As the controversy over the different positions held by two erstwhile, the US and the EU on the administration of the Internet continues, the CEO of the Linkserve, Mr. Chima Onyekwere has said net should be administered fairly.
Responding to THISDAY's questions on the issue, Onyekwere who founded the Nigeria's pioneer Internet Service Provider, Linkserve, said the controversy surrounding the governance of the Internet has been a long-standing one, and it does not appear a if there is any immediate solution to resolving the problem.
According to him, the possibility of the United States relinquishing the control of the web is remote. "I doubt if the United States will be willing to give up on its position considering the investment it has put in it."Onyekwere nonetheless stated that Internet Governance should be done in such a way that there is accountability, democracy and equitable participation.
He said all stakeholders should have a say in the matter. He noted that the US has done a lot as regards ceding direct control of some parts of Internet like the Internet Protocol (IP) address space allocation, protocol identifier assignment, generic (gTLD) and country code (ccTLD) Top-Level Domain name system management, and root server system management were previously done by the US government but now being carried out by ICANN. The other part of the Internet, he said, is dominated and controlled by infrastructure, knowledge, development and level of use of the Internet.
Unfortunately the US market is dominant here and this is not necessarily the US Government, but driven by the private sector commercially.On the ICANN board are three Africans, a Senegalese, Ghanaian and Kenyan. This, according to him, is a far larger number than from any other region of the world.
On what the Africa position should be, Onyekwere said Africa should push to have a say in the governance of the Internet, while efforts are made to develop the needed backbone at the national sub regional and regional levels as this will also help in creating internet exchange points.
He suggested that each national government should make it a policy that computer/Internet education be a compulsory School certificate program like English and provide adequate funding for it as well.But he also disclosed that Africa is making some form of progress without being noticed.
He revealed that in further development of the Internet, Africa now has a local registry for IP assignments called AFRINIC. AfriNIC is the Regional Registry for Internet Number Resources for Africa and the Indian Ocean. In addition to this, we should continue to participate in functions of these bodies through structure organisations like NIG, ISPAN and ATCON.
On the role Nigeria should play in canvassing the African position, he said, "Considering the position of Nigeria in Africa as chairman of the AU and being the most populous country in the continent, Nigeria should throw its weight behind Africa and the rest of the globe to ensure that it is given a significant position in this regard. We should ensure that our local ICT non-governmental organisations participate actively in the parent bodies. This way we can get our citizens elected into high office when elections are held. Note that most of these bodies are very democratic and the number game is important and works."
With this controversy still raging, the Linkserve boss believes there would be a tough task getting a consensus on the matter in Tunis come November."With the new development in this controversy, I mean the EU throwing its weight behind the UN the scale may just be tilted against the United States but it will be difficult arriving at a consensus in the matter," he stated.
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Onyekwere lamented the controversy that surrounded the administration of Nigeria's TLD. He said the present environment has not encouraged the penetration and awareness of Internet and its tools for the development of the country's youth. He also pointed out that a lot is dependent on the new NGO being formed to manage the TLD as it could give a direction or further worsen an already bad situation.
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