Telecom
Telecom Equipment and Radiation Concerns
Proliferation of antennas installed by Global System for Mobile communications (GSM) operators and microwave equipment by Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) counterparts have been condemned by environmentalist not only because it distort environmental esthetics by also its health implications. This report looks at the health concerns of using mobile phone or living close to microwave equipment
The liberalization and revolution being experience in the telecommunications sector has been greeted with mixed feelings, while greater percentage of Nigerians are celebrating for breaking the jinxes of access to telephone service that was exclusively reserved for the rich, very few are expressing concerns over fear of radiation from microwave equipments installed by operators in their base stations as well as handsets.
Radiation is electromagnetic and it consists of waves of electric and magnetic energy moving together through space at the speed of light. We live in a world of radiation and we are exposed to both natural and man-made radiations, every second of our life, we are exposed to all forms of radiation such as ultraviolet light from the sun and radiowaves from radio and television broadcasts.
Dr. M. A. Aweda consultant medical physicist department of radiation biology and radiotherapy
College of Medicine of the University of Lagos, said there are two major effects of microwave radiation exposures that includes heating effect manifested in form of temperature increase and indirect effect which is when microwave interacts with water molecules to break it down to hydroxides, peroxides, superoxides, acqueous electrons, radicals which are very reactive chemically. "These products are toxic to living cells," he said.
These concerns have been wide spread that some state governments are attempting to regulate the deployment of base stations by telecom operators citing radiation effect as reason. A case in point is the running battle between Lagos State Infrastructure and Maintenance Regulatory Agency (Lasimra) and telecom operators.
Aside the taxation issues in the attempt by Lasimra to regulate deployment of base transmitting stations the agency has cited health implications on the people living close to Base Stations. Mr. Jeo Igbokwe, general manager, Lasimra had relied on a report on a research which he alleged is "still gathering momentum" in the Daily Mail London of 7th August last year implying that there is a casual connection between cancer patients and the fact that they live close to mobile mast installations and in order words that proximity to mobile installations such as masts can cause cancer. He went further that the Lasimra proposes shortly to set up a research team who will undertake research into the effects of telecoms Base Stations in Lagos State.
Perceived health concerns over proximity of humans to telecommunications installations / equipment and use of mobile phones are unfounded though it has remained an issue of concern to both the general public globally and the global telecoms industry.
Telecoms operators in Nigeria are registered and responsible members of the global Industry body, the GSM Association (GSMA), the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) and the Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) Group. Thus, all Nigerian operators benefit from a huge body of research undertaken independently by the different industry bodies in conjunction with international bodies such as the World Health Organization (WHO) and the European Union (EU).
Past and ongoing research and studies have been conducted by the GSMA independently and in collaboration with WHO as well as by several other international organizations on possible effects on human health of proximity to telecommunications installations and equipment and use of mobile phones. These studies and research till date have failed to show any casual link between adverse health effects and telecommunications installations and equipment, and use of mobile phones.
In 2002 vodafone, a GSM operator in Britain had sought to install mobile telephone antennae in the towers of the Churches of St. Margaret, Hawes and Holy Trinity, Knaresborough, in the leads area of England. This action resulted in objections from residents within the vicinity of the Churches, primarily on the grounds of health risks from living close to the antennae. Vodafone petitioned the leads combined Court in the recent English cases of St. Margaret Hawes (No. 215 of 2002) and Holy Trinity Knaresborough (No. 233 of 2002).
The issue for determination before the Court was whether radiation from a telecommunications base station may affect the health of humans in the vicinities of such base stations and was resolved by determining the appropriate base station radiation emission threshold.
Vodafone’s case was based on the recommendation that the International Commission on Non Ionizing Radiation protection (ICNIRP) guidelines is the most widely accepted and should therefore be applicable. The objectors preferred the "Salzburg Resolution "(a different standard) which has lower thresholds than those of the ICNIRP guidelines.
