This represented an increase of more than 5.5 million subscriptions within one month. The subscriptions were shared among the major telecommunications networks at the time—MTN, Globacom, Airtel and Etisalat—with MTN having the largest share of the market.
In the absence of concrete statistics on how young Nigerians used the internet at the time, one could reasonably observe that many young users appeared to spend much of their time online reading football and entertainment news or interacting on social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter.
Educational use often seemed to come second, particularly when students needed answers to school assignments and homework. Some schools with internet connections responded by blocking social networking sites to discourage students from using them during school hours.
Promoting Educational Use of the Internet
To help Nigerian internet users benefit from the academic and literary potential of the World Wide Web, increased public awareness is necessary.
Government agencies such as the National Orientation Agency, the Ministry of Education, the NCC and organisations responsible for digital development could support internet-use orientation programmes. Schools, parents, teachers, telecommunications companies and civil society organisations also have important roles to play.
Such programmes should introduce learners to Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) offered through platforms such as edX. They should also create awareness of open educational resources, online libraries, free digital books and resources provided by institutions such as the National Open University of Nigeria.
The overall goal should be to encourage a healthy mixture of learning, communication and entertainment on the internet.
Without proper digital orientation, the growth in internet access may lead to an increase in unproductive or harmful online activities, particularly among young people. These may include exposure to false information, online fraud, cyberbullying, unsafe relationships, examination malpractice, harmful content and excessive use of social media.
Potential for Continuous Learning
The positive and purposeful use of the internet could be instrumental in promoting continuous learning and improving literacy among the Nigerian population.
A learner is no longer completely limited by the textbooks available in a school library or by what a teacher can cover during classroom lessons. Through the internet, students can access recorded lessons, online courses, academic articles, instructional videos, past examination materials and explanations of difficult concepts.
Update: July 2026
The growth anticipated in the original article has continued. A 2026 NCC planning document reported approximately 144.8 million active internet subscriptions in Nigeria. This is a substantial increase from the approximately 81.9 million GSM internet subscriptions recorded in January 2015.
The argument of this article therefore remains relevant: increasing internet access presents an important opportunity, but access alone is not enough.
Nigeria must also promote digital literacy, provide better technology in schools, make educational content affordable and guide young people towards purposeful internet use.
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