CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
Background Of The Study
Small and medium businesses (SMEs) are widely recognized as effective vehicles for wealth growth, job creation, and long-term sustainability. According to studies, SMEs have maintained their status as the backbone of both developed and developing countries, accounting for between 70 and 95 percent of all business entities in most countries and providing between 50 and 80 percent of employment (Ogbechie, & Anetor 2015). SME’s play an important part in Nigeria’s economy, providing employment and income prospects for low-income workers. The overall number of individuals employed by the SME sector in Nigeria as of December 2017 was 84.02 percent of the total labor force, according to the National Bureau of Statistics (National Bureau of Statistics 2017).
Social media has played a critical role in boosting the competitiveness of SMEs in an era marked by global cutthroat competition, a knowledge-based economy, technical advancements, and innovation (Aremu, & Adeyemi 2011). One of the requirements of social media, according to Oso (2011), is that it may be considered as a strategic tool for economic improvement, that is, it can contribute to a country’s cultural, human, social, political, and economic development. Twitter is one of these social media outlets that aids economic development.
Over the last ten years, Twitter has become a source of livelihood, friendship, and information in Nigeria. As a result, the Federal Ministry of Information and Culture’s recent Twitter ban has reverberated throughout Nigeria, affecting millions of people.
However, freedom of expression is not the only issue (Vanguard News). Nigerian businesses are particularly vulnerable to the consequences of the current Twitter ban.
Small and medium businesses are critical to Nigeria’s economic development, employing as much as 60-70 percent of the country’s workforce. SMEs in Nigeria, which number at 117.4 million, account for 48 percent of the country’s GDP, 96 percent of enterprises, and 84 percent of employment. Many SMEs have taken advantage of the Internet, particularly social media, for marketing and customer support. Small and medium businesses are critical to Nigeria’s economic development, employing as much as 60-70 percent of the country’s workforce. SMEs in Nigeria, which number at 117.4 million, account for 48 percent of the country’s GDP, 96 percent of enterprises, and 84 percent of employment. Many SMEs have taken advantage of the Internet, particularly social media, for marketing and customer support. This is evidenced by the large number of vendors on Twitter. While these companies may relocate to other platforms, their postings may not receive as much attention as they do on Twitter. As a result, the purpose of this research is to look into the impact of the Twitter ban on SMEs in Nigeria.
Statement Of The Problem
Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala estimates that 39.6 million Nigerians use Twitter, with 20% of them advertising their businesses and 18% looking for work (Vanguard news). The indefinite suspension of Twitter has left a slew of small and medium-sized enterprises in Africa’s most populous country and largest economy reeling. The prohibition is thought to have a negative impact on Nigerian businesses who use Twitter to conduct specific operations. The ban’s rippling effect, according to the Vanguard online daily, will affect economic operations, some of which are sources of income for millions of young Nigerians, as well as online news outlets that use Twitter to increase their reach and bring news closer to the people. It stated that, in terms of the ramifications for technologically-based financial service providers, “Fintech companies without physical locations use Twitter to keep clients informed about their product offerings and promotions. Furthermore, Telecos uses its social media accounts to address a number of client concerns as well as inform them about current discounts.” This recent change will have a significant impact on investment platforms such as Piggyvest and Flutter0wave, among others, in terms of how they reach out to their clients online. In light of the foregoing, the purpose of this study is to investigate the impact of the Twitter ban on small businesses in Nigeria.
Objective of the study
The major goal of this research is to see how the Twitter ban affects small companies in Nigeria. The following are the objectives of this research:
Determine whether Twitter’s suspension will have a detrimental impact on Nigerian SMEs.
Determine whether the Twitter ban will have an impact on SMEs’ customer interactions.
Determine whether the Twitter ban would have an effect on Nigerian SMEs’ revenue.
Research Hypothesis
An experimental statement that shows the relationship between two or more variables is referred to as a hypothesis. It can be tested and accepted or rejected based on whether or not it agrees or disagrees with the statistical test.
The following hypotheses will be tested in this study:
H01: In Nigeria, the Twitter ban will have no detrimental impact on SMEs.
H02: In Nigeria, the Twitter ban will have little impact on SMEs’ business customer interactions.
H03: In Nigeria, the Twitter ban will have no impact on SMEs’ revenue.
Significance Of The Study
This research will be useful in a variety of ways. To begin, this research will inform the Nigerian government about the economic implications of the Twitter ban, specifically how it affects the growth of SMEs in the country. The study will also tell them about Twitter’s economic contribution to Nigeria and how it has provided opportunities for many Nigerians to earn money. This study will educate SMEs on possible strategies to implement in order to absorb the ban’s significant impact. Finally, this study will serve as a resource for students, academics, SMEs, and even the general public who may wish to conduct research in this area.
Scope Of The Study
This research is confined to assessing whether the Twitter ban will have a negative influence on Nigerian SMEs, whether the Twitter ban will harm SMEs’ business customer interactions, and whether the weather ban will affect Nigerian enterprises’ income. Hence this study is constrained to chosen SMEs in Port-harcourt, Rivers State.
Limitations Of The Study
The following are some of the study’s limitations:
Finance: Because of the economic difficulty that many individuals, including academics, are experiencing, a larger sample size that would have allowed the work to cover a wider range of topics has become impossible. As a result, this project would be limited to a small number of SMEs in Port Harcourt, Rivers State.
Time: It was not uncommon for the researcher to be confined by a time constraint, as this constituted a severe threat to the study’s successful coverage. The researcher intends to interview all of the respondents from the selected SMEs, but due to the researcher’s different activities, which include academics, job schedules, and other social activities, this has become nearly impossible.
Definition Of Terms
Use of media platforms
In general, social media refers to any new media technology that allows for interactive sharing of information, videos, photographs, text, and comments via websites such as Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, Linkedin, Youtube, and blogs.
Twitter is a microblogging and social networking website based in the United States that allows users to send and receive messages known as “tweets.”
Small and medium-sized businesses are referred to as SMEs.
REFERENCE
MA Aremu and SL Adeyemi (2011). In Nigeria, small and medium-sized businesses are a survival strategy for creating jobs. The Journal of Sustainable Development is a peer-reviewed publication that focuses on
The National Bureau of Statistics is a government agency that collects and analyzes data Nigeria’s small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in 2017. Available:thenationonlineng.net/smes-contribute-48-gdp
R. Ogbechie, F. Anetor (2015). In Lagos State, Nigeria, an assessment of succession planning in family-owned enterprises. European Journal of Business and Management is a publication dedicated to the study of business and management in Europe.
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