“Why Are Nigerian Tech Talents Being Given Foreign Domains?” Stakeholders Fault Government’s $10m Deal.

A quiet storm is brewing in Nigeria’s tech sector. Industry insiders are accusing the Ministry of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy of going against the government’s own “Nigeria First Policy.”

At the center of the drama is a $10 million partnership between the Ministry and Hello.cv a company that promotes Cape Verde’s country code domain (.cv). The deal, announced by Minister Dr. Bosun Tijani, is meant to benefit 20,000 fellows under the 3MTT (Three Million Technical Talent) programme. Each fellow gets a profile package worth $500, which includes a personal .cv domain, an AI job search tool, and a professional CV writer.

But here’s the rub: critics say Nigerian fellows are being forced to adopt a foreign digital identity (.cv) instead of Nigeria’s own .ng domain managed locally by the Nigeria Internet Registration Association (NiRA).

Remember, the “Nigeria First Policy” was approved by the Federal Executive Council on May 5, 2025. It clearly states that government agencies must优先 use locally made goods and services. So why, experts ask, is public money promoting Cape Verde’s internet identity?

Dr. Adebunmi Adeola Akinbo, CEO of DNS Africa Media, didn’t mince words:

“We’re talking about onboarding thousands of Nigerians to a foreign ccTLD. Does .cv even have strong data protection policies for Nigerians? And is this really what ‘Nigeria First’ looks like?”

Emmanuel Amos, CEO of Programos and Innovationbed Al Academy, lamented that such moves erode public trust.

“We plan elections, invest in tech, but somehow we lack the resolve to let our own technology work for us.”

Meanwhile, data protection expert Ugonna Egwuatu of ECAM Global Services has called on the Nigeria Data Protection Commission (NDPC) to step in.

“These are 20,000 potential data sources. What happens to their information? Why the obsession with a foreign domain when .ng is right here? Is this a data phishing scheme or just carelessness?”

The big question remains: If Nigeria truly wants to build its own digital economy, why hand over its rising tech talents to another country’s domain?