Both vodafone and the objectors agreed that base station radiofrequency field are not strong enough to damage chemical bonds in the human body and are not cumulative over time. The parties also agreed that base stations radiations are less intense than those from a basic domestic appliance like the microwave and therefore cannot heat up (have a thermal effect on) a human body like such appliances could.
The Court held that research and scientific studies on human health and the relationship between exposure to radio frequency (RF) fields and different types of cancer, reproductive problems, congenital anomalies, epilepsy, headaches and suicide etcetera do not provide any conclusive evidence of adverse health effects. Further, the Court held that the balance of evidence to date suggests that exposures of RF radiation below the thresholds set by the UK National Radiation Protection Board (NRPB) and ICNIRP guidelines do not cause adverse health effects to humans.
However, all deployed telecoms equipment, installations, terminal equipment, mobile handsets and customer premise equipment sold by all Nigerian telecoms operations in their varied bundled promotions are type-approved by the telecommunications industry regulator, the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), in compliance with the electromagnetic field (EMF) thresholds set by the ICNIRP guidelines, the ITU, institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IFEEE), amongst other industry standards setting bodies and as such do not pose any health threats.
At the Nigerian Communications Commission’s (NCC) monthly Telecoms Consumer Parliament held in Maiduguri on 2nd May 2006, Dr. Bashir Gwandu, executive commissioner, Licensing and Consumer Affairs, NCC, who represented Engr. Ernest Ndukwe, executive vice chairman of the commission in response to an enquiry by a learned Professor of the University of Maiduguri, made a clarification amongst others, to the effect the "there is no known conclusive Scientific evidence at present to indicate that radiation from telecommunication masts or handsets could cause such dangerous diseases as cancer among humans.
Mobile phone
The widespread use of mobile phones is a recent phenomenon. The use of cell phones and related technologies will continue to increase for the foreseeable future. Wireless devices such as cell phones, utilize radio waves (radiofrequency or electromagnetic fields) to transmit information.
Naturally, reports that suggest cell phones radiation may impact children’s health would raise questions in the minds of parents.
Dr. O.B. Eletu, managing director, MMSL said that the use of mobile phones by children is increasingly widespread and commencing at a younger age.
According to him pre-adolescent children can be expected to be (potentially) more at risk in the use of cell phone than are adults because the absorption of microwaves of the frequency used in cell phones is greater in an object about the size of a child’s head – the so-called head resonance – than in an adult’s. Thinner skull of a child allows more penetration of the radiation into the brain than in an adult.
The developing nervous system and associated brain-wave activity in a child are more vulnerable to the pulses of microwaves used in GSM than in a mature adult
The increased mitotic activity Eletu said in the cells of developing children makes them more susceptible to genetic damage.
"A child’s immune system is generally less robust than that of an adult, so that the child is less able to cope with any adverse health effect provoked by (chronic) exposure to such radiation," he said.
Dr. Eletu quoted chairman of the National Radiological Protection Board (NRPB) conclusion that there was no proven health risks associated with mobile phones but that children should minimize their use as a precaution. He added that May 2001 research in America which suggested that children’s brains absorbed 50-70 per cent more radiation from handsets than adults because their skulls were smaller.
More so, NCC had stated that research so far conducted have indicate that the use of mobile phones and proximity to telecommunications installations and equipment including base Stations, masts and antennae amongst others do not pose a risk to human health.
Nigerian government has opened a high-stakes window of opportunity for international tech investors, offering direct presidential intervention and sweeping economic waivers for hardware companies that anchor their manufacturing hubs in Nigeria by November 2026.
Chief Idris Ibikunle Olorunnimbe
Chief Idris Ibikunle Olorunnimbe, the Chairman of the Governing Board of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), made this groundbreaking declaration during his ministerial-level address at the Digital Africa Summit Roundtable in Shanghai.
Highlighting the government’s total dedication to backing these new factories, Olorunnimbe stated: “Whatever it takes to get the plant standing, we will pursue it together, because every factory that rises in Nigeria grows our economy, employs our young people, and brings the price of a phone closer to what an ordinary Nigerian can pay”.
