Nigeria seeks input on history of internet



It has been disclosed that the Nigerian Internet community has commenced plans to gather information on the history of the internet in the country.

Their aim is to collate an overview of how the internet industry in Nigeria has evolved. . . .


The team leader said that the project would run in three phases, while the timelines for the next two phases have yet to be decided.

Bolarinwa noted that the project would involve development of work plans with assigned tasks across phases and by identifying specific recipients to write for each sector as well as development of questionnaires.

The team leader said the project would include public announcements on the subject, collation and editing of responses, publishing of the draft and a comments period.

It also includes the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), Nigeria Internet Registration Association (NIRA), Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), and Minister of Communications Technology, academia, private sector, media, civil society groups and individual end-users.

Furthermore, she promised that contact details would be kept very confidential and respondents would be expected to add the organization, affiliations they represent and perspectives on the internet in Nigeria.

“Please share any facts, milestones, personalities or events that pertain to the growth of the internet in Nigeria,” she solicited.

According to her, this is part of a wider strategy to further strengthen and entrench a cohesive and united voice for Nigeria in the ecosystem.

Speaking on the strategy, Bolarinwa said it is to capture in this first round a general background of how the internet ecosystem and its use evolved in Nigeria.


http://www.itnewsafrica.com/2012/04/nigeria-seeks-input-on-history-of-internet/

Internet: 13 years of growth from ground zero in Nigeria from 1960- 1996


It had been long in coming, but then in 1996, seven years after it was introduced in the United States, the nation’s telecoms regulator, the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) did the right thing. It licenced 38 internet service providers to sell internet services in Nigeria.

On January 1st the following year, Linkserve Limited immediately began commercial operations in the country, thus becoming the very first internet service provider (ISP) in Nigeria.

The nation, finally, had stepped into the internet age. Yet today, fourteen years after, the country is still struggling with the infrastructure of this technology.

Nigeria, like every other country in the world on its first encounter with the internet had struggled to understand its seemingly overwhelming power – still is; we dare say. But then, industry observers and experts who have keenly watched the country take its first baby steps in this direction say the growth so far had been phenomenal.


Nigeria Internet Group formed

In 1995; a year before these companies were registered, a body known as the Nigeria Internet Group had been conceived as a non-governmental organization with the aim of promoting and facilitating full access to the internet in Nigeria.


The Nigeria Internet Group was formed in 1995 after the first internet workshop organized by the Yaba College of Technology in collaboration with a number of organisations including the Nigerian Communications Commission, National Data Bank, Literacy Training and Development Program for Africa (University of Ibadan) and Administrative Staff College of Nigeria (ASCON), with the direct assistance of the United States Information Service (USIS), Regional Information Network for Africa (RINAF) and the British Council.

The workshop was put together in order to raise the level of awareness of the benefits of internet in Nigeria and provide a forum for discussing the future of networking.
Four years later, in May 1999, the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) in collaboration with the Nigeria Internet Group (NIG), organised an Africa Internet Summit (AFRINET ’99), hosted by the Federal Ministry of Communications.

The summit, which took place at the ECOWAS Secretariat from 11-13 May 1999, focused on the sustainable development and utilization of the Internet in Africa, and sought to create a common forum where African Internet practitioners can come together and discuss policy issues peculiar to Africa.

The Nigerian Government then had been supported by United Nations Development Programme Agency UNDP/IIA in a US$ 1million project to assist NITEL establish the internet backbone. UNDP/IIA was also strengthening NITEL’s telecommunication training school to become a regional internet training centre.

Growth
A report by the International Telecommunications Union, focused the period 1996 – 2009 on telecommunications development on nations of the world. According to the data on Nigeria, which the source claims was last updated in July 16 2010; users of the internet in Nigeria in every 100 persons interviewed as at 1996 were 0% and it ran this way for four years.


The line lifted off the bottom for the first time at the tail end of the year 2000. But the figure had been so insignificant; a shocking 0.3%. Between the year 2002 to 2004 it rose to 1.5%. Three years later in 2007, it struck 7% and then it rose speedily in the 2008 to touch 15.9%. In comparison, it’s North African counterpart; Egypt, had touched off the 0% ground mark in 1997, striking two percent in 2002, 5% in 2004 and then rising steeply and speedily to twelve percent in 2005 to finish at 16.2 % in 2008.


Another study like the one conducted by the world bank was carried out in Nigeria in 1999 by local based analysts. Their data revealed that the entire nation had a total of about 3,000 internet subscribers in a population of about 140 million people. Internet users as at that time too had been estimated to be about a 100,000.

