The proposed expansion of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Digital Experience Centres across beneficiary institutions of Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund) will mark a significant shift in the manner Nigerian tertiary institutions confront persistent digital-access challenges.

For Professor Aderemi Obilana, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Prakis Educational Services, the intervention goes beyond the provision of computers and internet connectivity; it addresses some of the structural barriers that have limited students, researchers and academics in the digital age.

Obilana, who is also a visiting Professor to the University Institute of Applied and Human Sciences, Republic of Chad, and an independent contractor at the University of South Africa, described the initiative as a “game-changing intervention for higher education” and commended the Executive Secretary of TETFund, Arc. Sonny Echono, for the initiative.

His assessment is particularly significant because the higher education system is increasingly dependent on digital resources for teaching, research, publishing and professional development. Yet, access to these resources remains uneven, with many students and academics contending with expensive data, unreliable electricity and inadequate access to modern computing facilities.

It is against this background that ICT Digital Experience Centres, being rolled out by TETFund across tertiary institutions in partnership with the Renewed Hope Initiative of the First Lady, Senator Remi Tinubu, assumes wider importance.

The Centres have moved beyond the initial pilot phase, with centres already commissioned in Ekiti, Cross River, Anambra and Kwara states, to provide students and academics with access to modern computers, high-speed internet, reliable electricity and other digital resources.

The original pilot programme covered six institutions across the six geopolitical zones – Ekiti State University, University of Cross River State, Federal Polytechnic, Oko, Anambra State; Kaduna State University, Kwara State University and Taraba State University. Meanwhile, centres in Ekiti, Cross River and Kwara states have been commissioned, and the remaining pilot centres in Kaduna and Taraba states are at various stages of rollout.

The expansion has currently extended to 15 additional states – Adamawa, Bayelsa, Borno, Delta, Edo, Enugu, Imo, Katsina, Nasarawa, Niger, Ondo, Osun, Rivers, Yobe and Zamfara. TETFund has indicated that the long-term objective is to extend the ICT Digital Experience Centres to over 270 beneficiary tertiary institutions nationwide, potentially creating a broad digital infrastructure network for teaching, research, skills development and academic collaboration.

According to Obilana, the centres have the potential to address digital divide between students who can afford personal computers, expensive data subscriptions and reliable electricity and those who cannot. His argument is that providing free hardware, round-the-clock internet access and dependable power at institutions will remove several financial barriers that currently prevent many students from fully participating in digital learning.

One of the benefits is the democratisation of digital access. Obilana believes that with access to computers and high-speed internet, students from less privileged backgrounds would be able to carry out assignments, participate in online courses, undertake professional certifications and access international academic resources. This could also change the character of learning beyond the conventional classroom as students will no longer depend solely on lecture notes or available textbooks on campuses.

For postgraduate students and researchers, Obilana sees an even more profound benefit. He pointed to the growing dependence of contemporary research on computational tools, electronic journals, research databases and reference-management platforms. He is optimistic that access to resources such as Scopus, Web of Science and Jornal Storage (JSTOR), an online library, is critical to literature reviews, data gathering and academic publishing.

Also, uninterrupted internet and electricity supply will reduce some of the challenges confronting researchers.

This has implications for research output as academic publishing increasingly requires researchers to navigate global databases, analyse large volumes of information, use specialised software and collaborate virtually with scholars in other countries.

Obilana also highlighted the employability dimension of the intervention. In his assessment, the centres should not be viewed merely as places for students to browse the internet or type assignments.

He said that modern workstations can expose students to software development, data analysis, graphic design, coding and geographical information systems. Such exposure, he argued, could strengthen graduates’ competitiveness in an economy where employers increasingly demand technology-related competencies while the skills could open pathways to remote employment and global opportunities for graduates.

While applauding the intervention, Obilana cautioned that infrastructure alone will not guarantee success. The sustainability of the centres, he said, will depend largely on how institutions manage them after installation.

“Maintenance and security are among the immediate concerns. Computers require regular repairs, software updates and replacement of faulty components. Institutions must also protect the facilities from vandalism, theft and misuse if the investment is to deliver its intended benefits over many years.

“Power and bandwidth management are equally crucial. A centre may have hundreds of computers and high-speed internet but if connectivity slows dramatically during peak periods or power supply becomes unstable, the facilities could quickly lose their usefulness,” he said.

Obilana, therefore, stressed the need for reliable power solutions, including hybrid or solar systems and sufficient bandwidth to cope with demand.

He also called for digital literacy programmes to accompany the infrastructure. Students and lecturers need to understand how to exploit the centres for advanced academic work rather than simply using them for basic browsing.

For him, the opportunity is clear. The challenge is ensuring that the infrastructure remains functional, accessible and relevant long after the centres are commissioned.