By: Theresa Igata

In a major move to secure Nigeria’s digital future, the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has formally inaugurated the Nigeria IPv6 Council.

The move on Thursday in close, is designed to accelerate the transition from the exhausted IPv4 protocol to Internet Protocol version 6 (IPv6), which the Executive Vice Chairman (EVC) of the NCC, Aminu Maida described as a “strategic necessity” for national security and economic competitiveness.

Despite advocacy efforts dating back to 2014, Nigeria’s current IPv6 adoption rate sits at a meager 5%. This puts the country significantly behind leading global economies, which have already surpassed 40% adoption.

“The transition is becoming urgent as the world shifts toward 5G, the Internet of Things (IoT), and AI-driven applications, all of which demand the expanded addressing space that only IPv6 can provide,” Maida noted.

The newly inaugurated council has been handed an 8-point mandate to transform the nation’s digital landscape:

National Strategy: Develop a time-bound pathway to move Nigeria from 5% adoption to a leading position in Africa.

Public Sector Leadership: Directing all Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs) to migrate government networks and e-services to IPv6-native configurations to lead by example.

Massive Training: Scaling up capacity building beyond “modest” current efforts to train a critical mass of certified engineers across the federation.

Industry Collaboration: Partnering with ISPs, data centers, and financial institutions to remove investment barriers.

A Call to Action for Operators
Addressing industry stakeholders, the EVC emphasised that the time for “prioritisation” is now. Operators and enterprise partners were urged to ensure all infrastructure procurement is IPv6-ready by default.

“The investments you make today will determine Nigeria’s digital competitiveness tomorrow,” the Commission stated during the inauguration.

The council will provide quarterly progress updates to the NCC and an annual “State of IPv6 Deployment” report to the nation to ensure transparency and steady progress toward these historic targets.