Terms of Service

1. Introduction and Agreement to These Terms

Welcome to Skillnaija. These Terms of Service (the "Terms") are the rules for using Skillnaija, our free Nigerian reskilling and education platform available at https://skillnaija.org and through our Progressive Web App (together, the "Service").

Skillnaija is operated from Nigeria by Skill Naija LTD [RC number], whose contact address for these Terms is [registered office address] ("Skill Naija LTD", "Skillnaija", "we", "us" or "our"). Throughout these Terms, "you" and "your" mean the person using the Service.

By creating an account, accessing or using the Service in any way, you confirm that you have read, understood and agree to be legally bound by these Terms and by our Privacy Policy, which is part of these Terms. If you do not agree, please do not use the Service. Your continued use of the Service means you continue to accept these Terms, including any updates we make to them as described in Section 23.

Please read these Terms carefully. They contain important information about your rights and responsibilities, important safety disclaimers (especially for trade and safety-critical courses), and limits on our liability.

2. Definitions

In these Terms:

• "Account" means the account you register to access the Service.
• "Certificate" means a Skillnaija credential issued when you complete a course and pass its project.
• "Content" means all material made available through the Service, including courses, lessons, text, illustrations, SVG artwork, designs, software and trademarks, other than User Content.
• "User Content" has the meaning given in Section 6.
• "Employer" or "Partner" means an organisation (or a person acting for one) that posts jobs, contributes materials, or enquires about partnership.
• "Mentor" and "Apprentice" mean individuals who take part in our mentor or apprenticeship connections.
• "Personal Data", "processing", "data subject", "data controller" and "data processor" have the meanings given in the Nigeria Data Protection Act 2023 (NDPA).
• "NDPC" means the Nigeria Data Protection Commission, our data-protection regulator.
• "Privacy Policy" means our privacy policy, available on the Service, as updated from time to time.

3. Eligibility, Legal Capacity and Age

To use the Service, you must be able to form a legally binding agreement with us under Nigerian law.

• Adults (18 and over): You must be at least 18 years old to open and hold a Skillnaija account on your own.
• Young people (13 to 17): If you are between 13 and 17 years old, you may use the Service only with the verifiable consent, knowledge and ongoing supervision of your parent or legal guardian, who agrees to be bound by these Terms on your behalf and to be responsible for your use of the Service.
• Children under 13: The Service is not directed to children under 13, and they may not use it or hold an account. If we learn that we have collected personal data from a child under 13 without the required consent, we will delete it.

By using the Service, you represent that you meet these age requirements and that all information you give us about your age and identity is true. If you are accepting these Terms on behalf of an organisation (for example as an employer or partner), you represent that you are authorised to bind that organisation, and "you" then also means that organisation.

4. Your Account

To access most learning features, you need to create an account using your email address and a password. Account creation and sign-in are handled through our authentication provider; your password is hashed and we never see it.

Accurate information

You agree to provide accurate, current and complete information when you register and to keep it up to date. This includes profile details such as your city/location, learning goal and language preference, and any mentor, employer or partner details you choose to provide.

One account

You should keep one account for yourself and not create multiple accounts, or accounts in someone else's name without authority, or accounts using false information.

Security and responsibility

You are responsible for keeping your login details confidential and for all activity that happens under your account. Do not share your password or let others use your account. Tell us promptly at hello@skillnaija.org if you suspect any unauthorised use of your account or any security breach. We use reasonable technical and organisational measures to protect the Service, but no online service can be guaranteed to be completely secure.

Our right to suspend

We may suspend, restrict or close your account if we reasonably believe you have broken these Terms, if your use creates risk or legal exposure for us or others, or as otherwise described in Section 22.

5. Licence to Use the Service and What We Provide

Subject to your compliance with these Terms, we grant you a limited, revocable, non-exclusive, non-transferable and non-sublicensable licence to access and use the Service for your own personal, non-commercial learning and skills development.

Through the Service we aim to provide structured courses, lessons and illustrations, hands-on projects with grading and feedback, merit-based certificates, a "skill compass" self-assessment, a jobs board, and connections to employers, mentors, apprenticeships and partners. The exact features available may change, and not every feature is available to every user.

