Complimentary internet for education: Nigeria's most critical online gamble

Nigeria stands at a critical juncture, poised to make a decision that will profoundly impact the lives of millions of its citizens, and the choice is surprisingly straightforward: to zero-rate educational websites and make learning data-free.

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This initiative has the potential to revolutionize the country's education system, and it is an idea whose time has come, as evidenced by the encouraging response from the Association of Licensed Telecommunication Operators of Nigeria, ALTON, during their recent courtesy visit to the Nigerian Communications Commission, NCC, Ikoyi office.

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The NCC is ready to lead the charge, with the full backing of President Bola Tinubu, who has set the direction for this vision, and it is the role of the NCC to ensure that every Nigerian child feels the impact of this decision.

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The cost of data is a significant barrier to online learning, and for students in states like Katsina, Ebonyi, or Ekiti, the arithmetic is simple: data costs money, and many families cannot afford it, making it imperative to make learning data-free.

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Zero-rating educational websites means that telecom operators will allow users to access designated educational websites and digital libraries without deducting the visits from their data balance, a concept that is already working in other countries, such as South Africa, where mobile operators zero-rated critical educational websites in 2016.

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India's experience is also instructive, as the arrival of Jio in 2016 with low data pricing triggered a dramatic expansion of digital learning, with hundreds of millions of Indians gaining access to the internet overnight, and EdTech platforms like BYJU's, Unacademy, and Vedantu building entire businesses on the back of that newly connected population.

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Rwanda offers a compelling African model, with its Smart Classroom Programme, which worked with operators to zero-rate the Rwanda Education Board's digital content in government schools, combined with teacher training and device provision, resulting in Rwanda consistently ranking among Africa's most competitive digital economies.

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The decision to zero-rate educational websites is reminiscent of Chief Obafemi Awolowo's introduction of free primary education in the Western Region in 1955, which was opposed and debated at the time, but ultimately produced generational results, and this initiative is the digital equivalent of that bet.

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President Bola Tinubu's commitment to inclusive education is evident in his free WAEC policy, the NELFUND initiative, which has already benefitted close to two million students, and this initiative, which is a direct way to give the Renewed Hope Agenda practical meaning.

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The Nigerian Communications Commission will be visiting state governors in the coming weeks to seek their partnership in transforming their states through this initiative, and will ask for their support in lowering entry barriers for operators deploying infrastructure in unserved communities.

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The NCC will also count on the governors' support to protect existing and new infrastructure, as vandalism of telecoms assets is a significant problem, and strong state-level enforcement is crucial to building a better future.

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The alignment reached with the Association of Licensed Telecommunication Operators of Nigeria, ALTON, is a foundation to build on, and the NCC will work with operators to monitor traffic impacts and ensure capacity planning in underserved areas runs parallel to zero-rating rollout.

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The NCC will work with the Federal Ministry of Education, state education boards, and civil society to identify credible platforms, publish the list, and zero-rate them under a transparent governance framework, and will also work with ALTON on a shared enforcement approach to prevent VPN routing incentives.

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Civil society and the private sector have a crucial role to play in this initiative, and can adopt a platform, fund devices for a school, or sponsor a teacher training programme, to help build something lasting, such as devices in schools, Wi-Fi in public libraries, and curated local content reflecting state languages, histories, and curricula.

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UNICEF and the UNESCO Institute for Statistics estimate that Nigeria has approximately 20 million out-of-school children, and millions more are in school but learning below their potential due to lack of access to resources, making this initiative a crisis with a known, affordable solution.

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The question is no longer whether Nigeria can do this, but whether it will choose to, and as Chairman of the Nigerian Communications Commission, the commitment is to continue pushing for this initiative with every platform available, and to engage operators formally on timelines and implementation frameworks.

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Accountability is not optional in this initiative, and the NCC will track progress and report it publicly, as the Awolowo generation built the future on free schools, and the Tinubu generation will build it on free data, a choice that has already been made.