Internet usage among university students in Nigeria’s north-west political zone

Abstract The use of the Internet has become commonplace among university students world-wide. This paper examines how university students from the north-west political zone of Nigeria use the Internet. It explores such issues as the means by which the students access the Internet, for what purpose they access it, how long they have been accessing it and how often they access it in a week. The method used is survey with the instrument of questionnaire. The sample size of the study is 600 purposely taken from a federal, state and private university in the zone in order to reflect the diversity of ownership pattern of universities in Nigeria. The study finds that 96.05% of the students are Internet users while only 3.95% are not. It also finds that 77.86% of them access the net through their mobile phone handsets; 69.11% of them have been accessing the Internet for more than three years and that 71.61% use it every day. Key Words: Internet Usage, University Students, Nigeria *Haruna Ismail, Ph.D. is a lecturer in the Department of Mass Communication, Bayero University, Kano, Nigeria. JCMR Journal of Communication and Media Research, Vol. 10, No. 1, April 2018, 126 – 132