The Federal Government is to connect all schools through reliable internet services nationwide to strengthen digital learning and expand access to modern educational tools.
Federal Ministry of Education spokesperson, Folasade Boriowo, stated this on Wednesday in Abuja
Boriowo quoted Alausa as saying the initiative followed a directive by President Bola Tinubu to expand digital infrastructure to key sectors, including education.
Alausa said the Federal Government was deploying about 90,000 kilometres of fibre optic broadband infrastructure across the country.
He said about 3,700 telecommunications towers would be installed, particularly in rural and underserved communities, to strengthen nationwide connectivity.
According to him, two technical working groups have also been established to drive implementation across tertiary institutions and foundational and secondary schools.
The minister said the plan was to ensure schools are deliberately connected as broadband cables are laid and towers deployed nationwide.
Alausa said the initiative would help harness technology, including Artificial Intelligence (AI), to improve Nigeria’s education system and expand access to digital learning resources for students and teachers.
The minister said the plan is to develop a coordinated framework to ensure connectivity across all levels of education, from foundational and secondary schools to universities and colleges.
Alausa said the initiative would build on previous connectivity efforts through the Nigerian Research and Education Network (NgREN), which supported broadband access for tertiary institutions under a World Bank-funded programme.
Also speaking, the Minister of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy, Tijani, emphasised that technology-driven education could not thrive without reliable connectivity.
He noted that although Nigeria hosts about eight international subsea internet cables, the highest number in Africa, the key challenge lied in distributing that capacity inland through extensive fibre networks capable of reaching communities nationwide.
“Most of the internet capacity enters Nigeria through submarine cables landing in Lagos, but without sufficient inland fibre infrastructure, that capacity cannot effectively reach schools and communities across the country,” he said.
