THE HISTORY AND DEVELOPMENT OF COMPUTER

AND ICT IN NIGERIA

BY
19/3366, 19/035134051
SUBMITED TO
Rev. Mr Elaho Peter
COURSE; COMPUTER
PHILOSOPHY DEPARTMENT
ST JOSEPH MAJOR SEMINARY, IKOT EKPENE,
AKWA-IBOM STATE
(AN AFFILIATE INSTITUTE OF PONTIFICAL URBAN
UNIVERSITY ROME AND UNIVERSITY OF CALABAR,
NIGERIA).

IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE COURSE

 INTRODUCTION

 HISTORY AND DEVELOPMENT OF COMPUTER AND ICT IN NIGERIA

 CONCLUSION

 WORK CITED

Introduction.
 Nigeria in now considered a developing country by world standards. This is possible because Nigeria
by some measure, makes use of modern developed technology and infrastructure that is employed all over
the world. One of these developed technologies is ICT and of course one of the best things man has ever
invented; The Computer. The computer is used across all specks of the globe, it aids man in several
aspects of life, ranging from calculation to even invention itself.

However, the Computer and ICT, like in other places, did not just spring up overnight. It has a history
of it’s development and subsequent modification and improvement. This history, is what we will be
looking at briefly in this paper, to be specific, the History And development of Computer and ICT in
Nigeria. Let’s dive in briefly then.

History and development of Computer and ICT in Nigeria

Computer and ICT are two different things, and although few people mistake one for the other, gICT
is an umbrella term for all kinds of technology that aid the transmission of information. That is why it’s
full meaning is Information and Communication Technology. While a computer is a machine that accepts
raw data, processes it and sends it out as information. Critically looking then, a computer is a part of ICT.
This means that the computer is among the technologies used to transmit information, and therefore is a
part of ICT. Let’s however trace their history in Nigeria

Telecommunications had a modest beginning with the first trunk telephone service between two
towns in 1923 (Ofulue, 1980). It was not until the 1950s that substantial expansion began with the
introduction of VHF radio systems, 116 manual and five automatic telephone exchanges. In other to
enhance the quality of telecommunications services in Nigeria, the telecommunications arm of the Post
and Telegraph Department and the Nigerian External Telecommunications Limited, which previously
managed the domestic and external services respectively, were merged in 1984 to single profit-oriented
limited liability company called NITEL. Under NITEL, the number of automatic switching centers in
Nigeria grew to 227 in July 1986. The national telex network grew also to a total capacity of 12,800 lines
with only one international exchange having 1,500 trunks. By this time, the transmission media for toll
and trunks included terrestrial microwave, coaxial cable, and domestic satellite (Unchidiuno, 1986). But it
must be realized that more attention was paid to communication with the outside world than the
development and enhancement of the internal telecommunications system. The Lanlate Satellite Earth
Station, Nigeria’s first international satellite telecommunication gateway, became operational in March
1971 with one antenna (Lanlate I) tracking the Indian Ocean INTELSTAT satellite. A second antenna
called Lanlate II was added in December 1975. This one operates with the Atlantic Ocean satellite. By the
end of 1986, the two antennas provided a total 417 circuits, namely 248 in the Atlantic Ocean Region and
169 in the Indian Ocean Region. Another international earth station has been built at Kujama in Kaduna
State. With these facilities, most of Nigeria’s external telecommunications, including telephone, telex,
facsimile, and television, have been by satellite. The Nigeria Domestic Satellite System was established in
1975 with a network of six 11-metre earth stations operating on a leased INTELSAT satellite transponder.
The network was subsequently expanded to comprise three leased transponders each of 36 MHz, 20 earth
stations, a network monitor and control station, and backhaul radio links between the DOMSAT earth
stations and NITEL as well as stations of Nigerian Television Authority (Unchidiuno,1986). The first
transponder was allocated for television transmission, while the other two were reserved for
telecommunication services. A big breakthrough in ICT technologies occurred in the 1960s.
Computers, Internet, and Web changed our lives. The National Information Technology
Policy was approved in March of 2001. There also appeared such organization as
National Information Technology Development Agency which made Nigeria an ICT-
capable country and the main player in the ICT in Africa. Nigeria started to use ICT
technologies as a catalyst for sustainable development and the competitiveness on the
international arena. By the beginning of the 21 st century, Telecommunications
companies had already developed greatly, especially with the invention of mobile
phones. Companies such as MTN, ZAIN (Now Airtel), and many others were introduced
to Nigeria. Am upsurge in the transmission of information has occurred till date. Nigeria
is the most populous country in Africa. The country has huge urban growth rate at
present time. This is a good condition for the upsurge of Internet usage, and the usage
of ICT technology in such areas as education, health, agriculture, business,
government, and transportation. Such development has been observed since the last
15 years.

Internet usage level in Nigeria in 2012 was less than 16% and this is a very low
rate. In 2013 Nigeria had 1.38 Mbps of average download speed. The rate is extremely
low in comparison with 10.1 Mbps – the download speed of USA. In 2012 28.4% of the
population were Internet users. In 2013 the download speed increased to 5.22 Mbps.
Nigerian ICT development is under the rapid transformations especially in the field of
mobile communication. In 2013 about 83% of the population (166.6 million people) were
active subscribers of mobile phones. Today, more than 90% of telephone and Internet usage
is on GSM powered mobile devices. However, ICT in Nigeria keeps growing.

CONCLUSION

The Advent of Computer in Nigeria is not easily traceable, However ICT has, and can be easily
traced. And with the development of ICT, computer also grew. It is therefore hard to distinguish
the history of computer from ICT. ICT has grown at a terribly fast rate in Nigeria, through mobile
phones, people can access information at any time and place. And computers are used at
almost all specks and spot of the country.

WORK CITED
 Information and Communication Technology in Nigeria: Revolution or Evolution, L. A.
Ogunsola and W. A. Aboyade, Hezekiah Oluwasanmi Library, Obafemi Awolowo University,
Ile-Ife, Nigeria

 Ofulue, O. N. 1980. “Telecommunications Services in Nigeria in the Seventies: An

 https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.legit.ng/amp/1146264-history-ict-nigeria.html

 Unchidiuno, P. C. 1986. “Dedicated Satellite Communications System and NITEL Services ”.