Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) Poverty in Rural Areas: Implications for Development in Nigeria

Information Communication Technologies (ICTs) remain the most pervasive of man’s invention at the turn of the millennium. However, the question can easily be asked about the level of unavailability of the ‘electronic inventions’ in rural areas of Nigeria. The paper, therefore, attempts to bring to the fore, the inadequacy of ICTs in the rural areas since its introduction into the Nigerian society, and its implication for development. Using the Barja and Gigler’s formulation of how, information and communication poverty is measured. As basis, the paper was able to describe how ICTs availability (or lack of it) has become the yardstick through which the level of development of societies is measured. Also, the individual’s socio-economic status is influenced by the right quantity and quality of exposure and access to ICTs. The paper recommends that there is urgent need for the Nigerian state and other major stake holders such as organised private sectors, informal sectors, representatives of communities to develop the process of collective engagement that will lead to the integration of the rural areas of Nigeria into the developmental process through ICTs.