131 Final Country Report

Video: Topic: Raj Sohal’s Zoom Meeting
Date: Apr 10, 2022 07:28 PM Eastern Time (US and Canada)

Meeting Recording:
https://osu.zoom.us/rec/share/Ui2pS4_l4ZfcQx3F8f5ulE8ngBYFGXM7s-iHT0NaZlmYfku_q5TzZ1tBbq4tFKoa.2Q7XLScoktX7KCGg

The Urban Rural Divide in Nigeria and Its Implications on Accessibility to Internet

Raj Sohal
Global Information Society
Professor Hilary Bussell
April 24th, 2022

As a growing nation, Nigeria looks like it is expecting to have a remarkable future ahead of itself. Emerging as the world’s 3rd most populous country by 2050, Nigeria has major strides to make as it transitions from a developing to a developed country. One of the largest constants in growth which plays a large factor is technology. Access to efficient technology accelerates the growth of any group of individuals, as we’ve seen in history. Whether it’s automating your services, discovering innovation, or bringing people closer together through mass communication, technology acts as a catalyst for advancements. Over the years, Nigerians have become more prone to using technology for their benefit. “As of July 2021, there were more than 108 million internet users in Nigeria. Moreover, the share of the Nigerian population that uses the internet via any device at least once a month, is expected to grow up to 60 percent approximately in 2026” (Johnson, 2021). While only about 1 in every 2 people in Nigeria were defined as an active user, the bright side is the amount of growth in the next few years. Establishing that first 50%: was a tough task due to the high input costs of setting the broadband foundations; however, the cost of the internet is not going to become affordable for the general public anytime soon. While the cost of tech commodity goods are starting to decline due to the rise of producers, the access to data still remains high. “For instance, while the average price of smartphones on Jumia (arguably Nigeria’s biggest consumer goods e-commerce retail platform) has dropped by 43 per cent from $216 in 2014 to $95 in 2018, the average cost of one gigabyte of mobile data is estimated at $2.22. And when indexed against Nigeria’s new minimum wage of N30,000 per month, the average cost of data represents roughly 2.6 percent of monthly income; a figure higher than the Alliance for Affordable Internet (A4AI)’s affordability target of one gigabyte of data not costing more than 2 percent of average income” (Itseumah, 2019). By trying to increase the availability of the internet but not matching that initiative with reasonable prices, it creates a double standard. As Nigeria’s infrastructure begins to digitize and integrate technology into its everyday practices, prices must be accommodating to the common man. Nigeria’s technology sector has seen major downsides in its efficiency due to its large urban rural infrastructure divide, cost barriers, and varying attitudes to technology.

The accessibility to the internet in Nigeria has never been easy. The push behind developing broadband networks was started by the Nigeria Internet Group in 1995, an non-governmental organization (NGO) who advocated for full internet access. The Nigeria Internet Group had a strong movement behind them as they hosted summits regarding the internet workshops in collaboration with the Yaba College of Technology, Nigeria Communications Commission (NCC), National Data Bank, and supported by United States Information Service (USIS) and the British Council. Nigerians first saw the official entry to the world wide web in 1996, approximately 7 years after it was first introduced in the United States. After some of those primary tensions regarding the safety of the internet, the NCC permitted 38 internet service providers to begin selling internet services (“Internet”, 2010). However, the issuance of internet services did not directly lead to the usage of the internet. “A report by the International Telecommunications Union, focused the period 1996 – 2009 on telecommunications development on nations of the world. According to the data on Nigeria, which the source claims was last updated in July 16 2010; users of the internet in Nigeria in every 100 persons interviewed as at 1996 were 0% and it ran this way for four years” (“Internet”, 2010). Low internet penetration has always been an issue in Nigeria. When countries such as the United States are merely doubling Nigeria’s percentage of users, how can they be expected to compete in the global market? The way that the broadband network in Nigeria was set up, emphasized the internet as an urban phenomenon and unbeknownst to the rural population. This blame couldn’t even be directly placed on the private distributors of the internet infrastructure because “for these operators, there is little incentive to provide broadband services to areas of the country where fiber-optic capacities may exist but at higher-than-average costs of deployment” (Itseumah, 2019). Without these private contractors having an obligation or incentive to set up services in rural areas, the gap between citizens in Nigeria is just going to continue to grow. By never establishing a solid goal to educate all of Nigeria with the liberation of the internet, true progress never occurred and growth was stagnated.

