By Ignatius Okorocha
Senate on Tuesday at plenary directed its joints committees on Communication, Science andTechnology and Health to conduct a through investigation to determine status of 5G network in Nigeria.
The resolution of the upper chamber was sequel to a motion on “The present status of 5th Generation (5G) Network in Nigeria”,sponsored by Sen.Uche Ekwunife (PDP Anambra).
Ekwunife in her lead debate noted that there were growing concern on the on-going discussion about the current status of 5G network in Nigeria especially with regards if Nigeria was presently connected to 5G.
She said there were further concerns by some scientists and medical experts that emission from 5G towers could adversely affect health of citizens by causing symptoms like damage to the eyes and immune systems among other adverse effect of the network.
According to her, 5G network has also been reported to hold a lot of promise for mobile broadband services because of its faster speed and better capacity.
She said concerned that the uncertainty surrounding whether or not the 5G network has been launched in Nigeria will continue to fuel the speculations and rumours concerning the deployment of 5G network and its faster effect on the citizen of Nigerian.
The lawmaker noted that several countries, including Switzerland, one of the world leaders in the rollout of 5G mobile technology has placed an indefinite moratorium on the use of 5G network because of the health concern.
She stressed the need for the upper chamber to investigate the status of 5G network in Nigeria to ensure that Nigerian citizens are not exposed to unreasonable risk of great bodily injury or harm.
Having won the support of her colleagues at plenary yesterday, he President of the Senate, Ahmad Lawan directed the concerned committees of the Senate to also investigate the technological impact of the network on Nigerians and report back to plenary within two weeks.
