Experts Decry Abusive Use of Digital Technology
… Calla for Equipping of Youths and Adolescents to Maximize Digital Technology Opportunities for Personal and National Development.
Experts have decried abusive use of the digital space by youths and adolescents, and made a strong case for maximisation of opportunities digital technology offers to improve their lots in the society.
This call was made at the opening ceremony of the 4th Nigeria Conference on Adolescent and Youth Health Development held on Thursday, 14th August, 2025 in Port Harcourt organised by Society for Adolescent and Young People’s Health in Nigeria (SAYPHIN).
The Keynote Speaker, Dr. Amina Ahmed El-Imam, the Commissioner of Health, Kwara State, who spoke on the theme of the conference “The Evolving Adolescent and Youth in a Digital Age : Building Resilient Young People in a Changing World” said that “digital addiction can lead to decreased physical activity and poor mental health”.
While acknowledging that “enhanced communication using digital technology fosters social connectivity and opens doors for innovation, she said it has its downsides such as cyber bullying, fraud, misinformation, stress, anxiety, among others”.
To this end, she advocated that youths must build resilience through “digital literacy, responsible use of digital technology, mental strength and emotional intelligence.” She went further to define resilience as “the capacity of anybody to adapt positively to adversity and change”.
While welcoming participants to the event, the President of SAYPHIN, Professor Adesegun Fatusi, a renowned Professor of Community Medicine, who described the conference as the biggest convening of stakeholders in the adolescent and young people’s health and development field in Nigeria, said this year’s conference “focuses on one of the greatest developments, dynamics and dilemmas in the annals of the world and development of young people – digital technology.”
He said, “digital technology has so much potential for good and yet an open door to so many challenges”. Professor Fatusi however added that the conference is designed to see how participants can be “better positioned to harness the amazing opportunities that digital technology presents for a better future for our young people and nation.. as well as equip them with new knowledge, skills and partnerships to address huge challenge that comes from compulsive and abusive use of digital technology by some young people”.
To ensure that the interventions from the conference are pragmatic and implementable, the Chairperson, Local Organising Committee of the Conference, Professor Omosivie Maduka said, “we are organising this conference with the adolescents and youths across Nigeria , not for them. This is to know the challenges they face and solve them collectively.”
The conference was attended by youths and adolescents in Nigeria, academics, policymakers and supported by development partners such as UNICEF, UNFPA, Girl-Effect, among others.
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SAYPHIN