COSPRA: Foundation Rallies Stakeholders To Protect Children Online, Following UNICEF Policy

The Ndukwe Kalu Foundation (NKF) has rallied stakeholders to strengthen Nigeria’s efforts to protect children online and respond when abuse occurs as well as address how Artificial Intelligence (AI) is creating new avenues for grooming, exploitation, cyberbullying and manipulation.

This is in line with UNICEF’s policy and framework on child protection online which focuses on holding digital platforms and governments accountable rather than shifting the burden of safety entirely onto children or relying on ineffective blanket ban.

Executive Secretary of the Foundation,  Erica Okibe said this in her remarks during the Child Online Safety, Protection and Reporting of Abuse (COSPRA) 2026 Summit that brought together stakeholders to brainstorm in Abuja with the theme: “Protecting Every Child in the Artificial Intelligence (AI) Era: Building a Safe and Trusted Digital Future.”

She described NKF as a Special Purpose Vehicle established by the Nigeria Internet Registration Association (NiRA), and stressed that protecting Nigerian children online is a national priority. She also emphasized that AI is changing how children learn and play but also giving predators’ powerful tools, therefore the need to protect the children from such harmful content.

“An innocent photograph can now be turned into an abusive image in seconds. Apps quietly collect children’s data. That is why COSPRA focuses on Safety, Protection, Reporting and Abuse,” she said.

Ms. Okibe commended  Engr. Ndukwe Kalu, pioneer President of NiRA who brought .ng home in 2009, 17 years after his passing, adding that NiRA established the Foundation in 2013 to honour him with a mission to protect children online.

She called on the government to make laws to keep pace with AI, tech firms to build safety by design, schools to teach digital literacy, parents to talk with children, and youths to speak up.

Contributing, the director-general, Bureau of Public Service Reforms (BPSR), Mr. Dasuki I. Arabi, disclosed that AI has created a new, largely unregulated space where even adults are as vulnerable as children.

He noted BPSR has made AI and emerging technologies a central pillar of public service reforms in line with the National E-Government Master Plan.

He warned that despite the huge learning opportunities offered by AI there are great risks that it could lead to exploitation, cyberbullying and privacy violations at high scale and speed, citing US data showing 58 per cent of children aged 12-18 use ChatGPT compared to 30 per cent of parents, with many hiding their use.

“We have become children in the space of AI because it’s a new space. We must proactively come up with policies and regulations to guide our children and ourselves,” he said.

The chairperson, Board of Trustees of the NKF, Mrs. Mary Uduma, said the COSPRA 2026 was convened to unite all internet stakeholders to protect Nigeria’s children even as she urged lawmakers, policymakers, tech businesses and civil society to take shared responsibility for child online safety.

“We do this summit to bring together stakeholders on the internet to discuss how we can keep our children safe online. Our children from the 13 months they started touching the devices, they are using our devices.

“And AI today is so rampant and children can go to any length. But who protects them? Who is interested in what they do?  So that’s why we call the lawmakers, the policy makers, the business people that benefit from our use of the internet, and also the civil society, so that we can take responsibility on how our children can be protected online. Our children can use our devices and also go online in the digital world and still remain safe,” she said

The president of the Nigeria Internet Registration Association (NiRA), and  Chairperson, NiRA Board of Trustees,  Adesola Akinsanya, said child online safety must begin at the infrastructure level, noting that every .ng domain registered is a door to Nigeria’s digital identity.

A student of Government Secondary School, Karu,  Oladele Daniella Omolara, commended the foundation for organizing the COSPRA 2026, adding that the program will make enormous contribution in  helping young students, especially the Gen Z generation, on how to properly use the internet and not be misled.

The summit brought  together government and regulatory institutions, law enforcement agencies, technology companies, schools, parents, civil society organisations and child protection advocates and the focus is on how Artificial Intelligence is changing the way children learn, communicate and interact online.

UNICEF’s 2026 analysis across 10 countries found that at least 20 million children have used AI, with children adopting the technology more than three times faster than adults. These developments make it important for Nigeria to strengthen not only prevention and awareness, but also the systems available to identify, report and respond to online abuse.