It was also recorded that about 81 internet host sites were already fully functional in the country. The host sites had been identified to fall into commercial, academic, research, international and government related areas.



http://www.vanguardngr.com/2010/10/internet-13-years-of-growth-from-ground-zero-in-nigeria-from-1960-1996/

I just want to thank Mr president (Goodluck Jonathan) for bringing Facebook to Nigeria


*drops mic*

nice one

Thank God for Sanni Abacha

madridguy:
Thank God for Sanni Abacha

was he instrumental in bringing the internet to Nigeria?

A Timeline

The year 2006 witnessed the birth of Nigeria’s Internet exchange point known as Internet eXchange Point of Nigeria (IXPN). However, the journey began over five years ago.


1995

The first attempt at introducing Internet in Nigeria was made through the UNESCO sponsored Regional Informatics Networks for Africa (RINAF) project, in 1995. At one of the several workshops that were held to propagate the idea of the Internet, the Nigeria Internet Group (NIG) was formed as a non-profit, non-governmental organisation with the primary aim and objective of promoting and facilitating access to the Internet in Nigeria.


1996 – 2000

Towards the end of the 90s, several Internet Service Providers (ISPs) came into existence and amongst them are Linkserve, Cyberspace, Hyperia, Infoweb, PINET, Skannet, Steineng, and lots more.



2001

ISPs in Nigeria started having problems with the PTT; they formed the “Committee of ISPs” to fight for the reduction in the costs of Internet access. These efforts were successful. Initially, there were only 8 companies involved in the initiative, in June, a meeting was held at the Sheraton Hotel. This meeting was very well attended and attracted the majority of ISPs in Nigeria, this later transformed into the formation of the Internet Service Providers of Nigeria (ISPAN). Lanre Ajayi of PINET, one of the pioneer ISPs in Nigeria, played an important role in the establishment of both NIG and ISPAN.

The idea of an Internet exchange point was first discussed at this meeting but the level of suspicion between ISPs was very high and so the group at the meeting decided that it would be imperative to hold a workshop aimed at educating the ISPs on issues of co-operation and specifically the benefits of Internet Exchange points.




2002

Sunday Folayan and Fisayo Adeleke, of Skannet (GDES Ltd.) and Steineng Ltd., two Ibadan based ISPs, raised the idea of setting up the Ibadan Internet exchange, Ib-IX.


2003

March – The first Internet exchange point (IXP) in Nigeria, Ibadan Internet Exchange (Ib-IX) eventually came alive, with a layer-2 infrastructure, precisely, a 24-port 10/100Mbit/s switch and a route server. The maximum recorded traffic between these two ISPs was 102Kbit/s

June – An Internet exchange point (IXP) workshop was spearheaded by Maxwell Kadiri, with the support of ISPAN and the French embassy in Lagos. The IXP Workshop with a faculty which included Sunday Folayan (Skannet), Bolanle Akinpelu (Skannet), Fisayo Adeleke (Steineng), Seni Williams (Tara Systems), Bill Woodcock (Packet Clearing House, U.S) and Brian Longwe (Kenya Internet Exchange, KIXP); was the first major step to sensitize the ISP community of the need for an IXP.



2005

April – ISPAN started discussion on the setting up of Lagos Internet Exchange (LagosIX), which was expected to be managed by an independent entity to be setup by ISPAN.

November – President Olusegun Obasanjo directed the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) to ensure that the nation gets its own Internet Exchange Point (IXP) as soon as possible.

An IXP setup committee was constituted to work with the various structures that was in place. The committee members were made up of the following: Ndukwe Kalu (ISPAN), Ike Nnamani (Medallion Communications), Tosin Oni (InterConnect Nigeria, ICN), Femi Adelamo (Emperion WA), O.T Abiodun (NITEL), Abubakar Yakubu (NCC) and Chris Agha (NCC), including Sam Adeleke of Digitek Teevee Ltd. as the consultant to NCC on the IXPN setup and under the supervision of Engr. Bashiru Gwandu, an Executive Commissioner with the Engineering and Standards Department, NCC.



2006

The Board of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), under the leadership of Dr. Bashir Gwandu the then acting Executive Vice Chairman’ approved a proposal to partly fund the setting-up of Internet eXchange Points (IXPs) in Nigeria, with a collaboration between NCC and ISPAN. The IXPN will operate from NECOM House (Marina, Lagos) as its main location; with sub-locations at Victoria Island, Ikeja, Ibadan, Port Harcourt, Abuja, Enugu, Kano & Maiduguri.



