***Under 16 to be barred from social media access
Students are to enjoy free educational data access beginning from October 1, the Federal Government hinted on Thursday.
This is another initiative by the government to smoothen learning in tertiary institutions.
Already, through the Nigeria Education Loan Fund (NELFUND), more than 1.2 million students have benefited from tuition and out-of-pocket loans to enable them to finance their education without financial hindrance.
Education Minister Dr. Tunji Alausa, who dropped the hint, said the ambitious programme would run under the Zero-Rated Access to Educational Platforms and Content initiative.
The initiative, organised by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), was launched yesterday at Transcorp Hotel, Abuja.
The intervention is part of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda (RHA), designed to benefit learners from low-income households and communities with limited access to conventional educational infrastructure.
Alausa said: “It is about putting learning within the reach of children who may otherwise be unable to afford the data required to access it.”
He also hinted at plans by the government to introduce regulated internet access for teenagers below the age of 16 as part of efforts to protect young Nigerians from cyber attacks and other online threats.
Alausa explained that the planned regulation would protect minors from undue exposure to digital platforms, which, he noted, has been on the rise.
100MB daily free data to cost N180b annually
According to the minister, the programme would initially provide about five million eligible students with 100 megabytes of free data daily to access approved educational platforms and digital learning content.
He said: “The 100MB daily allocation for five million students amounts to about 15 billion megabytes of data monthly and represents an estimated N180 billion in data value annually.”
The minister described the initiative as a major intervention in education, particularly for students in underserved communities and families unable to afford regular internet data.
“Let me let out the secret. This will be made available to Nigerian students from October 1, 2026,” he said at the launch.
According to him, the initiative had moved from discussion to implementation, driven by the need to democratise access to educational resources regardless of a learner’s location or economic circumstances.
He noted that digitalisation has become central to Nigeria’s Education Sector Renewal Initiative (NESRI), stating that Nigeria could not build a 21st-century education system with 20th-century tools.
Alausa noted that more than 240,000 schools had been geo-mapped and geo-located, while the digitised Nigeria Education Management Information System was providing data on enrolment, teachers, classrooms, laboratories, libraries and connectivity.
The minister added that the Learner Identification Number (LIN) would provide every learner with a unique education identity and enable the government to track their educational journey from primary to tertiary level.
He said the reforms would have limited impact if students could not afford the data required to access digital resources.
“By enabling learners to access approved educational platforms and content without bearing the cost of data, we are removing one of the most significant barriers to digital learning in Nigeria,” he said.
Alausa said the scheme would kick off with senior secondary pupils and students in tertiary institutions. He added that the government plans to extend it to other categories of learners at a later date.
Alausa, however, stressed that only credible and safe educational platforms aligned with national curricula should qualify for zero-rating.
He urged stakeholders to measure the programme by its impact on learning outcomes, rather than data consumption alone.
“We must track utilisation. We must understand who is accessing these platforms and who is not, and we must measure the quality of engagement,” he said.
Alausa urged development partners and other stakeholders to recognise the value as a significant additional investment in education.
He said the ultimate goal was to ensure that poverty and geography did not prevent Nigerian children from accessing quality education.
“Let us build a Nigeria where geography does not determine educational opportunity.
“Let us build a Nigeria where poverty does not prevent a child from accessing knowledge,” he said.
Alausa said the government’s objective was not merely to prepare young Nigerians to consume technology but to equip them to create technologies, develop solutions and compete globally.
He said: “As we seek to provide young people with the knowledge and competencies required for the digital economy, our goal is not simply to produce Nigerians who can consume technology; we must produce young Nigerians who can create technology, develop solutions, innovate and compete globally.”
He said the digital education drive must also address inequalities in access, particularly for children in rural communities, girls unable to attend conventional classrooms regularly and learners living with disabilities.
According to him, digital technology should be used to expand educational opportunities rather than deepen existing inequalities.
He said: “We must also pay particular attention to equity. The greatest value of digital technology is its capacity to overcome distance and expand opportunities.
“A child in the rural community should be able to access the same high-quality learning resources as a child in Abuja or Lagos.
“A girl whose circumstances make regular classroom attendance difficult should have an additional pathway to continue learning.
“A learner living with disability should not be excluded from the opportunities technology can provide. Digital transformation must therefore narrow inequality, not deepen it.”
The minister said the Federal Government would assess the impact of the free data initiative by monitoring how beneficiaries use the platforms and whether digital access translates into better learning outcomes.
He said: “As we launch this programme, we must now move from retention to measurable impact.
“We must track utilisation; we must understand who is accessing these platforms and who is not.
“We must measure the quality of engagement and ultimately determine whether greater digital access is contributing to improved learning outcomes.”
Nigeria’s large youth population, the minister said, could become an asset if equipped with the required knowledge, skills and opportunities to succeed.
He said digital technology offered an opportunity to overcome some of the limitations of the conventional education system by taking learning to communities that may not have adequate physical infrastructure.
