The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has officially inaugurated the new board of the Nigerian Internet Protocol version 6 (IPv6) Council in Ikeja, Lagos. Mr Muhammed Rudman, Chief Executive Officer of the Internet Exchange Point of Nigeria (IXPN), will continue to serve as Chairman.
This inauguration marks a significant milestone for Nigeria’s telecommunications sector, as global demand for IPv4 now exceeds the available IPv4 address space.
Following the event, Rudman acknowledged the contributions of former board members, including Olusola Teniola (former President, ATCON), Funke Opeke (Founder, MainOne), Mary Uduma (former President, NiRA), and Lanre Ajayi (past President, ATCON), emphasizing that their involvement was instrumental in establishing the nation’s foundational IPv6 migration efforts.
Rudman noted that membership in the IPv6 Council is institution-based. The reconstituted board includes Mr. Muhammed Rudman as Chairman and a representative from the NCC as Co-Chairman.
Institutional representatives from NITDA, ATCON, NIRA, ALTON, ISPON, and NgREN serve as board members, with Dr Chris Uwaje and Prof. Latif Ladid acting as Advisers. This group is responsible for leading the nationwide migration from IPv4 to IPv6.
“The transition to IPv6 is a strategic national priority. It is essential for enabling Nigeria’s digital transformation, economic growth, and global competitiveness.
The council’s strategy identifies IPv6 as a primary catalyst for national development, focusing on three pillars: supporting emerging technologies such as 5G and the Internet of Things (IoT), promoting economic diversification, and providing enhanced security and performance compared to legacy solutions such as Network Address Translation (NAT),” Rudman stated.
To achieve these objectives, the council’s action plan is structured around two primary initiatives: awareness-raising and capacity-building.
The board will prioritize promoting national awareness of IPv6 through targeted events and workshops, while also providing IPv6 training to network engineers across various operators, including ISPs, telecommunications companies, educational institutions, and financial organizations. These efforts are expected to facilitate the acquisition and deployment of IPv6 throughout Nigerian networks.
The council will develop and oversee the national IPv6 strategy, monitor adoption across sectors, and report regularly to the Federal Government. Additionally, the council will identify technical challenges, strengthen local engineering capacity, and recommend regulatory measures to encourage ISPs, telecommunications operators, academic institutions, and enterprises to upgrade.
With the Nigeria IPv6 Council now operational, local enterprises and network providers are required to upgrade their systems to sustain the nation’s position in the global digital landscape.
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