If one checks this against a population of over 100 million, one may say that Nigeria is hardly on the Internet map. The reasons for this low level of Internet activity are not far fetched. Firstly, telephone is not for the 'common' man in Nigeria. It is a status symbol for those who have 'arrived' financially. The real connection fees and service charges are beyond the reach of even a University Professor, who otherwise is an elite in any society of this globe.
Most phones are idle all the year round.
The third reason is the fact that there is no 'backbone' in Nigeria to enhance Internet connectivity. Internet Service Providers have to lease lines from Europe and America at very exorbitant costs, which are transferred to the subscribers. The fourth reason and probably the most worrying is the fact that Nigerian Government has not come up with an Internet Policy. After the August 1998 workshop on the solution to the Year 2000 Computer Time Bomb organized by the Federal Ministry of Science and Technology, at Abuja, the Federal Government directed that Ministry to liase with the Ministry of Communications to initiate action on a policy. The Internet public is still awaiting the outcome.