Alausa added: “We must be deliberate, build the infrastructure, provide the content, strengthen our teachers, reduce the cost of access and make sure that no child is left behind.
“In the coming days, there will be regulated access to the internet for every teenager in Nigeria who is below the age of 16.
“The telecommunication industry has an especially important role to play.”
NCC lauds telcos’ buy-in
The initiative followed an NCC-led consultation with telecommunications operators, education stakeholders and other industry participants on removing data costs from approved educational websites and platforms.
Executive Vice Chairman (EVC) of the NCC, Dr. Aminu Maida, said the initiative was more than connectivity, describing access to knowledge as a foundation for innovation, productivity and economic growth.
“It is not about providing connectivity; it is about giving people connectivity to gain knowledge,” Maida said.
He said he had personally experienced the convenience of online learning through the courses he took, but noted that its benefits would be greater for less-privileged Nigerians.
Maida commended telecommunications operators participating in the initiative, saying the industry was continuing to invest heavily in network capacity despite difficult operating conditions.
He disclosed that operators had committed to upgrading about 12,000 sites this year, with approximately 70 per cent already completed.
According to him, the NCC would continue to prioritise connectivity in unserved and underserved communities, noting that every newly connected community would provide more students with opportunities to learn digitally.
Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy Minister Dr. Bosun Tijani, represented by the Director, National Frequency Management Council Secretariat, Adeyemo Olugbenga, pledged the ministry’s continued support for initiatives promoting digital inclusion, affordable connectivity and access to knowledge.
Chairman of the House Committee on Communications, Peter Akpatason, commended the NCC for the initiative, describing the high cost of data as one of the major barriers to learning in the digital age.
Akpatason pledged the commitment of the House of Representatives to policies and legislative measures aimed at using technology to bridge the education gap, particularly for learners in underserved and hard-to-reach communities.
Chairman of the Senate Committee on Tertiary Institutions and TETFund, Mohammed Dandutse, stressed the need to ensure that no Nigerian child was excluded from access to knowledge and educational opportunities.
The senator commended the telecommunications industry for its contributions, including through corporate social responsibility initiatives supporting children and expanding access to learning.
He said access to knowledge remained fundamental to Nigeria’s development.
Social media access ban: Nigeria joins global push
Nigeria is following the footsteps of countries that have restricted internet access for children.
They include Australia, where a landmark law forced major social media platforms to block minors under 16 from December 10, 2025.
It was viewed as one of the world’s toughest regulations targeting major tech platforms, prescribing penalties of up to $34.9 million for defaulting companies.
Last year, the United Kingdom (UK) approved a ban on social media for under-16s. The measure, announced on June 15 by former Prime Minister Keir Starmer, will take effect around spring next year.
With the planned regulation, big tech firms operating in Britain must stop children from circulating nude images on their phones or they will face legislation forcing them to do so, Starmer said on June 8.
Under the plans, firms such as Apple and Google would have to build or activate technical solutions on smartphones and tablets to detect and block nude images for children.
Adults would still be able to take, share or view nude content through an age-verification process.
China’s cyberspace regulator has also put in place a “minor mode” programme that requires device-level restrictions and app-specific rules to restrict screen time, depending on age.
In Denmark, the government will activate the ban on social media for children under 15 by November.
Parents could provide access to certain platforms to children down to the age of 13.
On August 14, a top court in France blocked a bill banning social media access for children below 15.
It argued that the proposed law infringed upon freedom of expression.
France’s Parliament had approved the ban in July amid growing concerns about online bullying and mental health risks.
In Germany, minors aged 13 to 16 are allowed to use social media only with their parents’ consent. Child protection advocates say controls are insufficient.
In February this year, a senior Greek official told Reuters that the government was close to announcing a social media ban for children under 15.
Also in India, a chief economic adviser called for age restrictions on social media platforms in January, describing them as “predatory” in how they keep users engaged online. The mainly tourist state of Goa said it was weighing restrictions akin to Australia’s.
Under-14 children need parental consent to sign up for social media accounts in Italy.
Other countries where governments have regulated children’s access to the internet include Malaysia, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Sweden, Spain, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates and the United States (U.S.).
In the U.S., an $18 billion fine was slammed on Meta, with a charge to strictly limit how teenagers use Facebook and Instagram, under an agreement with nearly all U.S. states.
U.S. legislation aimed at forcing social media companies to do more to protect children and teenagers cleared a key political hurdle after Republican Senator Ted Cruz said on May 12 he would support the bill.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said the European Union (EU) was planning stronger protections for children from harmful social media features.
Von der Leyen said the Commission would target “addictive and harmful design practices” in its Digital Fairness Act, a planned law due to be proposed later this year, while an expert panel prepares advice on how to proceed.
The European Parliament had agreed on a resolution calling for an EU-wide ban on access for children under 16 to online platforms, video-sharing sites and AI companions without parental consent and an outright ban for those younger than 13.
