From John Silas and Cyriacus Nnaji, Lagos
Nigeria on Thursday, April 23, 2026, at the Marriott Hotel, Ikeja, Lagos State, inaugurated the National Internet Protocol Version.
The Executive Vice Chairman of Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) Dr Aminu Maida, while inaugurating the council, called for a coordinated and accelerated adoption of IPv6 to strengthen Nigeria’s digital competitiveness, security and sovereignty.
Maida described the move as a defining moment in Nigeria’s digital evolution and readiness to lead in the next phase of the global internet.
He disclosed that the Nigeria’s IPv6 adoption remained at about five per cent, far below the global average of over 40% adding that the country must act decisively to close the gap.
Maida added that the exhaustion of IPv4 resources, combined with the rapid expansion of 5G networks, Internet of Things (IoT), cloud services and artificial intelligence-driven applications had pushed legacy internet infrastructure to its limits. He said, “In this context, IPv6 is not optional; it is a strategic necessity for national competitiveness, security and economic sovereignty.”
He further assertted that the transition required the coordinated efforts of regulators, telecom operators, enterprises, academia and government institutions, saying that no single stakeholder could drive the process alone.
Additionally, he said the commission had been preparing for the transition through deliberate policies and partnerships.
The NCC helmsman went further to say that it has partnered with the African Network Information Centre (AFRINIC), which had supported capacity-building programmes across public and private sec
Internet Protocol Version 6 is the latest version of the Internet Protocol (IP), designed to address the limitations of IPv4, particularly the issue of address exhaustion. IPv6 was developed by the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) and became a Draft Standard in December 1998. It was ratified as an Internet Standard on July 14, 2017.
IPv6 uses 128-bit addresses, allowing for approximately 3.4 × 10^38 unique addresses. This is a significant increase compared to the 32-bit address space of IPv4, which supports around 4.3 billion addresses.
The larger address space simplifies address allocation and supports hierarchical address allocation methods, reducing the size of routing tables.
At the inauguration were Members of the Council and higher echelon of the Nigerian Communications Commission, National Internet Protocol Version 6 (IPv6) Tony Emoekpere; Executive Commissioner Technical Services, Nigerian Communications Commission, NCC Engr. Abraham Oshadami; National President, IPv6 Council Muhammed Rudman; Executive Vice Chairman/CEO, NCC Dr. Aminu Maida; Executive Commissioner Stakeholder Management, NCC Barr. Rimini Makama; National Vice President, IPv6 Council Dr. Chris Uwaje; President, National Internet Registration Association, NiRA/ Council member, Adesola Akinsanya.
Caption
L-R: Tony Emoekpere, Council Member, National Internet Protocol Version 6 (IPv6); Engr. Abraham Oshadami, Executive Commissioner Technical Services, Nigerian Communications Commission, NCC; Mr. Muhammed Rudman, National President, IPv6 Council; Dr. Aminu Maida, Executive Vice Chairman/CEO,NCC; Barr. Rimini Makama, Executive Commissioner Stakeholder Management, NCC; Dr. Chris Uwaje, National Vice President, IPv6 Council; Mr. Adesola Akinsanya, President, National Internet Registration Association, NIRA/ Council Member, during the Inauguration of the National Internet Protocol Version 6, (IPv6) Council Members, at the Marriott Hotel, Ikeja, Lagos State on the 23rd April 2026.
