IMPACT OF INFORMATION COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY ON THE DEVELOPMENT OF RURAL AREA
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IMPACT OF INFORMATION COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY ON THE DEVELOPMENT OF RURAL AREA
Chapter one
1.1 Introduction
In rural Nigeria, the bulk of the population is poor. They are the underprivileged and marginalised parts of society who frequently experience barriers in using productivity-enhancing resources, just as they may suffer obstructions in making good use of ICT services and infrastructures. Moss (2000).
Some of the limits to ICT facilities and infrastructures in rural Nigeria are manageable, while others necessitate a shift in both human and organisational communication and working patterns that may take longer to implement.
ICT facilities and infrastructures rely on physical infrastructures (electricity, telecommunications, and a good road network), and even when such infrastructures exist, problems arise when they are inadequately maintained or prohibitively expensive to use.
ICTs are dependent on national policy and regulation for telecommunications and broadcasting licences, which are currently receiving positive attention in Nigeria (Kayani, R.; Dymond, A., 2005).
The impact of the growth of the information communication and technology society, particularly the impact of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) on spatial development, is increasingly a topic of debate. One reason for this is that, as Moss (2000) stated, we don’t know how new technologies will impact the progress of development.
Modern ICTs are newbies, and their application is still in its early stages, despite fast growth. Within a half-century, they had revolutionised the world and impacted millions of lives in ways no one could have predicted or anticipated.
They have also altered the nature of our jobs, the range of occupations, and the skills required, necessitating the acquisition of a broader, more adaptable knowledge base, among other things.
They are changing the way we learn, communicate, conduct business, spend our leisure time, and go about our daily lives. The ability of ICTs to harness access and use information, as well as distribute knowledge at electronic speed to all forms of human activities and endeavours, has resulted in contemporary knowledge-based economies and societies.
According to Sood (2002), ICTs provide an unprecedented chance to disseminate new knowledge, services, and opportunities in underserved communities. The United Nations Commission on Science and Technology for Development (UNCSTD) investigated the benefits and risks of ICTs in 1995 and 1997, and the findings revealed many examples (such as in health, education, banking, and so on) where their use provides widespread social and economic benefits (World Bank, 1998).
ICT’s growth and development have resulted in widespread diffusion and use, boosting its economic and social effect. The OECD (2007) undertook a wide range of actions to improve our understanding of how ICTs contribute to long-term economic growth and social well-being, as well as their role in the transition to knowledge-based society. It is consequently vital to access and use ICTs everywhere, especially in a developing country like Nigeria.
Information is the raw element for development for both urban and rural residents. Any nation’s prosperity, progress, and development are determined by its ability to acquire, generate, access, and use relevant information.
A report on elderly rural people (2008:3) states that “access to information and advice is a key resource for local people in maintaining active and independent lives.”
Access to information is also essential for informing people about their entitlements to welfare benefits and available resources to help them overcome social disadvantage.” Information is the lifeblood of any society and is essential to the operations of both the government and the business sector.
Bell (1974:4) suggests that “the dependence upon information to create innovation and change, places a high premium on the ability of (developing countries) nations to access and use information to create advances in society” .
Global development cannot occur without the development of rural communities. This is because 75 to 80 percent of the people in developing countries live in rural regions and require positive, meaningful, and attention-grabbing stimuli in their everyday lives.
No serious, active, conscious, sensitive, or organised government would choose to ignore rural populations. Lack of development is positively correlated with rural neglect.
Negative consequences of rural neglect include the exodus of rural dwellers to urban areas, which leads to problems such as unemployment, crime, prostitution, child labour, insecurity, money laundering, bribery, poverty, the proliferation of shanty towns, disease spread, and overstretching of urban facilities and infrastructure.
Any country that ignores the development and empowerment of rural populations cannot expect significant progress. According to Alegbeleye and Aina (1985: 13), “the third world countries have recently come to realise that unless the rural areas are well developed, hardly any meaningful development would occur in these countries.”
Development can only be effective if rural residents have access to meaningful and diversified information on their activities. Efforts must be taken to provide nonliterates, who make up the vast majority of rural residents, with access to knowledge and information.
According to Okiy (2003:1), “Rural development is a foundation for economic development, and information is an important component of the development process.”
People in rural areas, whether literate or not, should have access to any type of information that will enable them to become effective and productive in their social and political tasks, as well as better informed citizens in general.
Similarly Diso (1994: 143) supports the opinion that” information must as a matter of policy, be seen as a basic resource for development if durable structures are to be provided for effective access and utilization, which entails information capturing, coordination, processing, and dissemination”.
In Nigeria, both urban and rural groups have access to information, as specified in their development plans. However, with a focus on government propaganda and numerous projects that are not totally relevant to the development of rural communities. Rural people receive information that is either unreliable or skewed during the transmission process.
This hazardous environment is a major hindrance to rural populations in Nigeria and other developing countries achieving development indices. Developed countries conduct rural programmes to close the gap between urban and rural inhabitants to a minimal minimum.
According to a report on a rural project (2007), “access to and ability to use information and knowledge are not equally distributed (between urban and rural communities).”Around seven million adults in England are considered functionally illiterate.
Affluent households are significantly more likely to provide their children with access to books, computers, and the internet than low-income families.
If we do not take precautions, the economic benefits of knowledge and skills will be disproportionately distributed to groups and regions that are already wealthy in both.
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