Browsing by Author "Olayiwola, W.B."

Now showing 1 - 3 of 3
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    On issues and challenges of rural telecommunications access in Nigeria
    (University of Eldoret, Kenya, Kyambogo University, Uganda, and Anambra State University of Technology, Nigeria, 2016) Adediran, Y.A.; Opadiji, J.F.; Faruk, N.; Olayiwola, W.B.
    Rural telecommunication access has to do with provision of telecommunication infrastructure in rural communities for the purpose of connectivity within communities and with the rest of the world. There has been growing interest in how to provide universal telecommunication access in developing countries. The trend in digital divide between the rural and urban areas for developing countries reveals a growing gap. Efforts are being made by developed nations to close the gap; hence, there is the need for reversal of this trend by developing nations in their pursuit of sustainable development. The rural communities in Africa, particularly in Nigeria, are strongly faced with many challenges which include extreme poverty, lack of social services and infrastructures, low level of education and health status, as well as unequal access to income opportunities. Despite the fact that telecommunications services in Nigeria could be traced back to 1851, the aforementioned factors, coupled with the difficult physical terrain in some cases, have made them lack behind the urban areas with regard to provision of telecommunications access. In this paper, issues and challenges of providing telecommunications access in the rural areas are provided. The work looks in-depth into the socio-cultural, literacy, security, infrastructure, regulatory and financial sustainability issues. Furthermore, the paper proffers some technological options/solutions to meeting the telecommunications needs of the rural communities in Nigeria within a very short, but reasonable, time.
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    Opportunities for Universal Telecommunication Access in Rural Communities
    (Wits LINK Centre, University of The Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa., 2016) Olayiwola, W.B.; Opadiji, J.F.; Faruk, N.; Adediran, Y.A.
    The goal of universal telecommunication access is to make telecommunication infrastructure available to everyone irrespective of their geographical location, income level, age, gender or other discriminatory parameters. Despite substantial efforts to close the digital divide, developing countries still encounter daunting challenges in making access truly universal. In this article, the authors report on an exploratory field survey of 15 rural communities in Nigeria’s Kwara State to document their perception of the effects of rural telecoms access on their livelihoods. Results revealed mostly positive effects in respect of economic growth, poverty alleviation, health education, primary healthcare delivery, and reporting of epidemic outbreaks such as the recent Ebola crisis. However, little impact on quality of government service was recorded, as awareness of participation in governance and socio-political issues was found to be very low. The article discusses some areas in which universal telecommunications access can be expected, going forward, to address the needs of communities in rural and remote communities.
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    Socio-economic challenges of rural telecommunication access schemes in Nigeria
    (Department of Library and Information Technology Federal University of Technology Minna Nigeria, 2017) Faruk, N.; Olayiwola, W.B.; Opadiji, J.F.; Adediran, Y.A.
    There has been growing interest on how to provide universal telecommunication access in developing countries. The trend in digital divide between the rural and urban areas for developing countries reveals a growing gap. In this paper, we discussed from a socioeconomic perspective, the various challenges facing the deployment of rural telecommunication access in Nigeria. Successes and failures of existing universal access models in developing countries are highlighted. Exploratory field survey from fifteen rural communities in Nigeria was conducted. The investigation included characterization of rural communities; impact assessment of universal telecommunication access on rural Nigeria and sustainability analysis of possible universal access models vis-à-vis models that have been tested in other parts of the world. The paper provides guidelines to the service providers and regulators in choosing appropriate universal access model to achieve the telecommunication access in rural communities efficiently and effectively considering the peculiarities of Nigeria‟s rural socio-economic landscape.