This licence does not give you any ownership of the Service or its content. Any rights not expressly granted to you are reserved by us and our licensors.

6. Acceptable Use and Prohibited Conduct

You agree to use the Service lawfully, honestly and respectfully. In particular, you must not:

• use the Service for any unlawful purpose or in breach of any applicable Nigerian or other law or regulation;
• harass, bully, threaten, defame, or abuse any person, or post hateful, discriminatory, violent or sexually exploitative content;
• scrape, crawl, harvest, or use bots or any automated means to extract data or content from the Service, except as we expressly permit;
• upload or transmit viruses, malware or any harmful code, or attempt to probe, scan, circumvent, disable or breach the security or authentication of the Service;
• impersonate any person or organisation, or misrepresent your identity, affiliation, qualifications or experience;
• post, submit or contribute content that is infringing, stolen, plagiarised, counterfeit, or that you do not have the right to share;
• collect, store or process other users' personal data except as permitted by these Terms and applicable data-protection law;
• send spam, chain messages, unsolicited advertising, or fraudulent or deceptive communications through the Service;
• interfere with, overload, or disrupt the Service, our servers or networks, or the experience of other users;
• reverse engineer, decompile or attempt to extract source code from the Service, except to the extent this restriction is prohibited by law;
• use the Service to commit fraud, including any attempt to obtain a certificate dishonestly, or to facilitate any scam.

We may investigate and take appropriate action against anyone who, in our reasonable judgement, breaches this Section, including removing content, suspending or closing accounts, and reporting to the relevant authorities.

7. User Content and Contributions

"User Content" means anything you submit, upload, post or contribute through the Service, including project submissions, profile information, messages, mentor/apprentice and employer details, job listings, partner enquiries, and any learning resources or course materials you contribute to our resource library or courses.

You keep ownership; you grant us a licence

You keep ownership of your User Content. By submitting it, you grant Skillnaija a worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty-free, sublicensable licence to host, store, copy, display, adapt, publish and use that content for the purposes of operating, providing, improving and promoting the Service (for example, grading a project, displaying a job listing to learners, or making a contributed resource available in the library). For contributions you choose to make to the resource library or courses, this licence allows us to incorporate, edit and distribute that material as part of the Service. This licence continues for any User Content that, by its nature, remains part of the Service after your account closes (for example, a resource you contributed to the library), but otherwise ends when we delete the relevant User Content in the normal course of operating the Service.

Your promises about your content

You represent and warrant that you own or have all necessary rights to your User Content, that it is accurate and not misleading, and that it does not infringe anyone's intellectual property, privacy or other rights, break any law, or breach Section 6.

Feedback

If you send us ideas, suggestions or feedback about the Service, you agree we may use them freely, without restriction or any obligation to you.

Moderation

We are not obliged to monitor User Content, but we may review, moderate, edit, refuse or remove any User Content at our discretion, including content we believe breaches these Terms or could harm users or Skillnaija. We are not responsible for User Content created by others.

8. Project Submissions, Grading and Academic Integrity

Many courses include a project you must submit to earn a certificate. A project submission is typically a URL or free text that you submit to be graded, and it may contain whatever information you choose to include, so do not include sensitive personal information you do not want processed.

How grading works

Project submissions are assessed by an AI model (Google Gemini). For safety-critical courses, and other projects flagged for review, a human additionally reviews the submission before any certificate is issued. Certificates are only issued on a passing grade.

Academic integrity

You are responsible for what you submit and you must submit your own genuine work. You must not plagiarise, cheat, collude dishonestly, submit work that is not yours, or otherwise attempt to obtain a certificate fraudulently or by deceiving the grading system.

If we reasonably believe a submission breaches academic integrity, we may decline to grade it, withhold a certificate, or revoke a certificate already issued, and we may suspend or close your account.

9. Certificates

A Skillnaija certificate recognises that you completed a specific Skillnaija course and passed its project. Certificates are issued by our server only on a passing grade.

Please understand clearly what a certificate is not:

• It is not a government-accredited qualification, academic degree, professional licence or other formally recognised credential.
• It is not a guarantee, promise or offer of employment, income, or any particular outcome.
• It does not by itself entitle you to practise any regulated trade or profession.

