{"id":4158,"date":"2026-09-11T21:50:53","date_gmt":"2026-09-11T21:50:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/consumerconnectng.com\/?p=4158"},"modified":"2026-09-11T22:41:59","modified_gmt":"2026-09-11T22:41:59","slug":"child-online-protection-nigeria-safeguards-minors-regulates-under-16-internet-access","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/consumerconnectng.com\/?p=4158","title":{"rendered":"Child Online Protection: Nigeria moves to regulate under-16 Internet access over cyberthreats"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>*<strong><em>Dr. Tunji Alausa, Minister for Education affirms the Nigerian Government&#8217;s move to safeguard minors from cyberthreats and inappropriate online exposure, stating &#8216;it&#8217;s our duty to protect every Nigerian child, more so underage children, from all sorts of cyberattacks and digital exposure&#8217;<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Isola Moses | ConsumerConnect<\/p>\n<p>In line with the existing Child Online Protection (COP) initiative, the Nigerian Government has moved to safeguard minors from cyberthreats and inappropriate online exposure.<\/p>\n<p><em>ConsumerConnect<\/em> reports the government said the country&#8217;s security agencies, in the coming weeks, would announce guidelines to regulate Internet access for children under 16 years.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"wp-embedded-content\" data-secret=\"aUR4KOeqJn\"><p><a href=\"https:\/\/consumerconnectng.com\/?p=4138\">Public Health: EFCC, FBI to probe of alleged diversion, mismanagement of USAID HIV, TB funds \u2013Official<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-embedded-content\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts\" security=\"restricted\" style=\"position: absolute; visibility: hidden;\" title=\"\u201cPublic Health: EFCC, FBI to probe of alleged diversion, mismanagement of USAID HIV, TB funds \u2013Official\u201d \u2014 Consumer Experience Is A Top Priority\" src=\"https:\/\/consumerconnectng.com\/?p=4138&amp;embed=true#?secret=BI3nlh0prm#?secret=aUR4KOeqJn\" data-secret=\"aUR4KOeqJn\" width=\"600\" height=\"338\" frameborder=\"0\" marginwidth=\"0\" marginheight=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>Dr. Tunji Alausa, Honourable Minister for Education, disclosed this Thursday, September 10, 2026, in Abuja, FCT, during the launch of the Zero-Rated Access to Education Platforms initiative.<\/p>\n<p>The Federal Ministry of Education organised the launch of the approved free educational content initiative in collaboration with the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC).<\/p>\n<p><strong>Significance of strict cybersecurity guardrails for minors, by Minister<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Underscoring the importance of the policy decision to limit digital access to minors, Alausa explained though the government was aggressively expanding digital learning infrastructure in Nigeria, there is a need to establish strict cybersecurity guardrails for minors was imperative to protect young learners.<\/p>\n<p>He further stated: \u200e\u201cWe will be regulating internet access for children below 16 years old, and further announcements on this will be coming from our security staff in the coming days or weeks.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt is our duty to protect every Nigerian child, more so underage children, from all sorts of cyberattacks and digital exposure.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>According to him, despite the country&#8217;s commitment to digital inclusion, this concept must be paired with strict content regulations to prevent indiscriminate exposure to unverified material in cyberspace.<\/p>\n<p>He asserted: &#8220;Zero-rated access should not mean indiscriminate access to every platform that describes itself as educational.<\/p>\n<p>\u200e&#8221;The content made available to our children must be accessible, credible, safe, and aligned with our educational objectives and curriculum.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><strong>On democratising learning and e-book revolution in Nigeria<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>\u200eIn his remarks at the event, Ikechukwu Ugwuegede, a member of the NCC Board of Commissioners, described zero-rated access as a real-time democratisation of learning comparable to the digital e-book revolution.<\/p>\n<p>\u200eUgwuegede said that providing free connectivity to accredited academic sites would ensure that rural and urban students or learners compete on an equal footing.<\/p>\n<p>He also noted: \u200e&#8221;By providing free connectivity to approved academic sites, we are ensuring that every learner, whether in a bustling city or a quiet rural community, will have equal access to knowledge.<\/p>\n<p>\u200e&#8221;This is similar to the revolution of free e-books, but on a far greater scale; we are connecting dreams to opportunities and opportunities to reality.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Speaking on the occasion, \u200eSen. Mohammed Muntari, Chairman of the Senate Committee on Tertiary Institutions and TETFUND, commended telecoms operators for deploying Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) to support national education.<\/p>\n<p>Muntari reportedly said the zero-rated data access initiative complemented ongoing Federal Government interventions, including the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND).