The Akin Fadeyi Foundation has educated 100 students from 10 secondary schools in Lagos on the dangers of cyberbullying, sextortion and other forms of digital abuse.
Gatekeepers News reports that the sensitisation programme was held in Lagos on Thursday in partnership with the Oil Producers Trade Section (OPTS) under an initiative tagged “Be Safe”.
According to the organisers, the initiative aims to address digital abuse, including online harassment, sexual exploitation and other social vices affecting secondary school students.
Speaking at the event, Akin Fadeyi, founder and executive director of the foundation, said the increasing use of digital technology had exposed young people to emerging dangers such as cyberbullying, online harassment, sexual exploitation and the spread of misinformation.
He explained that the initiative was part of the foundation’s commitment to promoting behavioural change and national reorientation by encouraging Nigerians, particularly young people, to take responsibility for their actions rather than attributing the country’s challenges solely to political leaders.
Fadeyi said the programme was designed to equip students with practical knowledge to identify online threats, make informed decisions and seek assistance when exposed to digital abuse.
“Nigerians can wake up today and abuse President Tinubu, but they never ask themselves what they do wrong,” he said.
“What keeps informing us is the need to drive behavioural change from the bottom up. Don’t concentrate on the top alone. Look at what our citizens do in the darkest of corners.”
He observed that social relationships had become increasingly disconnected, with many Nigerians more interested in creating digital content than intervening when people around them needed help.
“In those days, your neighbour could call you to order when you did something wrong, and you would listen,” Fadeyi said.
“But these days, nobody listens to anybody anymore because the world has gone into a silo. It used to be communal, but now it is isolationist.”
The foundation’s executive director also urged parents to reinforce their instructions to children through personal examples, stressing that young people were more likely to adopt values demonstrated by their parents than those merely communicated verbally.
“When you give birth to children, the values you want them to imbibe should not end with what you tell them. You must practise those values,” he said.
Reflecting on his upbringing, Fadeyi said the emphasis his parents placed on hard work, diligence and friendship helped shape his personal and professional development.
“I had my hardships while going to school. My mother was a teacher, but by the time I got to A-levels, I had already published a campus magazine.
“What galvanised my competence to achieve that was the quality of teaching I received from my parents, particularly their emphasis on hard work, diligence and friendship.”
He further called on public officeholders to recognise the influence of their conduct on society, noting that their leadership decisions and personal examples could either encourage responsible behaviour or promote wrongdoing.
Also speaking, Toyin Taiwo-Ojo, a child safety advocate and lawyer, said children were increasingly vulnerable to online dangers because digital devices had become an integral part of their everyday lives.
She expressed concern over the growing circulation of unverified information, online bullying and the non-consensual distribution of intimate images for blackmail and harassment, warning that such practices were making the digital environment increasingly unsafe.
The human rights activist advised young people facing threats such as sextortion not to surrender to blackmail or intimidation.
She warned that cyberbullying and online harassment could have devastating consequences for victims, noting that sustained online abuse had contributed to some deaths.
The programme featured interactive sessions on digital safety, responsible online behaviour, personal information protection, identifying online manipulation and abuse, and available reporting mechanisms.
Some of the participating schools included Community Senior High School, Alapere; Kosofe Senior College; Ojota Senior Secondary School; Immaculate Heart Comprehensive Senior High School; Comprehensive Senior High School, Alapere; and Menide Senior High School.