2010

This marked the commissioning of the IXPN head office now located at 8th Floor, NCR building, 6 Broad Street, Lagos. The commissioning which was held on the 17th January, 2010 was presided over by the Executive Vice Chairman(EVC) of NCC, Dr. Eugene Ikemefuna Juwah. Also present was the immediate past EVC, Engr Ernest Ndukwe, some senior staff of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), our Board of Directors (BOD), our members, stakeholders in the ICT sector, media etc.


http://ixp.net.ng/history/

Internet Stats for Nigeria


Internet

Top-level domain: .ng

Internet users:

55.9 million users, 8th in the world; 32.9% of the population, 128th in the world (2012);
44.0 million users, 9th in the world (2009);
5.0 million users, 40th in the world (2005).

Fixed broadband: 15,311 subscriptions, 136th in the world; less than 0.05% of the population, 185th in the world (2012).

Wireless broadband: 17.3 million subscriptions, 18th in the world; 10.2% of the population, 91st in the world (2012).

Internet hosts:

1,234 hosts, 169th in the world (2012);
1,549 hosts, 134th in the world (2006).

IPv4: 1.0 million addresses allocated, 75th in the world, less than 0.05% of the world total, 5.9 addresses per 1000 people (2012).

Internet Service Providers:

~100 ISPs (2013);
~400 ISPs (2010);
~11 ISPs (2000).

There is satellite Internet access throughout the country. In most towns there are many privately owned and operated Internet cafes.

A new dimension to Internet connectivity has been introduced with millions of people accessing the Internet on their WAP-enabled mobile phones, smartphones and on their PCs using their phones as a modem. This is largely due to the introduction of GPRS (General Packet Radio Service) and EDGE (Enhanced Data Rates for GSM Evolution) connectivity by the GSM operators. All existing GSM networks presently offer GPRS services and have introduced 3G/UMTS.



Internet censorship and surveillance

Listed by the OpenNet Initiative as no evidence of Internet filtering in all four areas for which they test (political, social, conflict/security, and Internet tools) in October 2009.

There are few government restrictions on access to the Internet or credible reports the government monitors e-mail or Internet chat rooms. Although the constitution and law provide for freedom of speech, including for members of the press, the government sometimes restricts these rights in practice.

During 2012 several Internet news sites critical of the government experienced server problems, which site owners attributed to government interference. Such disruptions usually lasted a few hours.



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telecommunications_in_Nigeria

Internet Society of Nigeria, brief bio


The idea to setup a chapter of the Internet Society in Nigeria was mooted by a group of friends in July 1997. It was borne out of an urgent necessity provoked by the doctoral thesis of an Electrical Engineer. As a PHD student in the Electrical Engineering Department of the Rivers State University of Science and Technology (RSUST), Port Harcourt (Nigeria), he urgently required some data/bibliography/documentation for his research programs. He hit a dead end in the search for these vital materials. He therefore contacted a friend in the Department of Electrical Engineering RSUST who referred to another friend. This friend is already exposed to Internet facility for over one year. Internet offers access to an avalanche of information/materials in diverse fields of human endeavour. By the use of Internet, the student was able to reach out to different sources for the vital materials badly needed for his research. Thrilled by this discovery and the realization that life could be made much easier in various fields of human endeavour if many more people come to know about Internet and take advantage of it, the friends decided to be organized and popularize Internet in Nigeria. Some other friends were involved in the process and the product is the birth of Internet Society Nigeria Chapter. Other people also showed interest and became pioneer members as well. Dr. Vint Cerf of ISOC in USA, co-inventor of the computer networking protocol, TCP/IP, which has become the language for Internet Communications, was contacted and much encouragement was received for the formation of the chapter.


On January 19, 1998 the first general meeting with all the first 26 members of the chapter in attendance appointed the Executive Committee. . .



Immediately, the process for recognition both locally and at the US main office was put in motion. After several months on June 3, 1998 we were recognized as chartered chapter by US main office, and on June 8, 1998 we were recognized as registered society in Nigeria.

Presently, the organization has a membership strength of 68 units cut across the nation. With an aggressive membership drive in place the membership is expected rise very soon.


Mission, Success and vision of the future

The Chapter has as major aims:

- To promote the Internet to all concerned in Nigeria territory. Our task is to sensitize Institutions, Companies and Individuals on the importance of this new communication media.

