Isa Pantami And Stakeholders Affirm 5G Safety As Nigeria Readies Launch

Dr Isa Ibrahim Pantami, Nigeria’s Minister of Communications and Digital economy has come out to say that the 5G technology is safe. His affirmation of the safety of 5G technology has mitigated the fears that many Nigerians bear in mind that 5G poses dangers to public health and security.

Pantami made this affirmation when he led the heads of agencies under his ministry to an investigative public hearing by the Senate Joint Committee on Communications, at the National Assembly Chamber in Abuja on Thursday, February 25, 2021.

Pantami spoke at the public hearing and articulated that the deployment of 5G in Nigeria poses no health dangers to its citizenry. His assurance is backed up by independent scientific reports published by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) and the World Health Organisation (WHO), both agencies of the United Nations (UN).

The Minister mentioned that 5G trials had been going on in the country in selected locations, after the President gave his first approval in 2019, and that his ministry has since then sought to clarify assumptions on the probable health risks of 5G installation and implementation in the country. In order to do this, the ministry, he said, has so far embarked on wide-ranging stakeholder consultations to ascertain the safety of 5G networks.

This affirmation of the safety of the 5G technology is coming some few days after Pantami revealed Nigeria’s new broadband plan. The Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, in a virtual training conference organized by the World Bank revealed that the new plan for Nigeria’s broadband for 2020-2025 will have download speed targets of a minimum of 25 Mbps in urban areas and 10 Mbps in rural areas. According to him, the new plan would be made available to at least 90percent of Nigerians, will have an effective coverage, and will not be more than 390 naira for 1GB of data. The purpose of the new broadband plan, he said, is to make the internet more accessible in the country, as well as increase broadband access throughout the country.

The deployment of 5G technology in Nigeria, coupled with the previously mentioned new broadband plan by the Ministry, if implemented, will definitely improve the internet service in Nigeria and make the internet more accessible. Probably, by that time, Nigerians will get to browse at a speed as fast as light, or even faster.