The offer is designed to stimulate immediate foreign direct investment and create sustainable employment for Nigeria’s teeming youth population.
The economic logic underwriting this regulatory ultimatum is both practical and urgent. Currently, the Nigerian telecommunications ecosystem is highly vulnerable to external economic shocks, with foreign-exchange swings and import duties constantly pushing genuine, formal devices out of reach for average citizens.
By localising the supply chain, the NCC seeks to anchor device pricing to the local currency, stripping away the pricing volatility tied to the US Dollar.
Olorunnimbe candidly stated that the administration is ready to deploy massive executive support, viewing connectivity infrastructure as the central engine of President Tinubu’s Renewed Hope agenda, which treats “connectivity as productive infrastructure for the whole economy rather than a luxury for a few”.
This infrastructural push is designed to directly fuel the NCC’s highly praised initiative to transition Nigeria into an era of digital free education through the zero-rating of educational portals.
Drawing inspiration from classic free education philosophies, Olorunnimbe has previously stated that asking a child to buy data to look at a textbook is the modern equivalent of charging tuition at the gates of a public school.
To operationalise this vision, the proposed locally assembled smartphones, MiFi units, and home routers will come pre-configured with embedded access to these zero-rated educational platforms. This ensures that digital literacy tools are structurally hardwired into the technology from the factory floor.
Additionally, these indigenous devices will come pre-installed with core government application portals, simplifying access to digital identity verifications, public health services, and agricultural extensions. By embedding these essential state services directly onto affordable, locally produced hardware, the NCC is solving the double dilemma of device cost and data expenses simultaneously.
This holistic blueprint bridges the digital divide and accelerates financial inclusion, as verifiable identity frameworks, like the NIN and BVN, will allow citizens to seamlessly transition into credit-linked device-financing schemes. Olorunnimbe noted that by pairing “verifiable identity with credit history and secure device technology, then the phone itself becomes the on-ramp: to a credit record, and then to the wider financial system”.
The visionary posturing of Chief Olorunnimbe and the executive leadership of the NCC mark a paradigm shift in how government agencies foster industrial growth. Rather than relying solely on traditional, rigid enforcement against informal markets, the Commission is actively building a structured, credible marketplace via policy incentives and strategic executive support.
Through this aggressive, forward-looking roadmap, the NCC is firmly establishing Nigeria as the digital powerhouse of the African continent, demonstrating that true digital inclusion is achieved when national infrastructure serves human development.
President Bola Tinubu has assented to the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) Act, 2026, replacing the 2007 law with a new legal framework aimed at strengthening Nigeria’s digital identity system, data protection and electronic trust services.
The new Act is expected to enhance the country’s digital identity ecosystem by improving identity management, securing personal data and promoting interoperability across government and private sector platforms.
According to a statement, the legislation aligns Nigeria’s identity management framework with the provisions of the Nigeria Data Protection Act (NDPA) and international best practices on privacy and data protection.
The Act introduces stronger safeguards for the collection, processing, storage and protection of citizens’ personal information.
It also designates the National Identity Management Commission as Nigeria’s root certification authority for the National Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) and Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI).
The designation empowers the commission to provide secure digital identity, authentication and electronic trust services across the country.
The Act further authorises NIMC to facilitate secure and interoperable data exchange among Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs), private organisations and other authorised entities.
It also provides for the deployment of the NIMC General Multipurpose Card as a unified identity credential for nationwide identity verification under the initiative tagged “One Card, Multiple Possibilities.”
The Federal Government said the implementation of the law would create a trusted, secure and interoperable digital identity ecosystem capable of improving access to services in both the public and private sectors.
It added that Nigerians, including those living in the diaspora, would benefit from easier access to identity services, stronger protection of personal data, enhanced cybersecurity and more secure digital transactions.
The government also said the law would provide a stronger foundation for digital governance, economic growth and long-term national development by enabling faster and more reliable identity verification and authentication processes.
