Google.org Gives $600,000 for Nigeria's First Nationwide Study of Teen Internet Use, Brings Meet LEO Child Safety Programme to Africa

Google.org, the philanthropic arm of Google, is providing $600,000 (about ?810.52 million) to the TechSocietal Development Foundation to run Nigeria's first nationwide study of how teenagers use the internet. The company announced on November 4 that it is also bringing its Meet LEO child safety programme to Africa for the first time, with Nigeria as the pilot.

The funding comprises $550,000 (about ?742.97 million) in cash and $50,000 (about ?67.54 million) in Google Ad Grants. TechSocietal will survey 2,000 adolescents across the six geopolitical zones, deliver its Safety First curriculum to 5,000 teachers and school administrators, and train 200 community champions to reach up to 10,000 parents and caregivers.

The announcement follows public consultations led by the Federal Ministry of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy and the Nigeria Data Protection Commission (NDPC), which found that 93.5 per cent of Nigerians are worried about the harms children face online. Tope Ogundipe, executive director of TechSocietal, described the study as a baseline for the country and said the foundation will equip 15,000 teachers and caregivers to guide young people safely.

Meet LEO, short for Learn and Explore Online, will be delivered by Tech Hive Advisory in four states, in the programme's first pilot in Sub-Saharan Africa. Tech Hive will train 500 educators and youth leaders to set digital ground rules using tools such as Google Family Link, SafeSearch and YouTube Supervised Experiences. They are then expected to pass the training on to 2,500 more students and community members. Ridwan Oloyede, lead partner at Tech Hive Advisory, said the pilot puts "usable safety tools directly in the hands of 500 frontline educators and youth leaders," creating a multiplier effect.

Olumide Balogun, country director of Google Nigeria, framed the initiatives as protection without isolation. "Protecting our children must never mean disconnecting them from their future," he said.

NDPC National Commissioner Dr Vincent Olatunji described Google's support as a significant and commendable step forward, saying that protecting children online requires collaboration among government, technology platforms, educators and families.

The latest commitments build on more than $3.5 million (about ?4.73 billion) that Google.org has provided for online safety across Sub-Saharan Africa since 2020. According to the company, that support has reached 2.3 million Nigerians through 10 local organisations and trained over 43,000 young people with Junior Achievement Africa.