Oghenevwede Ohwovoriole in Abuja
President Bola Tinubu has approved the National Strategy on Public Service Reforms being anchored by the Bureau for Public Service Reforms (BPSR) to drive reforms in public service delivery.
The BPSR Director General, Dasuki Arabi disclosed this at the Child Online Safety Protection and Reporting of Abuse (COSPRA) 2026 summit with the theme, “Protecting Every Child in the AI Era: Building a Safe and Trusted Digital Future.”
The summit was organised in Abuja, Wednesday by the Ndukwe Kalu Foundation (NKF) and the Nigeria Internet Registration Association (NIRA), in collaboration with the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), the National Data Protection Commission (NDPC), and the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), among others.
In his goodwill message, Ariba disclosed that President Bola Tinubu had approved the national strategy on public service reforms which is a pillar around the reforms that the bureau has been driving.
“The National Strategy on Public Service Reforms, which is the pillar around the reforms we’ve been driving, has been approved for renewal by the President.
I will look forward to capturing whatever will come out of this into the new version of the National Strategy on Public Service Reforms.
“Every three years, we revise the public service reform strategy because things are happening, things are changing. Now, what are the things that are changing? One, in the space of technology, within this last one year, we have new policies of government on use of artificial intelligence, blockchain technology, and the public service, which were not captured in the old strategy.
“The diversity represented in this room is a reminder that the safety of children in the digital environment cannot be secured by a single institution or sector or parents. For today’s child, the digital world is no longer a separate space that can simply be entered or exited. It is part of everyday life.
“It challenges us to think differently about regulation, public service delivery, institutional coordination, data governance, accountability, and citizens protection.
“A trusted digital environment is therefore not created simply by having more technology or more innovation. It is created when citizens know that their institutions are capable of protecting them, responding when harm occurs, and adapting when circumstances change,” he said
In his address, the President, NiRA and Chairperson, NiRA Board of Trustees, Mr. Adesola Akinsanya said, “We do this summit to bring together stakeholders in the Internet to discuss how we can keep our children safe online. Our children, from the 13 months start touching devices, they use our devices, and AI today is so rampant and children can go to any length, but who protects them?
“So that’s why we call the lawmakers, the policymakers, the business people that benefit from our use of the Internet, and also the civil society so that we can take responsibility on how our children can be protected online.”
In her welcome address, the Executive Secretary, Ndukwe Kalu Foundation (NKF), Ms. Erica Okibe said: “They’re always online. They’re making friends and they’re chatting there. So we need, as adults and parents, to look out for the younger ones.
“That is why at the COSPRA Summit, we ensure that we invite key stakeholder groups, key stakeholders who can have these discussions and educate us more, as much as what we are doing, and try to push for policies that can work in Nigeria regarding our children’s safety.”
A student of Government Secondary School, Karu, Oladele Daniella Omolara who was at the summit said, “The summit is a very good one, and I really appreciate the COSPRA for organising this to help young students, and as we normally call it, ‘GenZ’, on how to properly use the internet and not be misled.”
She called on the government to increase the awareness campaign on the safe use of the internet saying,