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Nigeria has taken a significant step toward strengthening its digital infrastructure with the inauguration of the Nigeria IPv6 Council by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC).
Announced in Lagos, the initiative signals a strategic push to modernise the country’s internet architecture, enhance cybersecurity, and improve competitiveness in the global digital economy.
Speaking at the launch, NCC Executive Vice Chairman, Dr Aminu Maida, described the council as a critical milestone in Nigeria’s digital transformation journey. He noted that the move reflects the country’s ambition to play a more prominent role in shaping the next phase of the internet, where scalability, speed, and security are central to economic growth.
Despite Nigeria’s position as one of Africa’s largest digital markets, its adoption of Internet Protocol version 6 (IPv6) remains low—estimated at about five per cent—far below the global average of over 40 per cent. IPv6, the successor to IPv4, offers a vastly expanded address capacity and is essential for supporting the rapid growth of connected devices, cloud computing, artificial intelligence, and smart infrastructure.
Maida stressed that transitioning to IPv6 is no longer optional but a strategic necessity for national competitiveness, innovation, and digital sovereignty.
The newly established council is expected to coordinate the implementation of a National IPv6 Deployment Strategy, with clear timelines and measurable targets. Its mandate includes driving migration across public and private sector systems, promoting technical capacity development, and recommending policies to accelerate adoption.
Key priorities outlined for the council include establishing a national monitoring framework, supporting professional certification for IPv6 engineers, enabling public sector migration to IPv6-ready platforms, and removing barriers to deployment for telecom operators, financial institutions, and enterprise networks.
The NCC also highlighted ongoing collaborations with industry stakeholders, including the African Network Information Centre (AFRINIC), to support technical training and capacity building.
Industry experts, however, note that adoption challenges persist. Chief Executive Officer of the Internet Exchange Point of Nigeria, Muhammed Rudman, pointed to the continued reliance on legacy IPv4 systems as a major barrier, with many operators yet to fully deploy IPv6 despite having the capability.
He added that dependence on workarounds such as Network Address Translation (NAT) has introduced limitations in performance, traceability, and security, reinforcing the need for a more decisive transition.
Under the council’s roadmap, Nigeria aims to achieve at least 20 per cent IPv6 compliance across government networks by 2027, increase deployment among telecom operators, and reach approximately 30 per cent nationwide adoption by 2030.
The initiative also includes plans to train a new generation of IPv6 professionals, addressing existing skills gaps and supporting long-term sustainability.
Experts say the move goes beyond a technical upgrade, positioning IPv6 adoption as a cornerstone of Nigeria’s broader digital sovereignty agenda. As global demand for connected services accelerates, strengthening internet infrastructure is expected to unlock new efficiencies, support innovation, and enable inclusive participation in the digital economy.
With the launch of the IPv6 Council, Nigeria is setting the stage for a more resilient, scalable, and future-ready internet ecosystem.
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