First Lady Makes Clarion Call Towards Online Youth Safety

The First Lady, Federal Republic of Nigeria, Dame (Dr.) Patience Goodluck 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 this charge today, Tuesday September 3, 2013, 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. Dame Patience 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, Dame Patience 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, Mrs. Titi Akinsanmi, Google West Africa, Policy and Government Relations Manager, in enlightening youths about online protection. Mrs. 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 she said.
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, Miss Somto Sharon Fab-Uzokor, at the end of the Summit. The event which was attended by youths from across the nation was also attended by Mrs. Helen David Mark, Wife of the Senate President; the Ministers of Women Affairs, Hajia Zainab Maina and Education, Prof. Raquayyatu Rufai and the DG NYSC, Brig-Gen Nnamdi Okore-Affia.
Also at the Summit were representatives of ICT service providers including, Microsoft, Oracle, Google, New Horizons, Nigeria Internet Registration Association (NIRA), Cisco and Systems Application and Process (SAP).