<\/p>\n<p>The objective, he stated, is to ensure that no Nigerian child was left behind due to financial constraints.<\/p>\n<p>The Federal lawmaker also said: &#8220;The leadership of the National Assembly appreciates the efforts of the telecommunications industry in ensuring our children are not left behind in acquiring knowledge.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cUnder President Bola Tinubu\u2019s administration, key programmes like NELFUND and zero-rated access are working together to expand opportunities for less-advantaged Nigerians.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Mr. Peter Akpatason, a member of the House Committee on Communication, as well pledged parliamentary oversight to ensure telecommunications providers expand coverage to underserved communities in Nigeria.<\/p>\n<p>Akpatason declared: \u201cAccess to information should not be determined by the ability to pay for data.<\/p>\n<p>\u200e&#8221;The House of Representatives remains fully committed to regulatory and legislative frameworks that encourage innovation, affordability, and consumer protection.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>*Dr. Tunji Alausa, Minister for Education affirms the Nigerian Government&#8217;s move to safeguard minors from cyberthreats and inappropriate online exposure, stating &#8216;it&#8217;s our duty to&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":4147,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"_FSMCFIC_featured_image_caption":"L-R: Chief Idris Olorunnimbe, Chairman of NCC Board; Dr. Tunji Alausa, Honourable Minister for Education; Dr. Aminu Maida, Executive Vice-Chairman\/CEO of NCC, and Prof. Oluwatoyin Ogundipe, Chairman of Governing Board, National Universities Commission, at the Event, in Abuja, FCT","_FSMCFIC_featured_image_nocaption":"","_FSMCFIC_featured_image_hide":"","_customify_content_layout":"","_customify_sidebar":"","_customify_page_header_display":"default","_customify_disable_header":"","_customify_disable_header_top":"","_customify_disable_header_main":"","_customify_disable_header_bottom":"","_customify_disable_page_title":"","_customify_disable_content_vertical_padding":"","_customify_disable_footer_top":"","_customify_disable_footer_main":"","_customify_disable_footer_bottom":"","_customify_breadcrumb_display":"","_customify_header_transparent_display":"default","footnotes":""},"categories":[20,4,8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4158","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-highlights","category-markets","category-regulators"],"featured_image_urls":{"full":["https:\/\/consumerconnectng.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Maida-ALausa-Olorunnimbe-on-Zero-Rated-Access-cc.png",672,365,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/consumerconnectng.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Maida-ALausa-Olorunnimbe-on-Zero-Rated-Access-cc-150x150.png",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/consumerconnectng.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Maida-ALausa-Olorunnimbe-on-Zero-Rated-Access-cc-300x163.png",300,163,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/consumerconnectng.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Maida-ALausa-Olorunnimbe-on-Zero-Rated-Access-cc.png",672,365,false],"large":["https:\/\/consumerconnectng.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Maida-ALausa-Olorunnimbe-on-Zero-Rated-Access-cc.png",672,365,false],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/consumerconnectng.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Maida-ALausa-Olorunnimbe-on-Zero-Rated-Access-cc.png",672,365,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/consumerconnectng.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Maida-ALausa-Olorunnimbe-on-Zero-Rated-Access-cc.png",672,365,false]},"author_info":{"info":["ConsumerConnect"]},"category_info":"<a href=\"https:\/\/consumerconnectng.com\/?cat=20\" rel=\"category\">Highlights<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/consumerconnectng.com\/?cat=4\" rel=\"category\">Markets<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/consumerconnectng.com\/?cat=8\" rel=\"category\">Regulators<\/a>","tag_info":"Regulators","comment_count":"4","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/consumerconnectng.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4158","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/consumerconnectng.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/consumerconnectng.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/consumerconnectng.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/consumerconnectng.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4158"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/consumerconnectng.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4158\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4189,"href":"https:\/\/consumerconnectng.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4158\/revisions\/4189"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/consumerconnectng.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/4147"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/consumerconnectng.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4158"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/consumerconnectng.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4158"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/consumerconnectng.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4158"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}