By Emma Elebeke

Recently, the immediate past President of Nigeria Internet Group, NIG, Engr. Lanre Ajayi was elected into a leadership positions at the Internet Council for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) to represent not just Africa but the developing nations.

Ajayi, CEO of PiNet Informatics, was elected into the Generic Name Supporting Organisation (GNSO) council, while Mrs. Akinsanmi, a South Africa-based IT professional joined the At-Large Advisory Committee (ALAC). In this interview, Engr. Ajayi bared his mind on his new assignment, the impact on internet penetration in Nigeria, Africa and his advice on how to stimulate internet usage and e-business in Nigeria. Excerpts:

Tell us how you feel regarding your inclusion as a member into the Generic Names Supporting Organization (GNSO) council of the Internet Council for Assigned Names and Numbers, ICANN?

Great opportunity

I am delighted by the nomination. I see it as an opportunity for me to share my experience at a global level and act as the voice of the developing countries, but with a global perspective, when polices that are critical to the operations and sustainability of the internet is being formulated.

The internet has occupied a strategic position in our personal and national socio-economic development, it is therefore important that we show interest in how it is managed both at national level and international level.

Can you let us into your agenda as you resume office and how long will you be on the council?

I am expected to take my seat on the council at the next ICANN meeting taking place in October 2011 and would be on the council for two years. While in the council, I hope to work with other councillors towards achieving the mandate of ICANN and the GNSO in particular.

A major objective of ICANN and the GNSO is to ensure the stability of the internet. I think this should be of interest to any global citizen. It is my plan to work in ensuring the continuous stability of this important tool called the internet.

To what extent do you think the elevated position is going to help you improve in this profession?

Networking with others

I believe the new assignment will give me the opportunity to network with other professionals around the world, who share my interest about the internet. It will enable me learn from people of diverse backgrounds and will serve as a platform for me to contribute to the development of the internet. The experience gained at the global level can be shared at national level to further improve on our adoption of global best practices.

In what way is your position there going to impact on our economy and Nigeria as a nation?

There are a number of things we need to do differently to obtain a different result in our service delivery processes. For example the adoption of our own Country Code Top Level Domain (.ng) is quite appalling.

Nigerians don’t like .ng

Most Nigerians are still not fascinated by the .ng. Whatever is being done right at the Generic Domains (.com, .net, .org etc), which incidentally is the council on which I am nominated, that fascinated our people to those domain names could be recommended to the management of our local (.ng) registry.

In other words experience gained at the global level, if transferred or replicated at the local level could help us in getting better result and by extension impact our economy positively.

Are you the first Nigerian and African to be nominated into this position?

I am not the first African to serve in ICANN leadership position but I have not yet ascertained if there was any other African that served in the GNSO council before now.

ICANN’s primary principles of operation is to preserve the operational stability of the internet and promote competition. With you now a member of ICANN, can we expect the above benefits here in Nigeria?

I belong to a number of local organizations which include the Nigeria Internet Group (NIG), Nigeria Computer Society (NCS) and Information Technology Association of Nigeria (ITAN).

These organizations I believe will serve as a platform for me to share whatever experience I gain at the global level with my other colleagues and the rest of Nigerians. Therefore the best practices of ICANN for the internet at the global level can be replicated at the national level

With your wealth of experience, do you think that internet penetration in Nigeria is growing at the expected speed? if not what would be your advise to fast-track this process?

Internet demand lags supply

Internet penetration in Nigeria is growing but certainly not at the expected speed. We were said to have about 12 per cent internet penetration compared with sixty per cent teledensity. There is no reason why anyone who can make a telephone call should not be able to use the internet in Nigeria.

This is an obvious proof that the internet adoption in Nigeria is lagging behind. It is also said that less than one per cent of the international bandwidth available in Nigeria is being consumed.

This is also a pointer to the fact that demand for the internet is lagging the supply. To correct these anomalies, we need to stimulate demand for the internet. A way to do this is to promote e-government and e-business. Let government, at all levels, move their services online and let all businesses establish online frontiers.

This will not only engender online activities and increase internet traffic in Nigeria but will also serve as an opportunity for creating jobs for our teeming unemployed graduates who can participate in the process of delivering these services.