We may withhold or revoke a certificate where it was obtained in breach of these Terms, including the academic-integrity rules in Section 8.

10. Intellectual Property

The Service and everything in it that is not your User Content — including the platform, software, course content, lessons, text, illustrations and SVG artwork, designs, logos, and the "Skillnaija" name and trademarks — is owned by or licensed to Skillnaija and is protected by intellectual property laws.

We grant you only a limited, personal, non-commercial licence to access and use this content for your own learning. You may not copy, reproduce, modify, distribute, publicly display, resell, sublicense, republish or otherwise exploit any part of the Service or its content for commercial purposes, or remove any proprietary notices, without our prior written permission.

Reporting infringement

If you believe content on the Service infringes your intellectual property rights, contact us at hello@skillnaija.org with enough detail to identify the work and the allegedly infringing content, a way to contact you, and a statement that your complaint is made in good faith. We will investigate and may remove or disable access to the content. If your content was removed and you believe this was a mistake, you may contact us to explain why.

11. Jobs Board and Opportunities

The jobs board displays roles posted by third-party employers. We carry out a review of listings, but we cannot and do not guarantee that any listing, employer, salary, or opportunity is genuine, accurate, current, lawful or available.

Skillnaija is not the employer and is not a recruitment agency. We are not a party to, and take no responsibility for, any application, hiring decision, employment relationship or dealings between you and an employer. An employer only receives your application when you choose to apply.

Scam warning: You should never pay any money to get a job, and you should be cautious of any employer who asks you to pay fees, share financial details, or send money. Apply at your own risk, verify employers independently, and report anything suspicious to us at hello@skillnaija.org.

12. Employers and Partners

If you use the Service as an employer or as a partner organisation (for example an employer posting jobs, or an organisation contributing materials or enquiring about partnership), the following additional obligations apply to you.

• You must ensure that every listing, posting, organisation detail and contribution you submit is accurate, lawful, genuine and not misleading.
• You must not post discriminatory, fraudulent, exploitative, or unlawful job listings or content, and you must comply with all applicable employment, labour, data-protection and other laws.
• You must have the right and authority to post on behalf of your organisation and to grant the licence in Section 7 for anything you contribute.
• Where you receive personal data of learners (for example a job application), you act as an independent data controller for that data and must process it lawfully under the NDPA and any other applicable law, only for the purpose for which it was shared.
• You agree to indemnify Skillnaija as set out in Section 21 for any claims arising from your listings, postings or contributions, or your dealings with learners.

We may review, edit, refuse or remove any employer or partner content, and suspend or close any employer or partner account, at our discretion.

13. Mentors and Apprenticeship

Skillnaija supports mentor and apprenticeship connections. If you take part as a mentor or apprentice, you agree to behave professionally, honestly and respectfully, to provide accurate information about your identity, experience and the courses you mentor, and to follow good safeguarding practices — especially where any young person (13–17) may be involved.

Mentors are not employees, agents, partners or representatives of Skillnaija, and we do not employ, supervise, endorse, vet for fitness, or guarantee any mentor or apprentice. Any mentoring relationship is between the individuals involved, who are responsible for their own conduct and for complying with all applicable laws. Skillnaija is not responsible for the acts or omissions of mentors or apprentices.

14. AI Features

The Service uses artificial intelligence, including Google's Gemini model, to assess project submissions and to draft certain communications. AI outputs — including grades, scores, feedback and drafts — are generated automatically and may contain errors, omissions or inaccuracies.

AI outputs are not professional advice and should not be relied on as such. No decision that produces a legal or similarly significant effect on you (such as issuing a certificate for a safety-critical course) is made solely by automated means without human involvement; safety-critical and flagged projects are reviewed by a human before a certificate is issued. You have the rights in respect of automated processing set out in our Privacy Policy, including the right to request human review of a decision and to contest it.

15. No Professional Advice and Safety-Critical Disclaimer

All course content and materials on the Service are provided for general education and information only. They are not professional, legal, financial, medical, engineering or other expert advice, and you should not rely on them as a substitute for advice from a qualified professional.

