Stakeholders in the Information and Communications technology (ICT) have expressed concern over the obvious breach of the “Nigeria First Policy” by the Federal Ministry of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy (FMCIDE) with certain provisions of its recent agreement with Hello.cv, a promoter of Cape Verde country code top level Domain (Cape Verde ccTLD) under the 3 Million Technical Talent (3MTT) programme.
It will be recalled that the Minister of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy, Dr. Bosun Tijani, recently announced a $10 million partnership agreement with Hello.cv.
According to the Minister, the deal will see Hello.cv providing 20,000 3MTT fellows access to the company’s profile package valued at $500 per fellow, comprising a personal .cv domain, an AI-powered job search agent, and a professional CV writer.
But stakeholders in the industry argue that mandating the 3MTT fellows to acquire a foreign domain (.cv) contravenes the provisions of the “Nigeria First Policy” and relegates the Nigeria’s country code Top Level Domain (CcTLD) and identity, .ng.
While applauding the initiative to partner with a foreign company to join the indigenous trainers and train 20,000 3MTT fellows, some of the stakeholders, suggested that the Federal Government should have agreed on the other provisions of the partnership, but give Nigeria Internet Registration Association (NiRA), the Registry for the .ng domain, the right to host the 3MTT fellows on .ng domain, in adherence to the “Nigeria Firs” policy. Others say Hello.cv could be mandated to host the fellows on .ng with .cv as a secondary domain host, such as hello.cv.ng.
Speaking on the issue, Chief Executive Officer, DNS Africa Media and Communications, Dr. Adebunmi Adeola Akinbo said: “Okay, the first thing we want to understand is this, the number of people that will be onboarded to the .cv ccTLD is huge. Does .cv ccTLD have the policy to protect the privacy of Nigerian’s data? Even if they have, it is it proper, when we are talking about a government that says, “Nigeria First” as its priority? it is very improper, very, very improper.”
He further noted that the .ng domain name is a domain name that can easily accommodate such a huge number of proposed job seekers. “If they say their brand is a Hello.cv, no problem, they should come and buy a hello.cv.ng if the branding is a priority for them. If they decide that this becomes like a business opportunity, an entrepreneurial ground for them to grow upon, they can send a mail and propose that, and we can onboard three million Nigerians or five million Nigerians to the .ng domain name.”
Approved by the Federal Executive Council (FEC) on the May 5, 2025, the “Nigeria-First Policy Agenda” is an economic initiative that mandates all Federal Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs) to prioritize locally produced goods and services in government procurement. Its primary goal is to reduce import dependency on foreign goods and services, stimulate domestic industries, and boost job creation.
Pundits note that the $10 million Agreement package with Hello.cv (the Cape Verde ccTLD) by FMCIDE which includes a .cv domain, an AI-powered job search agent, and professional CV writing assistance for each of the 20,000 3MTT fellows, will only cede these fellows to utilize a foreign country’s domain, rather than Nigeria’s indigenous domain thereby promoting another country’s digital identity. They argue that providing a domain name, which is a country’s identity on the internet space, shouldn’t have been part of the agreement, especially since Nigeria has the Nigeria Internet Registration Association (NiRA), the custodian of .ng CcTLD.
NiRA is the registry for .ng Internet Domain Names and maintains the database of names registered in the .ng country code Top Level Domain.
Speaking on the partnership, CEO, Programos and Innovationbed-AI Academy boss, Emmanuel Amos noted that the activities of government has made Nigerians gradually loose trust in its policies, as there is no stability in execution and compliance by the same MDAs responsible for driving the goals and objectives of government.
“Nigeria seems to have lost the collective-will to allow any technology deliver real value for the ecosystem. We plan elections, invest in technology, and yet we often lack the institutional resolve to let that technology work effectively for us. We do not have that system-will for us to envision solutions and implement something right for our system.”
Dr. Akinbo had reiterated also: “Don’t forget that recently, the FMCIDE held a conference on cybersecurity. Now, when we’re talking about cybersecurity, these are the things that we should always put at the front burner, to ensure that the .ng is always at the forefront, and every other domain is at the back end in order to protect Nigeria’s data.
He concluded by stating that as good as it may sound, leaving the .ng domain name out of this circle of engagement is wrong. “Taking information or data outside the .ng domain name and outside the domain of the Federal Republic of Nigeria is also wrong, where Nigeria has neither control nor significant influence to control how and where the data is used. I hope that the people in charge will hear this and make amends. All these, just started going out last month, so there’s room for amendments, there’s room to make the change, and ensure Nigeria retains its digital value”
According to Ugonma Egwuatu of ECAM Global Services, an ICT and Data Protection firm, if a government Ministry has given the trainees the permission to use a foreign domain, then the attention of the Nigeria Data Protection Commission (NDPC) should be drawn to it. The NDPC has subscription to .ng as requirement for its Data Protection Compliance Organisations (DPCOs).
The concern, she notes, is about the security of the data. “We are talking about 20,000 data sources here, so NDPC should be concerned.”
“There should be explanations regarding the back end: what are they doing with the data of the people that visit the sites? What is the reason behind the use of foreign domain as against the .ng that we know about? Are they trying to phish data? Are they trying to sell data? These are questions that need to be asked to know the reason why the ministry insists on the trainees using a foreign domain.”
She suggested that there should be a third-party agreement. “I want to believe that as a ministry, they have done their due diligence, because the security of people’s data is involved”.
