The Nigerian Research and Educational Network (NgREN), under the National Universities Commission (NUC), has successfully deployed the eduroam service at Bayero University Kano, Ahmadu Bello University Zaria, Covenant University Ota, and the Obafemi Awolowo University Ile-Ife.
Chief ICT Officer, Mr Oluwatobi Fowora, who led the team of experts, said the development is part of NgRENID’s identity federation goals to provide secure and seamless wireless access for academic staff and researchers across the Nigerian University System.
He noted that the team also assessed the readiness of each university’s institutional repository for integration with the Nigerian Institutional Repository and Identity System (NIRIS), in line with international standards and compatibility requirements.
According to him, the deployments were carried out with strong institutional participation and high impact. Activities included initial site inspections of the universities’ data centres, assessment of internet connectivity and network architecture, configuration and deployment of eduroam infrastructure, and testing authentication and connectivity.
The programme also featured technical training for ICT and library staff on OpenLDAP and eduroam credential population, as well as meetings with library teams to evaluate DSpace installations and repository readiness.
At the universities, some librarians raised concerns about policy direction, sustainability, and governance structures within NgREN. At Obafemi Awolowo University, the Vice-Chancellor, Professor Adebayo Bamire, called for better involvement of the University Librarians Association in engagements with NgREN. Similarly, Covenant University’s Vice-Chancellor, Professor Timothy Anake, urged NgREN to improve stakeholder engagement while stressing the importance of enhanced service delivery.
In a related development, staff of NgREN recently concluded a Federated Identity Training Programme facilitated by GÉANT and the AfricaConnect3 Project. The training, which held virtually from 7 April to 16 May 2025, was described by participants as a key step towards digital transformation in Nigeria’s research and education sector.
“As a strategic move for Nigeria’s digital future, the training was specifically designed to equip NgREN staff with the knowledge and skills to deploy a national identity federation system, and position Nigeria to become an active participant in Education Global Authentication and Authorization Infrastructure (eduGAIN), a global inter-federation service that connects research and education institutions worldwide,” one of the participants explained.
The organisers noted that integrating NgRENID with eduGAIN will allow Nigerian universities to enjoy secure access to global digital resources, enhanced cross-border research collaboration, improved user management, and stronger digital identity assurance.
The programme featured international instructors with expertise in federated identity systems. Mario Real from GEANT in the Netherlands gave strategic guidance on identity federations and their role in research collaboration.
Marco Malavolti from GARR/IDEM in Italy provided detailed sessions on federation architecture, including SAML, Shibboleth, and OpenLDAP. Andrijana Todosijevic from AMRES in Serbia shared strategies for effective federation management and user support. In addition, Katarina Simonovic, also from AMRES Serbia, demonstrated practical tools and user-friendly approaches for federated identity services.