Funmi Ogundare
The Akin Fadeyi Foundation, in partnership with the Oil Producers Trade Section (OPTS), yesterday launched ‘Be Safe’, a youth-focused behavioural change initiative aimed at tackling cyberbullying, sexual exploitation, digital abuse and other social vices among secondary school students.
The founder and executive director of Akin Fadeyi Foundation, Akin Fadeyi, said the BeSafe project was designed to equip young Nigerians with the knowledge and values needed to use digital devices responsibly, protect themselves against online threats and understand the legal remedies available to victims of digital abuse.
Speaking with journalists at the launch of the initiative and sensitisation workshop for secondary students, in Lagos, he noted the initiative was part of the foundation’s broader commitment to promoting behavioural change and national reorientation by encouraging Nigerians to take responsibility for their actions rather than blaming political leaders for the country’s challenges.
He explained the partnership with OPTS would enable the foundation to extend its behavioural change campaign to secondary school students, adding that the decision to focus on young people was informed by the growing influence of digital technology on their behaviour and social interactions.
According to him, the foundation believes that meaningful national transformation must begin with individuals and that efforts to address bad governance should also examine the conduct and values of citizens.
“Nigerians can wake up today and abuse President Tinubu, but they never ask themselves what they do wrong. What keeps informing us is the need to drive behavioural change from the bottom up. Don’t concentrate on the top alone. Look at what our citizens do in the darkest of corners,” he stated.
The executive director noted that the growing individualistic nature of society, coupled with the widespread use of digital devices, had weakened communal values and contributed to the rising incidence of online misconduct.
He observed that people were increasingly becoming disconnected from their immediate communities, with many more interested in creating digital content than helping others in distress.
“In those days, your neighbour could call you to order when you did something wrong, and you would listen. But these days, nobody listens to anybody anymore because the world has gone into a silo. It used to be communal, but now it is isolationist,” he stressed.
The founder expressed concern that some Nigerians now resorted to recording emergencies instead of helping victims, while others used social media platforms to spread unverified allegations, sexually exploit others and engage in cyberbullying.
Fadeyi said the foundation’s decision to focus on the digital space was also informed by the growing number of Nigerians using internet-enabled devices, warning that failure to promote responsible digital behaviour could worsen the country’s social challenges.
He stated: “the BeSafe project would educate young people on the consequences of their online activities, particularly the dangers of sharing intimate images, threatening others, spreading false information and engaging in digital extortion.”
He explained the initiative would also empower students to speak out and seek help when threatened or blackmailed online, particularly in cases involving the threat to release their intimate pictures.