Theorising Digital Inequality Reproduction in Nigeria: Structural Mechanisms, Capability Deficits, and Emancipatory Technology Policy

Digital inequality in Nigeria is not merely a gap in technology access but a complex, socially reproduced phenomenon embedded within intersecting structures of economic stratification, geographical marginalisation, gender hierarchy, and institutional exclusion. This study theorises the reproduction of digital inequality in Nigeria through an original analytical framework that integrates critical sociology's structural reproduction theory with Amartya Sen's capabilities approach and postcolonial technology studies. The research employs a critical ethnographic methodology combining 30 months of multi-sited fieldwork in three contrasting communities, an urban technology hub in Lagos, a peri-urban neighbourhood in Kano, and a rural community in Ebonyi State, with 112 in-depth interviews and participatory observation of daily digital practice. Findings document the mechanisms through which digital inequality is reproduced across three structural levels: macro-level policy and market configurations that concentrate digital infrastructure investment in commercially profitable zones; meso-level institutional practices that embed digital exclusion in school, workplace, and financial system interactions; and micro-level capability deficits that prevent individuals from converting physical technology access into functional digital agency. The study develops an original Digital Inequality Reproduction Theory that explains why conventional digital inclusion interventions targeting device and connectivity access consistently fail to achieve lasting capability outcomes for marginalised populations. Emancipatory technology policy principles are derived from the theoretical framework to guide the Federal Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy's digital inclusion strategy. Keywords: digital inequality, capability approach, structural reproduction, Nigeria, emancipatory technology policy.