Safety-critical courses

Some courses cover trades and activities that can be dangerous if practised without proper training, licensing and safeguards — for example electrical work, solar installation, and data-centre technician work. For these and any other practical or safety-critical subjects:

• the content is strictly educational and is not a licence, certification, or authorisation to carry out such work;
• you must comply with all applicable laws, regulations, codes and standards;
• you must engage qualified, licensed and competent professionals for any real-world work;
• you assume all risk arising from any real-world application of the course content.

To the fullest extent permitted by law, Skillnaija is not liable for any injury, loss, damage or harm resulting from your real-world application of any course content.

16. Third-Party Services and Links

The Service relies on, and may link to, third-party services and websites (for example job listings, employer application links, and the infrastructure providers we use to run the Service). We do not control these third parties and are not responsible for their content, products, services, availability, security or privacy practices. Your dealings with any third party are between you and that third party, and any third-party terms or policies apply to that part of your activity. Following a link or using a third-party service is at your own risk.

17. Fees and Payments

The Service is currently free to use. We reserve the right to introduce paid features, subscriptions or other charges in the future. If we do, we will give you prior notice and the relevant prices and payment terms before you incur any charge, and any paid feature will be optional and clearly identified.

You are responsible for any taxes that apply to you. While the Service is free, we have no refund obligations. If we introduce paid features, any refund terms will be set out at that time.

18. Privacy and Data Protection

Our Privacy Policy explains what personal data we collect, the lawful bases on which we process it (such as your consent, performance of our agreement with you, our legitimate interests, compliance with a legal obligation, and protection of vital interests), how we use and share it, how long we keep it, and the security measures we apply. It also explains the third-party processors we rely on (including Supabase, Vercel, Google and Resend), under which personal data may be processed and stored outside Nigeria (including in the United States and/or the European Union) under appropriate contractual safeguards.

As a data subject you have rights under the Nigeria Data Protection Act 2023 (NDPA), the NDPR, and (where they apply to you) other laws such as the GDPR — including rights to be informed, to access, to rectify, to erase, to restrict or object to processing, to data portability, to withdraw consent, and rights relating to automated decision-making. You can exercise these rights, and opt out of outreach emails (by replying "unsubscribe" or emailing us), as described in the Privacy Policy.

If a personal-data breach occurs, we will handle it in line with the NDPA, including notifying the NDPC and affected individuals where required. You may complain to us at hello@skillnaija.org and you also have the right to lodge a complaint with the NDPC.

The Privacy Policy is incorporated into and forms part of these Terms. By using the Service you acknowledge that we process personal data as described in the Privacy Policy.

19. Disclaimers

To the fullest extent permitted by applicable law, the Service and all content, certificates, grades, listings and features are provided "as is" and "as available", without warranties of any kind, whether express or implied, including any implied warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, accuracy, or non-infringement.

We do not warrant or guarantee that:

• the Service will be uninterrupted, timely, secure, or error-free, or that defects will be corrected;
• course content, AI grades or feedback are complete, accurate or suitable for any particular purpose;
• using the Service will result in a job, income, certification recognition, or any specific learning, career or financial outcome;
• any employer, mentor, partner, listing or opportunity is genuine, lawful or available.

Nothing in this Section limits any warranty or right that cannot be excluded under applicable Nigerian law.

20. Limitation of Liability

To the maximum extent permitted by applicable Nigerian law, Skillnaija, its owners, directors, employees, contractors and agents will not be liable for any indirect, incidental, special, consequential, exemplary or punitive damages, or for any loss of profits, revenue, data, goodwill, opportunities, jobs or anticipated savings, arising out of or relating to your use of (or inability to use) the Service, even if we have been advised of the possibility of such damages.

To the maximum extent permitted by law, our total aggregate liability to you for all claims arising out of or relating to the Service or these Terms is limited to the greater of (a) the total amount (if any) you paid to us for the Service in the twelve (12) months before the event giving rise to the claim, or (b) the equivalent of NGN 50,000.

