By Nneka Nwogwugwu
The Senate has approved the deployment of the 5G network in Nigeria.
The approval followed the consideration of the report of the Joint Committee on Communications, Science and Technology, ICT and Cyber Crimes, and Primary Health Care and Communicable Diseases.
The report was presented by the Chairman, Senator Oluremi Tinubu (APC, Lagos Central), during plenary on Wednesday.
According to the Vanguard, the Senate adopted the Joint Committee’s recommendations, adding that the technological impact of 5G will revolutionize Nigerians’ way of life from education to agriculture, security to entertainment, and governance in general if the technology is deployed.
The Senate also explained that its decision to recommend the deployment of the 5G technology was based on information provided by Government establishments such as the Federal ministry of communications and Digital Economy, the Nigerian Communications Commission, the Office of the National Security Adviser, the National Information Technology Development Agency etc, and other telecoms professional organisations such as the Association of Telecommunications Companies of Nigeria (ATCON), Association of Licensed Telecommunications Operators of Nigeria (ALTON) and the Global System of Mobile Communications Association.
It, however, added that though no license has been issued to any Mobile Number Operator on commercial basis, Nigeria should still observe the trend of 5G deployments around the globe and engage in extensive sensitization of the public.
Speaking on the conspiracy theories developed by some critics on 5G network, the Senate insisted that the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), in collaboration with the Mobile Network Operators (MNOs), Federal Ministry of Health, Federal Ministry of Science and Technology, Federal Ministry of Environment, and the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) among others, should locally conduct a scientifIc experimental study over a period of about 6 months to ascertain if a correlation exists between 5G networks and public health.