Nigerian students have reacted angrily to the Federal Government’s plan to provide them with 100 megabytes (MB) of free data daily from October 1.
Many say the allowance is too small to make a meaningful difference to their studies.
The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) unveiled the initiative on Thursday in Abuja alongside the Federal Ministry of Education and telecom operators under the Association of Licensed Telecommunications Operators of Nigeria (ALTON). It is projected to cost N180 billion annually and will initially cover about five million students in public senior secondary schools and tertiary institutions.
Reactions on X were swift. “100MB data is nonsense. Only two minutes of browsing,” student Mimi Jaja wrote, adding that students would rather see a 60% cut in federal university fees.
Another user, who goes by IjUgho, called the scheme “another way to embezzle money,” arguing that 100mb of Nigeria’s mobile data “won’t last 30 minutes.”
Why won’t campus Wi-Fi work instead? — Nigerian students ask
Some students questioned why the government opted for data allocations over campus-wide WiFi infrastructure.
“What happened to Metropolitan Area Network WiFi to be accessible to students through their student portal?” X user boltonchimdi asked, noting that university fees already run as high as N180,000.
Agezeh Victor, immediate past president of the University of Ibadan Students’ Union, offered a costed alternative. He estimated that providing 100MB daily to the University of Ilorin’s roughly 45,000 students would cost the government about N3.6 million daily and N111.6 million monthly. The same budget, he argued, could instead fund WiFi infrastructure at 30 to 40 strategic campus locations, each supporting 100 to 200 simultaneous users.
Also read: NCC begins process to block unregistered phones and other SIM-enabled devices
Other students focused on practicality rather than cost. “N100mb cannot open my NOUN student portal,” X user i_am_abiodunag wrote, referencing the National Open University of Nigeria’s student portal. Another, KennyRoskyn13, said the allowance would be exhausted within 20 minutes of ordinary WhatsApp use.
Not all reactions centred on the data cap itself. X user mainabikeade argued the government should prioritise paying lecturers adequately and curbing extortion in tertiary institutions before rolling out data schemes.
Technext reached out to the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) president and the leadership of three federal universities for comment. None had responded by the time of this report.
The NCC has said the daily allowance, equivalent to about 3GB monthly, will be restricted to a whitelist of approved educational platforms, including learning management systems and digital libraries.
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