The use of cybercafes in Ilorin, Nigeria
| Published date | 11 April 2008 |
| Date | 11 April 2008 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/02640470810864127 |
| Pages | 238-248 |
| Author | Isiaka Atunde Alao,Abubakar Lanre Folorunsho |
| Subject Matter | Information & knowledge management,Library & information science |
The use of cybercafes in Ilorin,
Nigeria
Isiaka Atunde Alao
College of Health Sciences, University of Ilorin, Nigeria, and
Abubakar Lanre Folorunsho
University Library, University of Ilorin, Nigeria
Abstract
Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate the use of cybercafe
´s in Ilorin, Nigeria. The
main objectives of the survey were to determine the characteristics of the users, how they had learnt to
use the internet, their self-reported levels of internet use skills, the internet services they used and for
what purposes, the aspects of the internet they desired to learn more about and their assessment of the
cybercafe
´s they patronized.
Design/methodology/approach – A survey method was employed for the study. Data were
collected from 18 cybercafe
´s in Ilorin, Nigeria, by means of questionnaires and analysed using
frequency counts and percentages.
Findings – The findings revealed that the majority of the cybercafe
´users were students, aged 21-25
years old, males and unmarried. Most of the respondents considered themselves only moderately
skilled in the use of the internet and largely used e-mail, online chat, e-publications, file transfer
protocol and the world wide web, all of which they desired to learn more about. The six aspects of the
cybercafe
´s evaluated, except browsing speed, were judged satisfactory. It was concluded there is a
need to promote greater use of the internet in Nigeria generally.
Originality/value – The research findings will help to fill a gap in the knowledge of cybercafe
´usage
in Ilorin, one of the largest towns in the North Central Zone of Nigeria. The findings will also assist
cybercafe
´operators in Ilorin in particular to improve their services.
Keywords Telecommunication networks, Internet,Nigeria
Paper type Research paper
Introduction
Founded in the 1960s, the internet was originally a US government-owned network
exclusively used for research and military purposes. Today, it is a vast repository of
information on every aspect of human endeavours and open to everybody. In fact, an
internet user can easily get around to the myriads of sites, gathering pertinent
information, conducting market research, reading publications and kee ping in touch
with his or her business associates.
Not surprisingly the use of the internet in Africa has grown relatively rapidly in the
last few years, particularly in the capital cities. As of mid 2002, for instance, the
continent had 1.7 million dial-up subscribers, an increase of 20 per cent over the 2001
figures while the total number of internet users was put by Courtney (2006) at 3.1.
million and 4.15 million in September 2000 and February 2002 respectively. This rose
to over 32 million users by September 2006, representing a growth of about 625.0 per
cent between 2000 and 2006 with the corresponding figures for Nigeria during the
period standing at 5 million and 2,400.00 per cent respectively (Internet World Stats,
2006).
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available at
www.emeraldinsight.com/0264-0473.htm
EL
26,2
238
Received 4 August 2006
Revised 26 February 2007
Accepted 5 March 2007
The Electronic Library
Vol. 26 No. 2, 2008
pp. 238-248
qEmerald Group Publishing Limited
0264-0473
DOI 10.1108/02640470810864127
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