The First Lady, Federal Republic of Nigeria, Dame Patience Jonathan, has urged Nigerian youths to be part of the solution in helping to address online youth safety and cautioned them that they should not be part of the problem.
The First Lady gave the charge on Tuesday during her address at the first National Youth Online Protection Summit, with the theme: “The Internet: Emerging Threats and Solutions for the Youth,” which held at the State House, Abuja.
Jonathan also advised the youths to ensure that their safety should be their priority at all times while using the internet.
The First Lady described the internet as one of the greatest inventions of the 21st century, which is a goldmine for information, resources and entertainment.
This, she said, has resulted in today’s youths depending on the internet to help with many aspects of their day-to-day activities.
In highlighting other advantages of the internet, Jonathan noted that the internet has greatly simplified communications worldwide as information published on the web attracted an instant global audience, reaching millions of people in more than 190 countries.
The First Lady also unveiled the Child Online Protection Champion website: at http://www.childonlineprotectionchampion.org/
Guest speaker on the occasion, Titi Akinsanmi, Google West Africa, Policy and Government Relations Manager, enlightened youths about online protection.
Akinsanmi advised youths to change the password of their email accounts periodically, that is at least every three months; restrict the amount of information posted online; and when transacting any activity electronically, users should ensure that they are on the authentic websites of the organization.
During the interactive forum, youths shared their online experiences and posed questions to a panel of experts, while 100 youths won ICT training scholarships.
A communiqué by the youths was formally presented to the First Lady by a youth representative, Somto Sharon Fab-Uzokor, at the end of the Summit.
The event, which was attended by youths from across the nation, was also graced by Helen David Mark, the wife of the Senate President, the Ministers of Women Affairs, Hajia Zainab Maina, and Education, Prof. Raquayyatu Rufai, and the Director General of the National Youth Service Corps, Brigadier General Nnamdi Okore-Affia.
Also at the Summit were representatives of ICT service providers, including Microsoft, Oracle, Google, New Horizons, Nigeria Internet Registration Association, Cisco and Systems Application and Process.
NATIONAL YOUTH ONLINE PROTECTION SUMMIT TUESDAY, 3RD SEPTEMBER, 2013
COMMUNIQUÉ
In line with the mandate of Her Excellency, the First Lady of the Federal Republic of Nigeria as ITU Child Online Protection Champion, following her appointment as the Child Online Protection Champion by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) and the International Multilateral Partnership Against Cyber Threats (IMPACT), the 1st National Youth Online Protection Summit was organized by the Office of the First Lady in partnership with relevant Public and Private Youth and ICT organizations. The Summit held in Abuja, Nigeria, on Tuesday, 3rd August, 2013 with the theme “The Internet: Emerging Threats, Solutions for the Youth” and it underscores the importance of the internet as a ubiquitous modern day tool as well as its increasing vulnerabilities.
2. The Summit is the beginning of a national campaign initiated by the First Lady to inculcate a culture of safety for children and youths while they are online as well as to mobilize schools, teachers, parents, other stakeholders and the government to intensify efforts directed towards ensuring the protection of children and youths online. It forms part of activities leading to the Global Youth Summit: BYND 2015 in San Jose, Costa Rica, which will provide a platform for young people all over the world to seek to contribute to the United Nations and Civil Society engagement processes (often referred to as Beyond -2015), which will prioritize ICT inclusion as a central pillar of a post- 2015 development agenda to ensure a safe online environment for children and youths.
3. The primary objective of the National Youth Online Protection Summit was therefore to provide a platform for young people from across Nigeria, within the age bracket of 12 -25 years, to highlight and discuss emerging threats in the use of the internet, proffer solutions that will promote safety on the information super highway, which ultimately enhances confidence, security in the use of ICTs and ensure that children and Youths stay safe while utilizing online resources. It also provided a unique opportunity for them to be aware of policies and efforts on child online protection in Nigeria and around the world, being put in place to help protect the whole internet community from online threats.
4. In addition, the Summit also had components expected to impact safety skills which will help tackle the growing problem of cyber crimes and online threats and give the toolkit to enable safety of children and youths online. Participants received online protection training provided by Google Nigeria, while 100 lucky participants were offered scholarships for ICT training from New Horizons. All participants also received the Online Protection Guide Book.
5. The outcome of the Summit will feed into the forthcoming Global Youth Summit in San Jose, Costa Rica.
RECOMMENDATIONS
16. The Summit recommends the following measures to address online threats, thereby creating a safe online environment for the children and youths:
i. There is need to raise awareness on Child Online safety issues.
ii. A committee should be set up by the government in all communities to help young people report threats they face online.
iii. All levels of governance in Nigeria – Federal, State and Local Government, including the Legislature, supported by Corporate Organisations, particularly the ICT sector, should provide assistance in addressing the issue of online threats.
iv. Parents, guardians, teachers should also intensify efforts to monitor social media activities of children, wards or students on facebook, twitter, flicker, 2go, badoo, to mention a few.
v. There should be coordination among all relevant agencies related to ensuring a safe online environment for children and youth
vi. A Protection Software be made available and accessible in form of a content watch and parent control software should be developed by software developers, to be installed on computers for the purpose of assisting parents in protecting their children from harmful online contents.
vii. Security agencies in Nigeria should come up with counter cyber security measures that will protect children and youths against all forms of Cyber threats.
viii. Multilateral and international partnerships across institutions, countries, government agencies and organizations with a view to forging a common front to confront online threats. The National Assembly, State and Local Governments, International and National ICT companies and internet providers, Government agencies should rally round the First Lady of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and ITU Child Online Protection Champion on efforts to bring a safe online environment and ensure that she leaves a lasting and unique legacy on the sands of time.
ix. Faith and Youth-based organizations should be encouraged to fight cyber crime
x. Include cyber safety and protection as part of curriculum for primary, secondary and tertiary institutions.
17. The participants commended the First Lady, Federal Republic of Nigeria and Child Online Protection Champion, Her Excellency, Dame (Dr.) Patience Goodluck Jonathan for initiating the 1st National Youth Online Protection Summit and the supporting organizations for their efforts.
18. The participants requested the First Lady, Federal Republic of Nigeria and Child Online Protection Champion, Her Excellency Dame (Dr.) Patience Goodluck Jonathan to cause the Communiqué of the 1st National Youth Online Protection Summit to be transmitted to the Global Youth Summit: BYND 2015 in San Jose, Costa Rica from September 8-11, 2013.
19. The participants thanked the First Lady, Federal Republic of Nigeria and Child Online Protection Champion, Her Excellency Dame (Dr.) Patience Goodluck Jonathan for the opportunity to be part of the Summit and benefiting from the interaction with their colleagues from all over Nigeria.
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