LAGOS SAFETY COMMISSION ORGANISES CYBER SAFETY AWARENESS SEMINAR FOR SCHOOLS
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| Mr. Lanre Mojola, Director General, Lagos State Safety Commission (4th from left), and some other resource persons at the event. |
In order to raise awareness of the increasing risks
that young people in particular face, as well as the increasing vulnerability
to the dangers lurking online, the Lagos State Safety Commission today, in
Ikeja, Lagos, organized a seminar for public and private schools, with the
theme, "Building a Strong Cyber Safety Awareness".
According to Mrs. Susan Popoola, Founder, Mosaic
World, Milton Keynes, UK, though the internet offers boundless opportunities to
learn, connect, and grow, many students are however unaware of the risks in the
cyber space, and for this reason, become victims of these threats. She listed
some of the threats to include, Cyberbullying, phishing scams, identity theft,
exposure to inappropriate content, and online predatory.
She
said her organisation was committed to working with schools, teaching and non-teaching
staff, parents, as well as other relevant stakeholders to build a community
where students thrive without fear of falling prey to cyber threats.
Continuing,
she said, “As part of measures to reduce cyber crimes, the Lagos State
Government through the Lagos State Safety Commission will continue to conduct awareness
campaigns and collaborate with relevant MDAs towards integrating digital
literacy into school curricula to educate students, parents, and teachers on
safe online behavior. The development and enforcement of cybersecurity policies
in schools, collaboration with law enforcement agencies to track and prosecute
offenders, and partnerships with telecom providers to monitor and block
malicious activities will also be looked at as they go a long way in nipping
this menace in the bud.
“Furthermore,
the establishment of safe reporting channels, and emergency support systems in
schools are areas of focus to foster
proactive safety practices, while training teachers and IT staff in schools as capacity building.”
The Director General of the Lagos State Safety
Commission, and the Lead organiser of the Seminar, Mr. Lanre Mojola, the event
would help to let children know what to do and what not to do, adding that
seminar was a proactive step towards equipping the school children with the
knowledge and tools to navigate the internet safely.
Dr Bisi Esuruoso, the Lead Resource of safe schools
Lagos, spoke on the practice of protecting systems, networks, and programmes
from digital attacks. He said these cyber-attacks were usually aimed at
accessing, changing, or destroying sensitive information; extorting money from
users through ransom ware; or interrupting normal business processes.
“Cyber safety is the safe and responsible use of
information and communication technology. It is about keeping information safe
and secure, but also about being responsible with that information, being
respectful to other people online, and using good Internet etiquette.
“I am delighted to be leading the safe schools Lagos
project that is for creating safety awareness and compliance in schools. We
have rolled out guidelines in schools and have conducted some audits,
recognised some efforts of schools who were awarded the Beacon of safety (BOS)
status last year,” he said.
He also thanked collaborators, including, Safe School
Alliance, advocating for school safety, NCC, VOA and Regency Insurance as well
as Emergency rescue ably led by Dr Kayode Solomon, and the Parents’ lead, Mrs Olamide
Thompson Odeneye, who he referred to as, “our super Cyber security expert”.
The safe school Lagos was launched by the Lagos state
safety commission in 2022.
Several speakers took turns to speak to the school children on how to avoid Cyber risks. A panel of discussants later spoke on creating a culture of online responsibility.
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