Nigeria: 5 million students to receive 100 MB of free data daily

Starting October 1, 2026, five million Nigerian students will receive 100 MB of free data each day to access approved educational platforms. The program primarily targets public high schools and public higher education institutions.

The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) launched the initiative in collaboration with the Federal Ministry of Education and telecom operators. The provided data cannot be used for general browsing; it will be restricted to educational sites and services listed by the authorities.

Each beneficiary will thus have access to approximately 700 MB per week, 3 GB per month, and up to 36.5 GB per year for online learning. The NCC estimates that 100 MB can represent several hours of reading, document consultation, or educational activities depending on the type of content used.

Eligible platforms include learning management systems, digital libraries, educational resource repositories, teacher training services, and technical and vocational training platforms. Their selection will be carried out jointly by the NCC and the Federal Ministry of Education.

Members of the Association of Licensed Telecommunications Operators of Nigeria confirmed their support for the program on September 15. The sector will provide the daily allocation as part of an operator-funded model, which will include monitoring service availability, platform usage, data consumption, and user complaints.

Education Minister Maruf Tunji Alausa stated that the first phase will involve approximately five million learners. Estimates shared at the launch suggest that the potential cost of providing data at this scale could reach 15 billion naira per month, before any possible expansion of the program to other categories of learners.