Impacts of Social Media on Rural Security in Oke-Ogun Area of Oyo State, Nigeria

Abstract

Insecurity is now a global concern, and Nigeria is having its own fair share of this challenge. Presently, there is hardship in Nigeria, occasioned by high cost of living and insufficient food production. This is largely due to insecurity in the rural areas, which is responsible for agriculture and food production. This shows gross inadequate and inefficient public security provision. One of the emerging technologies for managing security challenges is the social media. Therefore, this paper examines the impacts of the adoption of social media on rural security in Oke-Ogun area of Oyo State, Nigeria. Using survey design and questionnaire as the instrument, analysis of primary and secondary data through descriptive and inferential statistical tools, the findings show that there is moderate adoption of social media platforms in the Oke-Ogun area, significant experiences of previous rural insecurity activities, fair usage of the platform for various rural security-enhancing activities, and moderate impacts of social media on rural security in the area. The paper recommends increased budgeting, improved communication infrastructure, more engagement and orientation on the specific-purpose-use of social media for rural security, and censoring programmes that can enhance security and deliberately establishing media platforms for security issues, to strengthen the impacts of social media on rural communities in Nigeria.