- To facilitate and support the technical evolution of Internet as a research and educational infrastructure, and to stimulate the involvement of the scientific community, industry, government and other sectors of human endeavor in the evolution of internet.

- To educate the scientific community, industry and the public at large concerning the technology, use and application of Internet.

- To provide a forum for exploration of new Internet applications, and to stimulate collaboration among organizations in their operational use of the global Internet.

- To encourage interaction and cross-pollination of ideas amongst members for the achievement of the aims and objectives of the chapter.

- To foster unity and co-operation between the chapter and the parent society in particular and the public at large.

- To promote any other educational, charitable and scientific purpose that Internet can lead and in particular the advancement of Arts and Culture, the furtherance of health and the relief of poverty, distress and sickness.

While awaiting the final registration and approval we carried out different tasks:

We promoted Internet in some Local Universities and Schools as well in other public and private institutions, organizing local seminar where a majority of the initial chapter members gave their own contributions.

We are attempting to involve Oil and Non-oil Companies in the sponsorship of programs to enable the provision of equipment and Internet structures to make possible the Internet access to a larger number of individuals.

All the activities carried out so far have been sponsored by the chapter members by way of donation of funds and voluntary activities.

For this occasion we intend to involve National Institutions (Governmental and N.G.Os.) and Private Companies and Enterprises.



http://www.isocnig.org.ng/History.html

ipv4 addresses by country:

Ipv4 allocations by country

^^ http://www.ncc.gov.ng/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1589&Itemid=231

Nigerian Internet Registration Association (NiRA)



HISTORY OF NiRA

The Nigeria Internet Registration Association (NiRA) was founded on March 23, 2005 as a stakeholder-led organisation, charged with the management of the Nigeria's country code Top Level Domain Name (ccTLD), dot ng. The transfer of the appropriate management of this important National Resource was coordinated by the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) on behalf of the Federal government of Nigeria. Stakeholders within Nigeria’s Internet community participated in its formation. It was registered as an Incorporated Trustee on February 9, 2007.

NIRA's formation brought to an end the long years of controversy in the country, over the management of this critical national resource, following the intervention of the then President, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo. The re-delegation of the .ng ccTLD came nearly 12 years after the country code was hosted first in Italy, and later by Mr Randy Bush, an American. While Mr Bush was the technical contact for the ccTLD, Mrs. Ibukun Odusote served as the administrative contact.

NIRA's Constitution was adopted by Stakeholders, at a meeting held on March 28, 2006. A Board of Trustees (BoT) was elected among the stakeholders with Dr. Isaac A. Odeyemi as the pioneer Chairman, shortly after the adoption of the Constitution. By May 1, 2007, the first Executive Board of NIRA was elected with Engr. Ndukwe Kalu of blessed memory leading a 10-man Board.


REGISTRARS
NiRA adopted the 3-R model (Registry/Registrar/Registrant model) of operation in the operation and management of the .ng ccTLD. The implication of this is that NIRA does not handle the registration of domain names directly. Registrations can only be done through NIRA certified Registrars. These Registrars are certified by NiRA to facilitate the registration, transfer, renewal, and modification of registration data for customers that apply for .ng domain names. NiRA has Forty-Four (44) certified Registrars as at August 2013. The Registrars are allowed to appoint re-sellers for their operations.

An initial call to interest companies, both residents in Nigeria and in the Diaspora to be pioneer registrars was done in April 2008. After a painstaking evaluation process by the NiRA Registrar Accreditation committee, the Executive Board approved the appointment of twenty-nine (29) Pioneer Registrars for the .ng Registry, at the various levels (Platinum, Gold, Silver, and Standard) in October 2008. Since then, Applications are received from organisations who want to become NiRA Certified Registrars on a regular basis. NIRA’s Policy does not limit the number of certified Registrars. An accreditation process is scheduled quarterly.

Just recently, some of the NiRA Policies were reviewed, and registration of domains on the Second Level was opened up. Almost 1,500 domains were registered at the Second Level within a week of the policy change. About 60,000 domains are currently registered in the .ng registry.



http://www.nira.org.ng/index.php/who-we-are

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Jimson Olufuye, one of the pioneers of internet in Africa:

ISOC INET 2012: Jimson Olufuye at the Law and the Internet session



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yqh4oifXaVs

Reading material:





[img]http://static.lulu.com/browse/product_thumbnail.php?productId=22216045&resolution=320[/img]

Chapter One.

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