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Last updated: 10 march, 2010 - 18:06 GMT

Nigerian village hits the net

Komla shows the features of the phones

The people of Gitata hope the phone can bring education to their village

A global survey commissioned by the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ for the SuperPower Season suggests that the vast majority of us - 80% - believe the internet is now a fundamental right. But only around 16% of us actually have access to the world wide web.

The ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ has installed two internet-capable mobile phones in a remote Nigerian village which has had no access to the web up to now. It's the village of Zangon Gitata, about 60 kms from the capital, Abuja.

It is a small village of mainly traders, and the people here are poor, but very hard working.

But the gap - both social and economic - between Gitata and the capital, Abuja, is visible the moment you get here.

It is not connected to the national electricity grids - so instead of the noisy TV sets and radios you would expect, the mains sounds are those of domestic animals and the occasional motorbike.

There is no running water. The morning ritual here is to get in line.

Women and children wake up as early as three in the morning to fetch water from a communal source.

The houses are mainly mud brick structures with corrugated roofing sheets. It is not difficult to imagine what impact bringing the internet, with all its wonders - and of course its pitfalls - to a community like Gitata would have.

Desperately needed

One of our internet pioneers, a farmer called Nicholas, spoke to the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ's Komla Dumor about his online experiences so far.

"I was feeling very excited when the mobile phone was given to me: I don't have access to any computer," he said.

"[Now] I can browse information from the internet.

"The problem was with the service provider at times, because the signal is not much. Every area in Gitata that you can get service you must go around to get the best service signal."

He explained that he found it difficult to get much access, however, because when his battery is low he gets charged to top it up again, which can be expensive.

"How can a poor man have access to information if such charges continue?" he said.

"I want the government to intervene in this situation so that everybody should have right to information at least at a subsidised rate.

The entire community has been following what has been going on, and the people have taken a lot of interest in the progress of the project.

Umar, one of the local opinion leaders, said the internet is something that a community like Gitata desperately needs.

"Gitata is a small settlement and very close to the capital," he said.

"I think we should benefit from something like the internet because having access to information you can at least voice your problem to the world and to the government.

"Supposing we have access to the internet, the government will know our problems - and the world as well. Therefore I think the internet is very very important, [and] very educational to our children."

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