Fast Food in Ibadan: An Emerging Consumption Pattern

Abstract

In its modernization garb, development has come to mean the inculcation of foreign values resulting in the fundamental transformation of modernizing nations. Ironically, little attention is being drawn to the consequences of modernizing influences. This is the core of the article. Through qualitative research methodology consisting of in-depth interviews (IDIs), participant observation and informal interviews, the article examines the emergence and ascendancy of fast foods in Ibadan, Nigeria. Our finding is that the middle class, the youth and children, as conveyors of imported cultures (into which they have been socialized), are the major customers whose values are projected through marketing strategies by the fast food outfits. Unfortunately, the health implications of these foods have not been properly grasped by these consumers, and neither have the market operators attempted to sensitize them. The article concludes that even when modernization influences are to be incorporated in the globalizing world, their initiatives must be well contextualized, comprehended and their contours managed for objective development to be achieved and sustained.