The National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) has commended the Federal Government and the Chairman of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Chief Idris Olorunimbe, for introducing zero-rated access to online educational platforms for students.
The
commendation was made by the NANS President, Comrade Babatunde Akinteye, during
the launch of the initiative at Transcorp Hilton Hotel, Abuja on September 10.
Akinteye
said the intervention directly addresses one of the biggest barriers to modern
learning.
He stated,
“In today’s world, education is no longer confined to classrooms. Knowledge
lives online — in e-libraries, research databases, digital courses, coding
platforms, and virtual classrooms.
“Yet, the
cost of data remains one of the biggest barriers preventing millions of
Nigerian students from accessing these resources.
“By
proposing zero-rated data access to educational platforms, the NCC is
addressing the real bottleneck of modern learning; connectivity.”
The NANS
President described the policy as “the smartest, most strategic and
potentially, most impactful intervention in the education architecture of
Nigeria in our recent history.”
“Rather
than distributing physical materials alone or relying solely on traditional
infrastructure, it directly subsidizes access to knowledge itself. It
recognizes that in the digital age, data is the new textbook,” he added.
Akinteye
recalled other federal interventions for students under the Tinubu
administration, including uninterrupted academic calendars, the NELFUND student
loan scheme, and free tuition with monthly stipends of ₦20,000 and ₦22,500 at
Technical and Vocational Education Training (TVET) centers.
“While
still expressing our profound gratitude to the Federal government for the
interventions above, the NCC has brought about the zero-rated access to
educational platforms and digital contents.
“In
effect, this would allow students across all education level to be able to
learn and carry out research online on approved websites and e-libraries
without necessarily having to buy data,” he said.
He also
thanked Olorunimbe and the NCC board for first proposing the idea during a
meeting with the Association of Licensed Telecommunications Operators of
Nigeria (ALTON).
According
to NANS, the scheme will take effect from October 1, 2026.
Under the
provisions, each student from secondary to tertiary level will get 100MB free
data per day.
About 5
million students in public senior secondary schools and public tertiary
institutions are expected to benefit.
The
rollout will be done through collaboration between the _lNCC, Federal Ministry
of Education, and ALTON.
The free
data will work only on approved educational websites, digital libraries, and
learning platforms.
It cannot
be used for social media, general browsing, or video streaming on unapproved
sites.
Also,
using the educational data will not deduct from students’ normal data balance.
“In the
21st century, the best way to subsidize education is not only by building more
classrooms — but by unlocking unlimited access to knowledge.
“The NCC’s
‘Free Data for Learning’ initiative reflects visionary thinking in that
direction and deserves commendation,” Akinteye stressed.
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