Abstract
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, there was a global shutdown of all physical businesses and activities, including higher education institutions. The shutdown was a measure to curtail the spread of the infection. Nigerian higher education institutions deduced a plan of action for the utilization of information and communications technology (ICT) to convey their programs online to their registered students. Regardless of the continuous development of students' own learning networks based on associations attributable to emerging technologies in the 21st century, higher education curriculum developers and teachers in Nigeria have neglected to engage students to find the degree to which students' own learning networks are of utmost importance. This case study applies a qualitative research approach. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with twenty Nigerian universities, and the semi-structured interview questions aimed to get the facts about the previous use of technology in teaching and learning in their respective departments. The semi-structured interviews also investigated whether the lecturers are ready for the emerging trend of a new era of digitalization for effective teaching. The analysis of the research findings shows that there are barriers that prevent effective and efficient ICT use and suggests possible solutions.