online, etc. We get to project our culture, heritage and promote our

economy.

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The Domain Name System (DNS) industry is a revenue generator

with abundant business opportunities in the .ng domain industry. We

can see from this crowd of diverse exhibitors, elements of the .ng

ecosystem. This .ng Fair and Exhibition provides the avenue to

further project the .ng brand awareness, bring our various

stakeholders together, inform and educate on the various services on

offer by our exhibitors.

NiRA Accredited Registrars are available and are on standby to assist

interested participants who wish to register and host their .ng

domain names for personal use and businesses. Please visit the

stands of our registrars; they have several offerings. Register your

.name.ng; this is your personal identity.

I welcome all, especially our able and capable Chairman, Board of

Trustees. We appreciate your presence. I will like to thank all the

NiRA Accredited Registrars, Resellers, Exhibitors, Participants, the

Press, and all present for honoring our invitation (despite the short

notice). We are hopeful to organize better in the coming years.

We appreciate the active role (s) everyone is playing in the NiRA

Story, and once again, Welcome!

Thank you.

Reverend Sunday Folayan

President, NiRA Executive Board of Directors

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REPORT OF THE .NG

WEALTH CREATION

AND YOUTH

EMPOWERMENT

PROGRAM (YEP)

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n the 19th March 2016, Nigeria Internet Registration Association (NiRA)

hosted the .ng Wealth Creation and Youth Empowerment Seminar at

the Muson Center, Onikan – Lagos. The program aimed at enriching and

empowering Nigerian Youths to foster wealth creation. The program was

facilitated by a mix of industry leaders. The program of activities included three

entrepreneurship workshop, conferment of .ng Ambassadors (Students and

Media) and the launch of .ng Scouts.

The Program was declared open by the Ag Director General, National

Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), Mr. Vincent Olatunji,

represented by Barr. Emmanuel Edet, NITDA’s Legal Adviser, the BOT

Chairman, Deacon Chima Onyekwere OON and NiRA President, Rev’d. Sunday

Folayan.

The Program which was attended by

over One hundred and Fifty (150) youth

was tailored for success, by keeping the

context local and relevant. The topics

discussed by the facilitators of the

Entrepreneurship workshop are as

follows:

Education and Economic Empowerment

delivered by Mr Pascal Dike, President

Junior Chamber International (JCI). Mr

Pascal reminded participants that

education is the empowerment to

enable the youth make choices and

emboldens the youth to chase their

dreams with a key note in his

presentation – “Just do it”.

The Nigeria ICT Industry: Springboard for Entrepreneurship Development and

Wealth Creation was delivered by Mr Niyi Yusuf, Country MD Accenture. Mr

Yusuf explained ICT as an enabler for the growth of other sectors of the

economy and how technology provides global opportunities. He pointed out the

potentials of being a technology entrepreneur and cited examples of Nigerian

entrepreneurs who have taken advantage of the emerging technology space.

O

NiRA Vice-President, Mr. Rudman

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Grow your Online Business was delivered by Mr Opeyemi Awoyemi, Serial

Entrepreneur and Founder of Jobberman & Whogohost. Mr Awoyemi explained

that “Great things start small”. He advised the youths to leverage on their

existing networks, opportunities and technology to attract and keep customers.

The .ng ambassadors were conferred during the program. Deacon Chima

Onyekwere, the Chairman, NiRA Board of Trustees presented the awards to the

follow .ng Ambassadors.

For the .ng Ambassadors (Media)

- Chukwuemeka Fred Agbata Jnr. “CFA”, Tech Trend

- Peter Ikenna Ugwu, Nigeria CommunicationsWeek

For the .ng Ambassadors (Youth)

- Olatunji Francis Adeyinka - Falodun Oluwaseyi Bolude - Mr Ibrahim, Oladimeji Mustapha

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At the end of the program participants were empowered and encouraged to

start small, don’t give up and just do it. The youths were captivated by all the

speakers and their presentations; and endorsed the .ng brand. They also learnt

about the upcoming and ongoing competitions which was publicized to them

by NiRA Head of Business Development, Mrs Kemi Adepoju. The closing

address at YEP was delivered by Mr. Sikiru Shehu who proposed that such an

event should be held annually.