Nothing in these Terms excludes or limits our liability for death or personal injury caused by our negligence, for fraud or fraudulent misrepresentation, or for any other liability that cannot lawfully be excluded or limited under applicable Nigerian law. In jurisdictions that do not allow certain exclusions or limitations, our liability is limited to the smallest extent permitted by law.

21. Indemnification

You agree to defend, indemnify and hold harmless Skillnaija and its owners, directors, employees, contractors and agents from and against any claims, demands, losses, liabilities, damages, costs and expenses (including reasonable legal fees) arising out of or related to: (a) your use of the Service; (b) your User Content, listings, postings or contributions; (c) your breach of these Terms or of any law; or (d) your infringement of the rights of any third party. We may, at our option, take over the exclusive defence of any matter for which you must indemnify us, and you agree to cooperate with us in that defence. This Section does not require you to indemnify us for our own negligence, wilful misconduct or breach of law.

22. Suspension and Termination

By us: We may suspend, restrict or terminate your access to all or part of the Service, with or without notice, if you breach these Terms, if we are required to do so by law, to protect users, third parties or Skillnaija, or if we reasonably consider it necessary. Where practical and lawful, we will try to give you notice.

By you: You may stop using the Service and close your account at any time by contacting us at hello@skillnaija.org.

Effect of termination: On termination, your licence to use the Service ends and you must stop using it. Sections that by their nature should survive — including those on definitions, intellectual property, User Content licences, feedback, disclaimers, limitation of liability, indemnification, governing law, and general provisions — will continue to apply. We may retain and delete data in accordance with our Privacy Policy and applicable law. Certificates already validly earned remain valid unless revoked for an integrity breach under Section 8.

23. Changes to the Service and to These Terms

We are continually improving the Service and may add, change, suspend or remove features at any time. We may also update these Terms from time to time, for example to reflect changes to the Service or to legal requirements.

When we make material changes, we will update the "last updated" date and may notify you by a notice on the Service or by email. Changes take effect when posted (or on any later date we specify). By continuing to use the Service after changes take effect, you accept the updated Terms. If you do not agree to the changes, you should stop using the Service and may close your account.

24. Governing Law and Dispute Resolution

These Terms and any dispute or claim arising out of or in connection with them or the Service are governed by the laws of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, without regard to conflict-of-laws rules.

If a dispute arises, you agree to first contact us at hello@skillnaija.org so we can try to resolve it informally and in good faith. If we cannot resolve it within a reasonable time (for example 30 days), the dispute will be subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the competent courts of Nigeria, with venue in Lagos State or the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja. Nothing in this Section affects any right you may have to complain to the Nigeria Data Protection Commission (NDPC) about how we handle your personal data, or any non-waivable right you have under applicable Nigerian law.

25. Force Majeure

We are not liable for any failure or delay in providing the Service caused by events beyond our reasonable control, including acts of God, natural disasters, fire, flood, epidemic or pandemic, war, civil unrest, terrorism, government action, strikes, failures of power or telecommunications, internet or hosting outages, cyber-attacks, or failures of third-party service providers.

26. General Provisions

Entire agreement

These Terms and the Privacy Policy are the entire agreement between you and us regarding the Service and replace any earlier agreements on the same subject.

Severability

If any part of these Terms is found to be invalid or unenforceable, that part will be limited or removed to the minimum extent necessary, and the rest of the Terms will remain in full force.

No waiver

If we do not enforce a right or provision, that is not a waiver of it, and we may still enforce it later.

Assignment

You may not transfer or assign these Terms or your account without our consent. We may assign or transfer our rights and obligations, including in connection with a merger, acquisition or sale of assets.

No third-party beneficiaries

These Terms do not create any rights for anyone who is not a party to them, except for the Skillnaija persons entitled to the benefit of the disclaimer, liability and indemnity provisions.

Notices and electronic communications

We may give you notices through the Service or by emailing the address on your account, and you agree to receive communications from us electronically. You can send us notices at hello@skillnaija.org.

Language

These Terms are written in English, and English is the controlling language for any interpretation.

27. How to Contact Us

If you have any questions, concerns or complaints about these Terms or the Service, please contact us at:

• Email: hello@skillnaija.org
• Website: https://skillnaija.org

This single email address is also our contact point for privacy and data-protection matters and for complaints.