ABUJA, Nigeria: The Federal Government has announced that Nigerian students will begin receiving 100 megabytes (MB) of free data every day from October 1, 2026, under a new initiative designed to improve access to digital education.
The Minister of Education, Dr Tunji Alausa, announced the commencement date on Thursday in Abuja during the official launch of the Zero-Rated Access to Educational Platforms and Content initiative, organised by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC).
According to the minister, the programme will initially benefit about five million eligible students, particularly those in senior secondary schools and tertiary institutions.
The daily 100MB allocation will enable students to access approved educational platforms and digital learning content without paying for the associated data.
Alausa said the initiative was aimed at addressing one of the major barriers to digital learning, especially for students from low-income families and communities with limited resources.
“This will be made available to Nigerian students from October 1, 2026,” the minister said.
How the free data will work
The government explained that the programme is not intended to provide unrestricted free internet browsing. Instead, the zero-rating arrangement will cover approved educational websites, platforms and digital learning content that meet the required criteria.
The initiative will initially focus on senior secondary and tertiary students, with plans to expand it to other categories of learners.
The Federal Government also stressed that only credible and safe educational platforms aligned with the national curriculum would qualify for the zero-rating arrangement.
Alausa said the government would monitor how the service is used and assess whether it is producing meaningful improvements in learning outcomes.
N180bn annual data value
The minister said the scale of the programme would be significant.
With approximately five million students receiving 100MB daily, the allocation would amount to about 15 billion megabytes of data every month, representing an estimated ₦180 billion in data value annually, according to the ministry.
He said the initiative was part of wider efforts under the government’s Nigeria Education Sector Renewal Initiative to increase digitalisation across the education sector.
Alausa noted that more than 240,000 schools have already been geomapped and geolocated, while the digitised Nigeria Education Management Information System is being used to provide information on enrolment, teachers, classrooms, laboratories, libraries and connectivity.
He also highlighted the planned use of the Learner Identification Number (LIN) to give Nigerian learners a unique education identity and enable authorities to track their educational journey.
NCC backs initiative
The NCC Executive Vice Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Dr Aminu Maida, said the initiative went beyond simply providing internet connectivity.
Maida said access to digital knowledge could improve innovation, productivity and economic opportunities, particularly for students who previously struggled to afford internet access.
He also disclosed that telecommunications operators had committed to upgrading about 12,000 network sites in 2026, with roughly 70 per cent already completed.
The Federal Government said the ultimate objective is to ensure that a student’s location or financial circumstances do not determine their ability to access quality educational resources online.
The free-data programme is scheduled to begin October 1, 2026.
