LAGOS SAFETY COMMISSION ORGANISES CYBER SAFETY AWARENESS SEMINAR FOR SCHOOLS

LAGOS SAFETY COMMISSION ORGANISES CYBER SAFETY AWARENESS SEMINAR FOR SCHOOLS

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, t he 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.