To promote awareness and enhance information integrity, Media, Information, and Literacy (MIL) campaigns have become one of the approaches used to equip people with the skills needed to critically evaluate information and protect themselves against the vices of information disorder, including fake news and hate speech. Yet, people still easily fall prey to fake news and are unaware of how to access fact-checks or identify reliable news sources. Among other factors impeding this MIL initiative is the significant issue of the digital divide, particularly in less developed countries like Nigeria.
According to Statista, Nigeria is described as a mobile-first market, largely skewed away from desktop and laptop adoption to mobile internet usage via inexpensive smartphones. In 2023, the World Bank Group reported that out of over 200 million, only 39% of Nigerians were using the internet. Global comparisons show varying internet penetration rates despite the internet being around for decades. This penetration rate is primarily driven by mobile internet usage, highlighting a significant digital divide among individuals from various social backgrounds and statuses.
The internet, as we know it today, offers access to information with a double-edged influence on users in either positive or negative ways—physically, mentally, politically, socially, and economically. However, more than half of Nigeria’s population lacks this access due to several factors. Digital divide, a multifaceted challenge, refers to the gap between individuals and communities with access to digital technology and those without. However, in the context of MIL campaigns, especially those aimed at combating the pervasive threat of information disorder, the concept goes beyond mere access to include a complex interplay of socio-economic factors affecting how people use technology once they have access. These factors include Digital literacy, cultural disparity, gender disparities, financial limitations, geographical locations, skill levels, physical abilities, and even age.
Digital Literacy
Digital literacy is a factor that determines the fundamental ability to navigate and operate digital technologies effectively. This extends to understanding digital platform usage, troubleshooting common issues, and leveraging various functionalities for communication, learning, and civic participation. Even with access to digital technology, a person’s digital literacy level can limit such an individual’s capacity to assess and engage with online information critically. According to this World Bank Development report, “more than 50% of Nigeria’s over 200 million population do not have digital know-how and therefore cannot use data services.
Gender and Age Disparity
The Gender digital divide captures the disparities that exist between genders in the usage of digital technology. With over 140 million internet users reported, males tend to have more access. USAID reported in 2023 that the gender gap in internet usage in Nigeria was about 17.05%. Furthermore, the report indicated that women and girls often have less access to technology than men and boys. In another report by the World Bank, women and the physically challenged are seen to be marginalized, resulting in low digital literacy among this demographic group. Similarly, research by Yu, Bekerian, and Osback has shown that older adults have difficulty engaging with digital information due to a lower digital literacy level. This divide, therefore, has exacerbated digital exclusion, leaving women, the physically challenged, and older populations with limited or no usage of the digital space.
Financial Disparity
Furthermore, the economic dimension of the digital divide looks at the affordability of internet services, a prerequisite for sustained digital engagement and staying informed. For instance, early this year, 2025, Nigeria experienced a significant increase in data and call tariffs, with a 50% hike approved by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) for calls, data, and SMS following telecom operators’ years of agitation due to harsh economic conditions such as inflation. High data costs and insufficient disposable income often limit internet access to a luxury rather than a necessity. Reacting to these costs, Nigerians have cut back on data. This Premium Times report reveals a decline of approximately one million internet users from 142.16 million to 141.25 million. This restricted access severely hampers participation in real-time information flows and limits the development of consistent digital habits essential for discerning credible information. There is also the issue of unstable network connectivity, especially in rural areas in Nigeria, which further contributes to digital usage and skill development.
Dubawa MIL Efforts Against Information Disorder and the Challenges Faced
Disinformation campaigns often exploit the gaps in digital literacy, further perpetuating the divide, making it essential for MIL campaigns to address these disparities directly, especially in disadvantaged communities. Temildae Onilede, Project Manager of Dbuawa NG, CJID, likened disinformation to a household perpetrator that preys on victims with little or no information or digital literacy to push their agenda. However, in her extensive work in the information landscape, she has been at the forefront of utilizing MIL as a catalyst to drive change and bridge the knowledge gap between disinformation victims and peddlers in several rural regions in Nigeria, including Imo. Rivers, Lagos, Gombe. Plateau, Ebonyi, etc.
Following her multiple interactions with secondary school children and teachers in different rural communities across several states in Nigeria, she affirmed that there were digitally illiterate people, especially among teenagers, children, and older people. Indicating that, in this era of the digital age, there were still schools that lacked basic digital aids for teaching and other essential needs, such as public address systems and even proper writing board materials, mostly in government schools, showing the low attention of the government to the people in rural areas concerning technological development and the likes.
“Sensitizing these people was challenging given they do not have access to technology tools or materials such as phones, laptops,” said Temilade. They have no access to digital information; these students depend on their teachers, religious groups, and teachers from community interactions for information. Temilade and her team then pondered on the question: How could they be disinformed?
Although they lack this digital access, we recognize that communication/information exchange is a daily activity and that the proliferation of online information, particularly disinformation, extends beyond the digital realm, impacting the behaviours and outcomes of communities without direct internet access. Through these profound and multifaceted offline repercussions of online activities, communities without digital access are therefore not immune to the effects of disinformation campaigns, which can permeate various traditional and interpersonal channels. Groups such as peers can inadvertently become conduits for false narratives, sharing information they encountered online or heard from others. Similarly, religious and educational institutions, which play central roles in community life and contribute to the development of critical thinking, can also become unwitting platforms for circulating misleading content, especially if members of these groups are exposed to it through their limited digital interactions or community networks. Even the home, a fundamental unit of trust and shared experience, can be where disinformation takes root, passed down through family members who have encountered it elsewhere.
The initial question pondered, concerning the strategy to employ gqave clarity into understanding the diverse channels through which disinformation can bypass the digital divide.
“To address this, we must sensitize them on the possible vices of being influenced or misled through communal living and interaction with people.”
Coming to their level, we used the available means of communication prevalent in the communities to sensitize them. In responding to the challenge of the digital divide in these regions, Temilade noted that they employed the same form of communication already in use to exchange information in the community.
“Communication still exists with or without technology.”
Efforts at Bridging the Digital Divide
Silas Jonathan, a media research and digital investigation expert, reckoned that the issue of the digital divide is not only due to the “lack of access” but is also significantly demonstrated in ignorance of the existence of these digital technologies and their capacities. Most of the time, this is the most exploited point for disinformation campaigns. He further expounded on this by stating from his MIL field experience that he had visited some schools with digital access. Still, they lacked the digital understanding to fully utilize it, and some didn’t.
In his MIL tour experience in the secondary schools across Nigeria, there are not any significant provisions for bridging the digital divide, especially at the level of local communities. Schools lack digital infrastructure, and most of them have little or no plan for such, hence the gap seems to be expanding daily. This issue impacts a lot, not just on MIL initiatives, but also on the desire for students to gain digital knowledge, which is essential knowledge for students to be ready for the future, which is digital.
Therefore, he emphasised that only strategic MIL to engage these young people, understand their level of digital literacy, and bridge the gap. While efforts are being directed to this challenge, Silas stated that there is still work to be done, beyond just the CSOs’ level, to the national level.
