Nigerian students have expressed their displeasure over the Federal Government’s offer of free data package saying the value would not help their course.
They have instead made an alternative request of free and reliable Wi-Fi on campuses.
Mentioning mounting academic requirements on campus, they said 100 MB data would do little but prayed the federal government to instead build functional Wi-Fi infrastructure across tertiary institutions.
For example, National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) Leadership newspaper states, has said the allocation was grossly inadequate
Comrade Obidah David, national public relations officer of NANS, said:
“The federal government’s proposed plan to provide Nigerian students with 100 MB of free data from 1 October 2026 is, in our considered view, a misplaced priority and falls short of addressing the real challenges confronting students across the country,” he said.
“While we acknowledge the intention to support students’ access to digital resources, 100 MB of data is grossly inadequate in today’s digital learning environment,” he said.
A National Student Data Tariff through collaboration between the government and telecommunications operators, he said, would help the free data package.
Verified students should have access to substantially larger data allocations at reduced rates.
Calling for for the establishment of free, reliable and high-speed Wi-Fi infrastructure across universities, polytechnics, colleges of education and other public tertiary institution she added:
“Consequently, the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) is opposed to the proposed 100 MB free data policy in its present form.
“Our opposition is not to the principle of supporting students with digital access; rather, we oppose an approach that is inadequate, unsustainable and incapable of addressing the problem’s true scale.”
“Nigerian students do not need symbolic interventions; we need policies that solve problems,” the association said.
Three students from the University of Lagos, the University of Ibadan, and Olabisi Onabanjo University, Kayode Ojo, Joshua Oyero, and Ronke Tasan, respectively, also spoke up on the free data package proposal, asking the government to embark on what they described as visible measures that would benefit the students instead of giving them a token.
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‘‘I don’t trust this government. Recall that its officers have been transferring money to people we cannot even see. This issue of giving us free Wi-Fi may even go the same way. Let them do that in our schools where we will be able to access it and make use of it for our studies,’’ Ronke Tasan said.
This is even as Ojo and Oyero appealed the amount budgeted for the proposed free Wi-Fi could also be used to rehabilitate many schools in the country.
‘‘It is an election period; the idea is to deceive us in order to get our votes. We know what the government is doing,’’ Chinonso Onokwuru of Michael Okpara University said.
