Lagos — THE .ng country code Top Level Domain (ccTLD) controversy raging in the country, Tuesday, added another flavour with the Nigeria Internet Group (NIG), saying that the opposing camp over its nomination by the Federal Government to host the ccTLD locally, Nigeria Computer Society (NCS), has disrespected Nigerians and therefore, demanded an apology from the society.

NIG, a not-for-profit organisation, founded in 1995 and licensed in 1996 by the Nigeria Communications Commisson (NCC) at a press conference in Lagos, addressed by its President, Dr. Emmanuel Ekuwem, said that NCS petition to an international organization to disregard the nomination of the Federal Government of Nigeria amounts to an insult and deserves unreserved apology.

It would be recalled that NCS, last month, petitioned the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) asking it to reject the redelegation of the .ng ccTLD to NIG.

But NIG, in a reaction, described it as an act of "insult" to a constituted authority and the position of the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

"We urge the NCS to immediately withdraw its petition to ICANN because it is an act of gross disrespect to the Federal Government of Nigeria, for it (NCS), to call on an international organization to ignore an application to it by a democratically elected government of Nigeria" he declared, adding "It is also an outrageous insult on the Presidency of the Federal Republic of Nigeria".

NIG also noted that NCS had petitioned the Presidency and did not wait for its response before petitioning ICANN, and warned NCS to shun being used for selfish reasons.

"The Presidency is a respectable institution of the people of Nigeria and Nigerians demand an apology from the NCS" Dr. Ekuwem said.

While denying all the claims made by NCS in its petition, NIG cited an instance that the November 4, 2003 meeting of stakeholders as called by the Minister of Science and Technology, Prof. Turner Isoun, to resolve the impasse, was not honoured by NCS, stressing that attendance was 80-89 per cent of the nation's Internet community.

"All stakeholders except the NCS and Computer Professionals (Registration Council) of Nigeria (CPN) were present, including the present administrative point-of-contact (Mrs. Ibukun Odusote)" he said.

NIG, also, responded to purported prevalence of e-mail scam by Nigerians by the United States Technical Contact, Mr. Randy Bush, saying "Nigeria does not hold a monopoly of scam on the Internet".

On the issue of exclusion of the current POC, Mrs. Ibukun Odusote, in the expanded Board of Trustees, NIG said, that as a technical person, the group deemed it fit to include her in the technical committee rather than the B-o-T.

It maintained "that's where we think she would be more useful to the country as a technical person" NIG said.

Pointing out its readiness to host the .ng ccTLD locally, NIG said "our infrastructure (human and material) are already in place. Our business plan is intact to ensure a successful local hosting of ccTLD by end of March 2004.

Dr. Ekuwem was accompanied at the briefing by the NIG vice president, Mr. Lanre Ajayi, treasurer, Mr. Olaleye Alao and publicity secretary, Mr. Ibukun Aderibigbe.