Nigerian Communications Commission, NCC, has said connectivity is essential for citizens to benefit from digital education and skills development.

The position comes as MTN Foundation, Airtel and Globacom roll out programmes covering areas such as teacher training, school infrastructure, maternal healthcare, digital learning and community connectivity, while the NCC has introduced a zero-rated access initiative for selected educational platforms.

NCC Executive Vice Chairman, Aminu Maida, supported the initiative, while the Minister of Education, Tunji Alausa, said it addressed the cost of accessing educational resources online.

The shift comes as access to connectivity becomes increasingly linked to education, healthcare, employment, entrepreneurship and financial services.

For MTN, the focus includes the SAIL Teachers’ Fellowship, which has trained 8,702 public primary and secondary school teachers across Nigeria since its launch in 2024. The four-week programme focuses on inquiry-based learning and the use of technology in teaching.

The MTN Foundation, established in 2004, said it had invested more than N34.4 billion in social investment programmes covering capacity building, health and economic empowerment, with projects across thousands of communities.

More recently, the MTN Group Foundation and the Gates Foundation announced a maternal health partnership aimed at helping 500,000 women access higher-quality maternal healthcare by 2030. The programme is also expected to equip 5,000 frontline health workers and support 500 health facilities, with an initial investment of about $25 million between 2026 and 2030.

The initiative combines healthcare with technology, including AI-enabled decision-support tools, smartphones and mobile data for health workers and mothers, as well as improved connectivity at health facilities.

The development comes amid a wider push to use telecommunications infrastructure to address barriers to access.

The NCC recently launched its Zero-Rated Data Access to Educational Platforms and Content initiative, under which eligible users can receive up to 100MB of free data daily to access designated educational platforms.

The commission said the programme could provide up to approximately 3GB of access per month, subject to the daily limit, while platforms must be approved and whitelisted by the NCC and the Federal Ministry of Education.

Other operators have also pursued community-focused interventions. Airtel, through its five-year partnership with UNICEF under the Reimagine Education initiative, has provided broadband connectivity, digital devices and zero-rated data access to public primary schools nationwide.

Targeting more than 300,000 students across hundreds of schools, the programme provides pupils and teachers with free access to resources such as the Nigeria Learning Passport, NLP, and youth upskilling platforms such as YOMA, alongside Airtel’s broader Adopt-a-School infrastructure rehabilitation projects.

Globacom, in partnership with the Federal Ministry of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy and Huawei, supported a digital village pilot project in Isuanin Kura, Ibwa 2, Gwagwalada, Abuja.

The project was designed to serve more than 12,000 residents through services including public Wi-Fi, digital healthcare and remote learning.

Globacom provided the microwave backhaul and access to its core network resources, while the facility was designed to operate on solar power.