This is the fourth post in a series that intends to examine the ICT environment in large metropolitan areas of Africa that receive relatively little publicity and lack ICT framework. These cities are often overshadowed by Cape Town, Johannesburg, Cairo, Nairobi, Accra, and Lagos but still have a bright future – albeit with a few additional hurdles to clear. Consider Ibadan, Nigeria:

Designed by IITA scientists during SP3 2007 at IITA Conference Center in Ibadan. {IITA Image Library}

When a Nigerian city comes to mind it is most often Lagos.  And Kano, the second-largest city in the nation, is known in the tech world for its long-planned ICT Park. Still, these cities’ successes need not overshadow those of smaller areas. Take, for example, Ibadan – once the largest city in Nigeria.

The most recent population figures for Ibadan confirm that this city still houses a sizable number of people:

• 2.84 million (UN World Urbanization Prospects, 2010), other sources say 3.3+ million
• 14^th largest metropolitan area in Africa (one-third the population of Lagos)

An in-depth search of the Internet turns up a very limited number of ICT endeavors and reports from the past few years. Here are some important points of information to know about Ibadan”s ICT progress based on the limited public information available. Most are related to learning institutions:

• The University of Ibadan Student Branch of the IEEE has an extremely modern and functional website that is regularly updated. http://www.ieeeui.org/
• University ICT policies have existed since 2001. http://www.oerafrica.org/ResourceDownload.aspx?id=36295.
• In 2010, a study of Ibadan tertiary institution websites found a variety of issues, most notably high page load time and minimal security. {Akinola, S., Akintayo, J., Longe, O. and Longe, Folake  A. (2010)  “Page Under Construction’ An Evaluation of the Usability of Tertiary Institutions’ Websites in Ibadan, Nigeria, Anthology of Abstracts of the 3rd International Conference on ICT for Africa, March 25-27, Yaoundé, Cameroon. Baton Rouge, LA: International Center for IT and Development.}
• The Women’s Collaboration at the University of Ibadan Business Centre has been going strong for decades. http://www.womenictenterprise.org/ibadan.htm
• Ibadan is home to a dozen or more environmental or technological schools, in addition to the IITA. http://www.sist-sciencesdev.net/IMG/pdf/SIST_Nigeria_Country_Study.pdf
• Ibadan International School has an innovative ICT lab. http://www.ibadaninternationalschool.com/ict.php
• ib-ix, Nigeria’s first Internet Exchange Point (IXP) existed for a few months in 2003, sending a maximum of 690 kbit/s. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ibadan_Internet_Exchange

Conclusion:

Ibadan is still in the nascent stages of ICT evolution. Hopefully, activity surrounding ICT at the university level will serve as a foundation for offshoot endeavors and initiatives in the coming years. Nigeria’s Vision 2020 plan, for example, could provide needed excitement and focus. However, this activity must somehow penetrate local businesses, the community, and importantly, the government. Fortunately, Lagos is only a short distance away, and can perhaps serve as a guide.