Influence of e-communication and digital culture on Nigeria's indigenous socio- cultural systems: A focus on Abeokuta and Ota, Nigeria

Advanced electronic technology is thinning out communication boundaries with impact on human cultures all over the world. Since communication is inevitable and technological advancement, irreversible, a new culture bordering on the digital is taking roots. Electronic communication and its child of necessity (digital culture) are determining the survival of cherished cultural values in developing societies. How would thousands of rich indigenous cultures fare under the emerging influence of e-communication and digital ethos? This study examined the effect of digital access on a culturally-entrenched Nigeria. Focused on the values and norms of major ethnic groups coexisting in the country's geo-cultural landscape, the study investigated the self-substituting and communicating influence of techno-digital connectivity. Adopting the survey method, purposive sampling technique was employed in selecting the sample size of 1,200 respondents in the mixed demographic towns of Ota and Abeokuta, south west Nigeria. In the same towns, Focus Group Discussions (FGDs) were executed among nine groups, each with nine participants. Results showed that Nigerians are generally technology-literate, having mass contact with the world via e-communication gadgets and commercial data subscriptions. Notably, the ability to speak local languages/dialect is diminishing; whilst the poverty of honesty, mutual trust, and care for the neighbor is increasing. Respondents highlighted declining moral and cultural tendencies especially among the youths and the rise in individualistic and criminal disposition generally. Marital disruptions and increasing disregard for traditional institutions are also confirmed. The study concluded that there is a connection between the levels of digital access by Nigerians and identified cultural dislocation favouring the entrenchment of foreign cultures.