.ng Ambassadors (Youth)

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.ng Youth Entrepreneurship Programme

Theme : .ng Wealth Creation and Youth Empowerment Date : 19th March 2016 Venue : Agip Recital Hall, Muson Centre, Lagos

8:00 – 8:45am Registration and Accreditation Arrival of the Dignitaries Call to Order - Mr. Adebiyi Oladipo - Compere Prayer/National Anthem Recognition of Distinguished Guests

8:45 – 9:50am Formal Opening Welcome Address by Reverend Folayan – President NiRA Special Remark by Dr. Vincent Olatunji – Acting DG NITDA Key Note Address – The Minister, Federal Ministry of Communication Vote of Thanks – Mr. Muhammed Rudman, Vice President, NiRA

9:50am- 10:10am Refreshment/Tea Break 10:10am – 12 noon Workshop Session One: Education and Economic Empowerment

Mr. Pascal Dike, President, Junior Chamber International (JCI)

12:00pm – 12:30pm

Presentation of Awards to .ng Ambassadors Introduction of the Awards and Awardees – Edith Udeagu – Chief Operating Officer, NiRA Awards Presentation -Chairman, BOT NiRA – Deacon Chima Onyekwere (OON)

12:30pm – 2:30pm Workshop Session Two: Entrepreneurship Mr. Niyi Yusuf, Country MD, Accenture

2:30pm – 3:00pm

Lunch

3:00pm – 3:45pm

Launch of .ng Scout Kemi Adepoju, Head Business Development, NiRA

3:45pm – 5:00pm

Workshop Session Three: Building online businesses and growing traffic, brand and revenue - Experience Sharing from building Jobberman and WhoGoHost” Mr. Opeyemi Awoyemi, Co-Founder, Jobberman & WHOGOHOST

5:00pm-5:30pm Closing Session – Remarks & Vote of Thanks / National Anthem

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REPORT OF THE .NG

SOCIAL MEDIA FEST

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he 10th anniversary celebration was taken online with the introduction

of the .ng social media Fest. The activity held on Easter Monday, 28th

March, 2016, was conducted through NiRA’s social media platforms,

Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. The essence of the competition was to get

people tweeting and talking about .ng online. Three categories of competitions

were scheduled under the .ng social media account. These were:

1) The NiRA TweetFest:

NiRA Tweetfest aimed to get

people tweeting about .ng.

The tweet with the most

retweet won this

competition.

Ahmad Mukoshy won the

NiRA TweetFest

competition.

2) The Instagram Pix :

Instagram Pix was aimed at

encouraging participants to

develop interesting

graphical representation of

the .ng brand. The

Instagram Pix with the

most interesting graphical

representation and most

like won this competition.

Salako Oluwagbemiga

Joshua won this

competition.

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3) NiRA Facebook friend talk:

NiRA Facebook friend talk aimed to

get participants to create .ng related

interactions on Facebook. The

participant that had the most

compelling content with the most

interaction won this competition.

Ibrahim Oladimeji won this

competition.

The competition resulted in various creative images and content to depict the

importance of using .ng domain name and to show that online businesses are

using .ng. Winners of the competition received their prizes during the 2016 .ng

Web Award and Gala. A number of responses were received from the

competitions with new likes and a number of followers generated on NiRA’s

social media handles which is @niraworks on all our social media handle

Winners of the .ng social media Fest

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REPORT OF THE 2016

.NG WEB AWARD AND

GALA

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he pinnacle of the series of events climaxed with the celebration of the

.ng Web award, to reward and celebrate industry leaders using the .ng

domain name. The award place on Saturday, 2nd April, 2016 at the

Oriental Hotel, Victoria Island – Lagos.

A total of 20 organisations or/and individuals were awarded as folows

- 10 web award winners

- 10 presidential awardees

- 5 competition winners

The .ng Web award served to promote and commend the excellent

achievements of members, stakeholders and the general public, who contribute

towards building a sustainable economy using technology which would uplift

the image of .ng locally and internationally.

The award criteria adopted for the 2016 .ng Web Award were

1. The Company or organization must have been registered with the

Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) and is doing business with a .ng

domain name either at the second level or third level; and

2. The .ng Domain name must have been registered for at least 6months.

For the 2016 .ng web award, websites hosting in Nigeria was not used as a

criteria to qualify for an award. As such companies with websites hosted

outside Nigeria were also considered for the award(s).

The two judging methods used were, the public vote and the jury vote with the

ratio 40:60 respectively. A jury committee chaired by Mr Shina Badaru and

comprising of individuals from diverse background was setup to oversee the

Award activities. The list of nominees were selected by the jury and nomination

letters were sent to all nominated companies.

The various nominations were advertised on NiRA E-Newsletter and social

media Platform. A voting portal was developed to manage the general public’s

vote and four days was allocated for voting. Companies deployed various

strategies including reposting the voting portal on their social media

platforms/websites and sending text messages to their customers and

stakeholders. Various media house also circulated the nominations.

Adding to the glamour and prestige of the event was performance from Xplicit

Dancer, Skoolboy and BJ Sax. Gentlemen of the press were also in attendance.