One of the greatest benefits of the internet is the rapid transfer of information in seconds. With the privilege of the internet, comes great responsibility. However, in the eyes of the government, the ability to come together as a group of people through the internet is only a good thing if it benefits them. In November of 2020, Nigerian officials arrested two individuals who were acting as WhatsApp administrators for an #EndSars group. These two individuals were using this group chat to mobilize support for a protest against the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS), who was notorious for extrajudicial killings and abuse. While the government claimed that SARS was no longer active, thousands of Nigerians nationally were taking part in these protests. Additionally, “The Central Bank of Nigeria had frozen the accounts of 20 #EndSARS champions while another promoter of the movement, Modupe Odele, was prevented from traveling last week and had her passport seized by the Nigeria Immigration Service” (“NewsWireNGR”, 2020). On top of that, the government seemed more suspicious in the eyes of public opinion as they began to censor more content relating to the movement. The Nigerian government also blocked the following websites as they were gaining public traction; the Feminist Coalition, endsars.com, and radioisiaq.com. This was the first time that the Nigerian authorities had abused their power to restrict specific content since 2017. The Paradigm Initiative, an organization who advocates for digital rights”, stated “When similar network disruptions happened in October 2017, we obtained a copy of the letter showing that (the Nigerian Communications Commission) asked a private company to help block 21 websites in Nigeria,’’ it said, adding “we are back here 3 years late.” (Flat-Brown, 2020). When the Nigerian government continues to censor media channels with great public interest, they gain major disapproval. Especially for those individuals who don’t use or are new to the internet, blocking such important content creates a sense of discommunication that will continue to prolong that distrust between man and government.

Aside from cost-friendliness, another factor which plays a huge influence on determining internet use is overall attitude. There are many different subgroups of individuals in a large country; those that hate the internet, those that are skeptical of it, those that can not live without, and those that simply don’t understand it. In 2017, the Lagos School of Business partnered with the Bill & Melinda Gates foundation to issue a Global Segmentation Framework which aimed to examine Nigeria’s technological sector. Out of such a vast and diverse population, the researchers broke down Nigeria’s population into 6 categories; Vulnerable Believers, Resilient Savers, Dependent Individualists, Digital Youth, Confident Optimists, and Skeptical Cultivators. The key objective that was drawn from these archetypes was that there was a strong correlation between higher education and being prone to being tech savvy such as the Digital Youth. On the other hand, there were the Skeptical Cultivators, who constructed their own beliefs, typically religious-based, and did not use any main form of technology (“The Customer Segmentation Framework”, 2018). Although correlation doesn’t equal causation, the connection between having formal education schooling and using modern technology appeared quite strong. This also resonates with why private carriers prioritize urban areas for their investments rather than the barely developed rural areas.

Another reason for the lack of internet penetration and presence is the overall purpose for it. Here in the United States, we are required to utilize the internet to work, travel, purchase food, and just to complete our daily activities. However, that is not the case for the decentralized rural areas of Nigeria. There is a great deal of disparity between the northern and southern points of Nigeria “with Lagos State having an [electricity] access rate of 99.3% and Taraba State 10.9%” (Akpan, 2015). This is due to both the difference in population density and the demographic coverage of the electric transmission lines. The sheer difference in just access to electricity highlights the difference in lifestyles between the north and south. While the government has tried to address this issue by extending on to the current grid system, it has returned back an expensive plan that doesn’t actually resolve issues. By having a weak electric infrastructure initially, building off of that continues to deliver shoddy services to the sub-Saharan region. Udauk Akpan, a researcher from Sustainability, Policy, and Innovative Development Research (SPIDER) Solutions in Nigeria, has suggested “Irrespective of its high cost, extending the existing grid may still yield net economic returns if it serves areas that are densely populated and persons who can pay for the services to ensure optimal utilization of the electricity. Therefore, to achieve increased electricity access in Nigeria, rural electrification planners need to adopt a multi-facet approach which involves the combination of grid-extension and off-grid electrification in a manner that minimizes cost and maximizes electricity utilization” (Akpan, 2015). Akpan suggests an approach which combines the optimal solution with addressing the existing inequalities in Nigeria’s demographic. By using the faults to his advantage, the SPIDER researcher proposes a plan which provides efficient and affordable electricity to all Nigerians.

