The Nigerian Communications Commission has launched the reconstituted Nigerian IPv6 Council in Ikeja, Lagos. Muhammed Rudman, CEO of the Internet Exchange Point of Nigeria (IXPN), remains Chairman, with an NCC representative as Co-Chair. Membership is institution-based and includes representatives from NITDA, ATCON, NIRA, ALTON, ISPON, and NgREN; Dr. Chris Uwaje and Prof. Latif Ladid will serve as advisers.
Rudman thanked past board members — including Olusola Teniola, Funke Opeke, Mary Uduma, and Lanre Ajayi — for their role in kick-starting Nigeria’s IPv6 migration. He stressed that moving to IPv6 is a national priority necessary for digital transformation, economic growth, and global competitiveness, especially as IPv4 addresses are depleted. The council frames IPv6 as essential for enabling technologies like 5G and IoT, supporting economic diversification, and improving security and performance compared with legacy NAT solutions.
The council’s action plan focuses on two main initiatives: raising awareness and building capacity. It will run targeted events and workshops and provide IPv6 training for network engineers across ISPs, telcos, academia, and finance. The board will draft and oversee the national IPv6 strategy, track adoption across sectors, report to the Federal Government, identify technical obstacles, boost local engineering skills, and recommend regulatory steps to encourage upgrades. With the council now active, Nigerian organizations and network providers are expected to upgrade systems to maintain the country’s global digital standing.