Meta on Thursday convened the Nigeria Youth Safety Summit in Abuja, bringing together government officials, civil society organisations, parents, educators, content creators and youth leaders to strengthen collaboration on digital wellbeing and safer online experiences for young people.
L-R: Sylvia Musalagani, Head of Safety Policy, Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA), Meta; Ayodele Olawande, Honourable Minister of Youth Development; Sade Dada, Head of Public Policy, Anglophone West Africa, Meta; and Ahmed Yusuf Tanbuwal, Ag Director, Digital Literacy and Capacity Building Department, National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), during the Nigeria Youth Safety Summit organised by Meta on Thursday, June 25, 2026, in Abuja.
The summit, held at the Transcorp Hilton Hotel and co-hosted with the Federal Ministry of Youth Development, highlighted Meta’s investments in youth online safety through built-in protections, parental supervision tools and digital literacy resources aimed at helping teenagers navigate the digital space safely.
The event featured keynote presentations, panel discussions and a Parents Learn and Brunch session organised in partnership with the Federal Ministry of Women Affairs and Social Development.
Participants explored practical approaches to promoting safer online engagement while emphasising the importance of partnerships among government, technology companies, parents, schools and civil society in advancing digital wellbeing.
Speaking at the summit, Meta’s Head of Safety Policy for Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA), Sylvia Musalagani, said the company remained committed to providing teenagers with age-appropriate and safe online experiences.
“At Meta, our goal is to provide teens with safe, age-appropriate online experiences, and events like the Nigeria Youth Safety Summit reflect our commitment to promoting safer and more positive digital experiences for teens.
“With products such as Teen Accounts, Meta is putting the right protections in place so teens can explore their interests and express their creativity in a safe, age-appropriate space.
“We will continue to build the safety features and tools that families need to support young people online,” she said.
Musalagani explained that Teen Accounts represent a redesigned experience across Meta’s platforms specifically for teenagers.
She said the accounts are automatically enabled for all teenagers and include built-in safety features such as private accounts, the strictest messaging settings, restrictions on sensitive content, limited tagging and mentions to people they follow, daily time reminders after 60 minutes of use, and sleep mode between 10 p.m. and 7 a.m.
According to her, teenagers under the age of 16 require parental approval before making any changes that would reduce the default safety settings.
The Minister of Women Affairs and Social Development, Hajiya Imaan Sulaiman-Ibrahim, described child online safety as one of the ministry’s key priorities.
She said children require informed parental guidance to safely navigate the digital environment, stressing that online safety is a shared responsibility involving parents, technology companies and government.
“Child online safety is one of our central pillars and we are steadfast in our mandate to safeguard the Nigerian child from technology-enabled violence.
“Children cannot navigate the complexities of the online world without informed adults guiding them because safety begins with the parents.
“Safety is a shared tripartite responsibility between parents, technological industries and government.
“That is the fundamental premise of today’s summit, a hands-on walk through of parental supervision tools and Teen Accounts.
“We appreciate Meta for the collaboration and for creating a platform for these important conversations,” she said.
Meta also highlighted its parental supervision tools, which allow parents to receive notifications when teenagers report content, gain insights into who they communicate with, set daily usage limits, schedule breaks and monitor age-appropriate content interests.
The Minister of Youth Development, Ayodele Olawande, commended Meta for the initiative and noted its alignment with the ministry’s National Youth Data Protection and Awareness Training Programme.
“I want to thank Meta for this great achievement.
“At the ministry, one of the things we provide to all Nigerians is the skills to succeed in this digital world while making sure we protect them against emerging threats.
“We see a strong connection between the objectives of this summit and the goals of our National Youth Data Protection and Awareness Training Programme.
“We believe that keeping young people safe online is a shared responsibility.
“Government, technology companies, schools, parents, social organisations, community groups and young people themselves all have a role to play.
“We encourage Meta to make the tools, guides and learning materials from this initiative more widely available so that young people across Nigeria can continue to benefit from this laudable summit,” he said.
The summit concluded with discussions focused on strengthening partnerships, promoting digital literacy and advancing a shared vision for youth online safety across Nigeria.
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