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By Sadiya Ahmed Musa
The Centre for Information Technology and Development (CITAD), with support from the Association for Progressive Communications (APC), has introduced 70 students of the College of Health Sciences and Technology, Hadejia, Jigawa State, to DComms, a decentralised social media platform designed to offer users greater control over their data and online interactions.
The introduction was made during a one-day sensitisation workshop held on Thursday to familiarise students with the features and benefits of the platform, which CITAD developed as an alternative to conventional social media networks.
Speaking at the workshop, the project lead, Buhari Abba, said DComms was created in response to growing concerns over data exploitation, privacy breaches and the concentration of control in the hands of major technology companies.
He said the workshop aimed to introduce students to the platform and encourage them to adopt digital platforms that prioritise users’ privacy, transparency and community governance.
“Social media is something you don’t necessarily go to school to learn; much of it you learn as you go. Unfortunately, many people fall victim to harassment and blackmail because they are unaware of how these platforms operate,” Mr Abba said.
He urged participants to make informed decisions about the platforms they use and to consider alternatives such as DComms and the Fediverse, which, according to him, offer users greater control, enhanced privacy and a safer online experience.
In a presentation titled Big Tech vs the Fediverse, a member of CITAD’s Technical and Innovation Department, Yusuf Babagana, examined the dominance of major technology companies, including Facebook, X and Instagram, in the digital ecosystem.
He said decentralised platforms such as DComms enable users to retain greater ownership of their data, provide stronger privacy protections, reduce algorithm-driven manipulation and support community-based content moderation.
Another member of the department, Nazeem Musa Haruna, demonstrated CITAD’s server on the Fediverse, guiding participants through the process of creating DComms accounts and using the platform’s features.
The Principal of the College, Bala Usman Funtua, commended CITAD and APC for organising the sensitisation programme and encouraged the students to make use of DComms as a platform that promotes safer and more responsible online engagement.
He expressed optimism that the partnership between the institution and CITAD would continue and urged the students to embrace digital platforms that place users’ rights, privacy and online safety at the centre of their design.
