‘Internet usage low in Bayelsa, Yobe, Ebonyi states, others’

A report from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) has ranked 10 states in Nigeria low in their adoption and usage of the Internet.Although, there are over 90 million Internet users in Nigeria, according to the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), the NBS report for the first half of the year, ranked Bayelsa State lowest with 0.74 per cent penetration. Yobe followed with 0.78 per cent, and Ebonyi in third position with 0.82 per cent.

Ekiti, Zamfara, Jigawa and Gombe states with 0.91 per cent; 0.92 per cent; one per cent; and 1.08 per cent followed respectively.Taraba had 1.14 per cent; Kebbi 1.28 per cent, while troubled Borno had 1.47 per cent Internet penetration among the lower ranked states.

Expectedly, Lagos with 12.82 per cent penetration led states with the highest Internet penetration in Nigeria, Ogun followed with 6.01 per cent; Oyo 5.28 per cent and Kano enjoyed 4.75 per cent penetration.

The Federal Capital Territory (FCT) ranked fifth with 4.65 per cent; Kaduna 4.54 per cent; Rivers 4.19 per cent; Delta 3.46 per cent; Niger 3.44 per cent; Edo 3.18 per cent; Anambra 2.84 per cent, Benue 2.54 per cent; Kwara 2.34 per cent, and Nasarawa 2.28 per cent penetration.

However, there was a drop of 1.75 per cent in the subscribers’ base, as a total of 92,136,023 subscribers were active on the Internet against 93,776,711 in the third quarter of 2016.

Meanwhile, in a related data from Internetworldstats, Nigeria is ranked eight among the top 20 global Internet users. Nigeria, which was the sole African country listed in this category is ahead of developed countries like Germany (9th), United Kingdom (12th), France (14th), Italy (16th), and South Korea (19th).

From the report, the total Internet users of the top 20 countries were 2,738,949,556, while the rest of the world, excluding the first 20 countries had 993,023,867.

The report positioned these following countries with their Internet users: China is first (731,434,547); India second (462,124,989); United States third (286,942,362); Brazil fourth (139,111,185); Indonesia fifth (132,700,000); Japan sixth (118,453,595); and Russia seventh (104,553,691). Nigeria is eight (93,591,174); Germany ninth (71,727,551); United Kingdom 12th (60,273,385); France 14th (56,367,330); Italy 16th (51,836,798), and South Korea 19th (45,314,248).

However, Internet penetration for the countries was listed as thus: China: 52.7 per cent, India: 34.4 per cent, United States: 87.9 per cent, Brazil: 65.9 per cent, Indonesia: 50.4 per cent, Japan: 94.0 per cent, and Russia: 72.9 per cent. Nigeria had 48.8 per cent, Germany: 89.0 per cent. United Kingdom: 92.0 per cent, France: 86.8 per cent, Italy: 86.7 per cent, and South Korea: 89.4 per cent.

The total Internet penetration of the top 20 was 54.4per cent and the rest of the world at 40.0 per cent, while total world users at 49.6 per cent.