NITDA Steps To Boost Digital Public Services As Government Agencies Begin IPv6 Migration Training

By Angeline Mgbele, Bureau Chief, Northern Nigeria

The Director-General of the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), Mallam Kashifu Inuwa Abdullahi, has urged executive-level officials of Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) to support Nigeria’s transition from Internet Protocol version 4 (IPv4) to Internet Protocol version 6 (IPv6), describing the shift as essential to expanding digital public services and strengthening the country’s digital infrastructure.

The foregoing is contained in a press statement e-signed by the Director of Corporate Communications and Media Relations at NITDA, Hajiya Hadiza Umar.

Per the statement, Mallam Abdullahi made the call at the opening of an IPv6 migration readiness workshop in Abuja, north central, Nigeria, organised by the NITDA in collaboration with the Nigeria IPv6 Council and the African Network Information Centre (AFRINIC) for executive and technical staff of MDAs. Director of the Agency’s Digital Development Services Department, Oladejo Olawumi delivered the DG’s remarks.

One stream of the training is designed to equip directors and management-level officials with an understanding of the transition and their responsibilities in supporting it, and the other is focused on building the technical capacity of personnel responsible for implementing the migration.

Mallam Abdullahi explained that the management stream was intended to help senior officials understand why the transition was necessary and how they could support their technical teams. Abdullahi noted that effective communication and cooperation between management and technical personnel were essential to ensuring a smooth transition across government institutions.

“It is to help you understand the process of transitioning from IPv4 to IPv6 and why we need to do it. And importantly, to support the technical staff who are also being trained.  So, you need to support them when they start the migration process. If you don’t understand what you are trying to do, it might be difficult for your technical staff to move forward.

I want to congratulate you because you are the first set of this kind of training for the MDAs. Without having you on board, we cannot have a proper transition. That is why we are having this training to make sure that you have the skills and you are certified’’, he emphasised.

Abdullahi said the transition became necessary owing to the growing demand for internet addresses as more devices and services connected to digital networks. As government institutions increasingly stored and processed data digitally, he said, reliable networks and effective addressing systems became critical to accessing information and delivering services

IPv4, the older internet addressing system, provides approximately 4.3 billion addresses, while the increasing use of smartphones, smart televisions, security cameras, connected vehicles and other Internet of Things devices continues to drive demand. But IPv6 offers a much larger address space, providing a long-term foundation for expanding internet connectivity and digital services.

The NITDA DG linked the transition to the Federal Government’s wider digital transformation agenda, particularly efforts to make public services accessible online and strengthen Nigeria’s National Sovereign Cloud Initiative. He stressed that IPv6 would support scalability, enabling agencies to expand their digital platforms as more citizens begin to use them.

According to him, as MDAs sought to improve service delivery and reduce the need for citizens to visit government offices physically, the transition to IPv6 formed part of the infrastructure needed to sustain that expansion.

Beyond institutional benefits, Abdullahi urged directors and management officials to encourage their technical staff to take the training seriously, highlighting the professional opportunities that came with acquiring specialised networking skills.

Abdullahi disclosed that NITDA was funding certification for participating technical personnel, who were expected to take examinations at the end of the training and described the certification as an investment in both the capacity of government institutions and the individual careers of the personnel involved.

The workshop features technical training alongside the Directorial/Management session, with chairman of the IPv6 Council of Nigeria and chief executive officer of the Internet Exchange Point of Nigeria (IXPN), Muhamed Rudman serving as lead facilitator.

Mr. Rudman welcomed the collaboration with NITDA, describing the initiative as an important step towards encouraging IPv6 adoption among government agencies. Rudman advised participants to engage actively with the trainers, stressing that their involvement would be crucial to preparing MDAs for the transition.

The two-stream approach underscores the need to combine management support with technical expertise to advance Nigeria’s digital transformation agenda.