By Ameh Gabriel
The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has taken its consumer education drive to the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) orientation camp, sensitising corps members on smart data management and their rights as telecom subscribers.
The campaign, held on Wednesday, August 7, 2025, was led by the Director of the Consumer Affairs Bureau, Mrs. Freda Ruth Bruce-Bennett, on behalf of the Executive Vice Chairman (EVC) of the Commission, Dr. Aminu Maida.
In his message, Dr. Maida explained that the exercise formed part of NCC’s strategic outreach programme themed “Consumer Sensitisation on Data Depletion: The Role of National Youth Service Corps Members.”
He noted that complaints about data depletion remain one of the top concerns raised by telecom subscribers, especially with the sharp rise in internet subscriptions—from 105 million in 2018 to 142 million as of January 2025.
According to him, the surge has been largely driven by social media use, streaming services, online content consumption, and the expansion of broadband networks nationwide.
To address these issues, he said the Commission has conducted studies, introduced data transparency measures, enforced fair usage rules, and intensified consumer education.
The EVC also outlined common factors responsible for rapid data consumption—including video streaming, social media activity, background app updates, GPS services, and hotspot sharing. He urged corps members to adopt smart practices such as:
Regularly monitoring data usage,
Using Wi-Fi where available,
Disabling automatic updates,
Restricting background data,
Activating data-saving modes, and
Downloading content for offline access.
Dr. Maida encouraged the corps members to become “Consumer Champions” by spreading awareness of telecom consumer rights, sharing NCC’s initiatives within their communities, and providing feedback to the Commission.
“Your voices matter. Your experiences shape policy. Your participation drives progress,” he said, reaffirming NCC’s commitment to building a fair, competitive, and consumer-friendly telecom environment.
He also urged corps members to make use of NCC’s complaint platforms and social media channels to report service challenges, assuring that the Commission will continue to strengthen transparency, trust, and quality in Nigeria’s telecom sector.