Since the internet was launched in Nigeria in 1996, it has seen remarkable growth and done incredible things for some of Nigeria’s citizens. However, it only provided those benefits to a select few. Looking forward, how can Nigerian authorities prioritize the spread and growth of the internet in order to be able to put all Nigerian citizens at an equal playing field for technology? In a meeting on February 18th, 2020, Dr. Isa Ali Ibrahim Pantami, Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, announced the new broadband initiatives for 2025. “The new broadband plan, being developed with the support and collaboration of the Government of the United Kingdom (UK), is expected to increase broadband penetration to 70 percent by 2025 in order to give concrete expression to the Federal Government’s commitment to making Nigeria a truly digital economy” (“Pantami”, 2020). This new plan is a great stepping stone towards Nigeria’s steady growth of becoming a developed nation in the near future. This committee had a previous goal of reaching 30% coverage in 2018, in which they exceeded by nearly 8%. By committing to its people and expanding coverage to it, Nigeria will remain on pace for becoming a global stakeholder. Lastly, the government of Nigeria needs to put a strong emphasis on investing in their youth. With such a large percentage of their population in the young demographic, the government needs to set its future up for success. “According to a recent study conducted by CGD and ONE, this gap between employer needs and the training infrastructure set up to facilitate them comes down to funding … This absence of investment might account for the low presence of universities and research institutes focused on supporting the tech sector” (Obado-Joel & Dempster, 2021). The issue isn’t the resources or the foundation of it, it is about the accessibility of it. By clearing up the pathway to technological success for the Nigerian youth, Nigeria will be well equipped to make a lasting difference in the tech sector for generations to come. It is the duty and obligation of the Nigerian government to assist their citizens in becoming the most successful they can be in the world’s largest growing sector today, that will one day change the world.

Works Cited
Akpan, U. (2015, June). Technology Options for Increasing Electricity Access in Areas with Low Electricity Access Rate in Nigeria. Research Gate. Retrieved April 4, 2022, from https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Uduak-Akpan-2/publication/277959845_Technology_Options_for_Increasing_Electricity_Access_in_Areas_with_Low_Electricity_Access_Rate_in_Nigeria/links/5bea944d299bf1124fce620e/Technology-Options-for-Increasing-Electricity-Access-in-Areas-with-Low-Electricity-Access-Rate-in-Nigeria.pdf
The Customer Segmentation Framework. (2018, August). Retrieved April 4, 2022, from https://sustainabledfs.lbs.edu.ng/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Nigeria_Customer_Segmentation_Framework.pdf
Flat-Brown, A. (2020, November 27). #EndSARS related websites inaccessible. Premium Times Nigeria. Retrieved April 3, 2022, from https://www.premiumtimesng.com/news/more-news/428302-endsars-related-websites-inaccessible.html
Internet: 13 years of growth from Ground Zero in Nigeria from 1960- 1996. Vanguard News. (2010, October 27). Retrieved April 3, 2022, from https://www.vanguardngr.com/2010/10/internet-13-years-of-growth-from-ground-zero-in-nigeria-from-1960-1996/
Itseumah, O. (2019, November 29). Uneven Playing Fields. The Republic. Retrieved April 3, 2022, from https://republic.com.ng/october-november-2019/nigeria-and-the-digital-divide/
Johnson, J. (2021, October 26). Nigeria internet user penetration 2026. Statista. Retrieved April 3, 2022, from https://www.statista.com/statistics/484918/internet-user-reach-nigeria/
NewsWireNGR. (2020, November 7). Just in: Nigerian police arrests two #EndSARS Whatsapp Group administrators. Retrieved April 3, 2022, from https://newswirengr.com/2020/11/07/just-in-nigerian-police-arrests-two-endsars-whatsapp-group-administrators/
Obado-Joel, J., & Dempster, H. (2021, August 11). Nigeria’s Tech Sector Could Benefit From More Managed Migration. Center for Global Development | Ideas to Action. Retrieved April 3, 2022, from https://www.cgdev.org/blog/nigerias-tech-sector-could-benefit-more-managed-migration
Pantami Receives NBP 2020-2025 Committee Report. Nigerian Communications Commission. (2020, February 18). Retrieved April 3, 2022, from https://www.ncc.gov.ng/media-centre/news-headlines/788-pantami-receives-nbp-2020-2025-c-ttee-report