T

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The 10 emerging winners of the 2016 .ng web award are as follow:

1. Technology Company of the Year o google.com.ng (Google)

2. Most Innovative Web Company/Organization o jumia.com.ng (Jumia)

3. Best Banking Website/Portal o fidelitybank.ng (Fidelity Bank)

4. Best Educational Institution website/portal o unilag.edu.ng (University of

Lagos)

5. Technology Startup Company of the year o eazyhire.com.ng (Eazyhire)

6. Best Hosting Company

o galaxybackbone.com.ng (Galaxy backbone Limited)

7. .ng Media Award

o guardian.ng (The Guardian)

8. Most Valuable Youth Organization o nacoss.org.ng (Nigeria

Association of Computer Science Students)

9. Best State Government

o lagosstate.gov.ng (Lagos State)

10. Public Sector: Star Website

Award o jamb.org.ng (Joint Admissions

and Matriculation Board)

NiRA Presidential Awards at the 2016 .ng Web Award were special awards

presented by the President and Vice President of NiRA at the Award gala. The

awardees of the Presidential award were:

1. Best .ng ccTLD Registrars

a. Standard Category:

galaxybackbone.com.ng

(Galaxy backbone Limited)

b. Silver Category:

webindices.com.ng

(Web Indices)

c. Gold Category:

icecoolcontracts.com.ng

(Icecool Contracts Limited)

d. Platinum Category:

whogohost.com.ng

(Whogohost Limited)

2. .ng most supporting Sponsor

o nitda.gov.ng National Information Technology Development (NITDA)

o ncc.gov.ng Nigeria Communication Commission (NCC)

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3. NiRA Presidential Award for Youth Development

o Chukwuemeka Fred Agbata (techpoint.ng)

4. NiRA Presidential Award for

Women Development o Dr. (Mrs.) Wunmi Hassan

(hitech.org.ng)

5. NiRA Special Recognition Award o Mrs. Mary Uduma

(Immediate Past President, NiRA)

o Dr. Isaac Odeyemi (Immediate Past Chairman, NiRA BOT)

The winners of the .ng competitions, #ngselfie and .ng Social Media Fest were awarded with their cash prizes at the award gala. The winners were: 1. NiRA Facebook Friend talk

Winner: Ibrahim Oladimeji

2. Instagram Pix Winner: Salako Oluwagbemiga

Joshua

3. NiRA TweetFEST Winner: Ahmad Mukoshy

4. #ngselfie Winner:

Juliet Chidinma Onuoha 5. #ngselfie Runner up:

Simeon Udoh

The 2016 .ng Web Award created additional publicity for the .ng brand and

recipients of the award appreciated the honour.

Participants at the 2016 .ng web Award

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2016 .ng gala & Web Awards Programme of Events

1. Green carpet

2. Introduction of Dignitaries & Guests

3. Entertainment & Side Attraction (BeeJay Sax)

4. Entertainment & Side Attraction (Comedy)

5. Opening Remarks – Rev. Sunday Folayan, President NiRA

6. Special Keynote Address – Dr. Vincent Olatunji, Ag. DG NITDA

7. .ng - The journey so far

8. Award Category (1-5)

9. Entertainment & Side Attraction (Xplicit Dancers)

10. .ng Competition Winners

11. Award Category (6-10)

12. Dinner & Entertainment(Comedy/Music)

13. Presidential Awards

14. Award Recipients group photograph

15. Vote of thanks

16. Networking with Light Entertainment

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Conclusion

The .ng 10th Anniversary was a fruitful event that reinforced NiRA’s vision of

being among the best registrar to be reckoned with in the world. The event was

able to advertise .ng to a wider audience and ensure continues growth in the

sales and usage of the .ng domain name.

We thank all the stakeholders and participants for their contribution in

marking NiRA’s 10th Anniversary a success.

We encourage you to get your .ng domain name from any of our NiRA

Accredited Registrars. From classic domain names like .ng and .com.ng to

industry specific names like .org.ng, .net.ng, .gov.ng, you are bound to find the

right name for your business/organisation. Visit http://nira.org.ng/accredited-

registrars for the list of NiRA Accredited Registrars.

In conclusion it is proposed that the programmes will be an annual event

organised to reward and celebrate industry leaders using the .ng domain name,

ensure sustained growth and interest in the .ng domain name, ensure

development of local content and grow the DNS Industry.

You can continue the conversation with us on any of our social media handles.

@niraworks niraworks niraworks niraworks

Nigeria Internet Registration Association 8 Funsho Williams Avenue. Iponri, Surulere, Lagos, Nigeria + 234-8172004272 / 0700 CALL NIRA Email: admin@nira.org.ng Website: www.nira.org.ng