By Akpan David, Calabar
A lawyer and public affairs analyst, Justice Osai Ahiakwo, and child rights activist and educationist, Mrs Glory Mike Ntuk, have faulted the Federal Government’s plan to provide 100MB of internet data to schoolchildren, arguing that the initiative cannot substitute for functional schools, competent teachers and basic educational infrastructure.
Ahiakwo said although the initiative might appear attractive at a time when technology was becoming increasingly important to education, the policy, in its present form, did not appear to constitute a sufficiently well-designed education programme.
He acknowledged that digital technology could expand learning opportunities by giving children access to educational materials, digital libraries, instructional videos and other resources beyond those available in physical classrooms.
However, he warned that internet access could also expose children to harmful content, exploitation, cyberbullying and other online risks if appropriate safeguards were not put in place.
“100MB of data is not education. It is merely a means of accessing educational resources,” Ahiakwo said, stressing that unrestricted access without proper regulation could expose children to the dangers associated with the internet.
He challenged the Federal Government to explain the policy framework guiding the initiative, including whether the data would be restricted to verified educational platforms and how children would be protected from harmful content.
He also questioned how the programme would benefit students without appropriate digital devices or reliable electricity, as well as its cost to the public and the measurable educational outcomes expected from it.
Ahiakwo further expressed concern that 100MB might be insufficient for meaningful digital learning, particularly where students are expected to watch instructional videos, participate in virtual classes, download learning materials and conduct online research.
He argued that digital access could not substitute for investment in basic educational infrastructure.
“A child needs a functional classroom, competent teachers, textbooks, laboratories, libraries and reliable electricity. Technology should strengthen these foundations, not distract the Government from them,” he said.
The public analyst also urged the government to clearly define how the data initiative would operate alongside its policies concerning children’s access to social media and other potentially harmful online services.
He said there was no contradiction between providing children with controlled access to educational technology and restricting access to harmful online environments.
“What Nigeria needs is a protected digital-education framework—one that enables children to benefit from technology for legitimate educational purposes while imposing appropriate safeguards against harmful content, exploitation and other online risks,” he said.
Similarly, Ntuk questioned the government’s priorities in the education sector, arguing that providing data alone could not resolve the challenges facing Nigerian schools.
“There’s so much confusion in Nigeria. What’s really the government’s focus on education?” she asked.
According to her, if the government genuinely wanted to improve children’s education, it should prioritise the provision of functional school buildings and equip them with desks, libraries, laboratories and modern technological facilities.
She also called for the employment and proper remuneration of professional teachers to effectively manage the schools.
“No more camouflage attention,” Ntuk said, insisting that government must focus on interventions capable of producing lasting improvements in the quality of education.
Ahiakwo maintained that the success of the 100MB initiative should not be measured by the number of children who receive internet data, but by whether it improves learning, expands access to knowledge and produces measurable educational outcomes.
“Every Nigerian child deserves more than 100MB of data. Every child deserves a functional school, a competent teacher, access to knowledge and a safe digital environment,” he said.
