Telecom
Simple Tips to Prevent Earphone Abuse
While a lot of people are aware of the impact of noise on their hearing, many remain unfortunately oblivious to the harm they are causing until the effects of years of accumulated damage begin to manifest.
Apart from other forms of exposure to noise which may cause damage to the ear, constant use of earphones can also result in severe damage to sensitive organs including the brain, if not checked.
Yudala – Nigeria’s leading composite e-commerce company – runs the rule over the widespread abuse of these products which come in different shapes, sizes and decibel levels.
Certain products appeal to almost all classes of shoppers. An earphone or earpiece, as the case may be, is one of such ubiquitous devices.
While the majority of customers who troop into Yudala stores nationwide or visit the website fall into the youthful category, it is worth stating that the love for earphones does not appeal only to the youth.
Unarguably, the ever-increasing use of mobile phones and the love for music are major reasons for the booming market in earphones.
Music, for many in the young and adult population, is indeed a lifestyle that cannot be compromised.
When it’s time to find relief, exhilaration or succour in the clear, resonant sounds of music without constituting a nuisance to others especially in shared spaces – offices or public transport inclusive, the earphone remains the best companion.
The earphone is also a fitting tool for making and receiving calls. It is a common sight in most corporate establishments to see company executives rely on Bluetooth-enabled earpieces, wireless devices or the plain, old earphones for this purpose. In most cases, these devices stay connected to the device and the receiver’s ear all day long…
It is important to know that improper and occasional use of earphones may pose no danger to the ear drums. Improper use or abuse, however, may pre-dispose you to severe problems. One major form of abuse is increasing the volume when you can still keep it low and achieve raft listening.
Using earphones at a sufficiently high volume level may cause trauma to cochlear structure in the inner ear which gives rise to temporary or permanent hearing impairment or deafness.
The risk is higher especially in loud places as the volume often needs to compete with the noise of the environment. Noise pollution does not only emanate from loudspeakers or vehicular horns, it largely comes from our earphones.
Effects: If not careful, that tiny earphone can also have a negative remote effect on your sense organs. Your exposure to high sound pressure levels at high volume can be damaging to sensitive structures in the inner ear which affects other sense organs such as the eye, nose and tongue. Addiction to improper usage of earphones may result to a serious damaging exposure of the cells and tissues of the inner ear which could be in a dynamic state of injury, degeneration and/or repair. This has been termed as the acute phase of noise damage.
Bacteria from the ears of different people can easily travel through your earphones if you keep sharing them without proper sanitization. In most of cases, people who use earphones regularly experience more ear wax which results in tinnitus, ear infection and even problems in hearing. Apart from experiencing numbness and pains in the ear, other effects of wrong usage of earphones are brain deficiencies.
The electromagnetic waves produced by Bluetooth-earphones can cause serious dangers for your brain. However, no strong medical evidence has yet been found to prove it. But people who are daily users of Bluetooth, headphones and earphones have been found more prone to brain-related problems. The inner ear is directly linked to the brain, even a little infection in the inner ear can directly affect the brain and can lead to serious health issues.
Symptoms: Hearing damage from earphones is more common than from loudspeakers, even at comparable volumes. This is because the earphones are very close and almost in the ear. Some of the symptoms of ear damage are hearing loss (especially in noisy places), buzzing or ringing in the ears, slight muffling of sounds, difficulty in understanding speech, hearing strange noise, etc.
Precaution: Wear earmuff—style headphones even though they are more expensive than the other types. The best of them all is “noise-cancelling” headphones, which reduce environmental noise. This lessens the need to crank the volume above 50 percent. It is advisable to avoid using tiny earphones that directly go into the ear canals. Those big headphones which stay outside your ears are better. However, it is risky to wear them while on the road, especially in busy commercial cities such as Lagos, Port Harcourt, Onitsha or Aba. This, in itself, may expose you to other dangers on the road such as fast moving vehicles.
You can listen to music at a reduced/ softer volume for a longer time. Always keep your volume below 60% and limit your listening to under one hour per day. You can buy the newer ear phones that offer a tighter fit to block out more environmental noise, which sometimes is the reason for the volume increase. This would allow you to listen at a lower volume and save you the risk of hearing loss. Before shopping for one, please check out the quality and decibel information.
Avoid sharing your earphones with others to avoid bacterial infection. Make sure you change the sponge cover/ rubber cover of your earphones at least once a month. If your earphones doesn’t have sponge covers, make sure you clean them always.
Conclusively, ear phones are good but understanding their proper usage is vital to keeping our other sense organs safe from damage. It is wrong to use your ear phones when you are alone in the room. This is the time you should spare your ear drums and listen directly from the phone speakers.
The need for Nigeria to think outside the box in its need to drive towards global relevance with innovations and scientific developments will be on the front burner at the NITRA Innovative & Scientific Conference scheduled to hold on Thursday July 23, 2026 in Ikeja, Lagos.
NITRA
The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) will lead other delegates to discuss and take far-reaching decisions at the event, which has its theme as “Bridging Nigeria’s Digital Divide With Scientific Innovation”.
Other companies that have indicated interest in partnering with NITRA include mobile communications company, Tecno; Africa’s premier end-to-end AI solutions company, Hyperspace; and telecommunications data infrastructure company, Digital Realty.
Speaking on the proposed event, the Chairman, Nigeria Information Technology Reporters Association (NITRA), Chike Onwuegbuchi noted that the event will seek to create a platform for government and private organisations to deliberate on policies around scientific innovations in Nigeria, challenges, place of indigenous and foreign collaboration, roles of each stakeholder, and grassroots development in that regard, among others.
According to him: “The Federal government, with series of programmes and partnerships, has established the urgent need to create an ecosystem that thrives on scientific innovation, breeding institutions and individuals with a target of placing the country at the fore-front of Next-Gen development.
It is a known fact that digital and scientific innovations are crucial, not only to the survivability of a nation, but also to the sustainability of its growth and development, with significant effect on economic strength, global image, defense and security, government capabilities to function, and public health and safety, communication and digital footprint, among others.
The federal government is actively driving scientific innovation to foster economic diversification and build a $1 trillion economy by 2030. Efforts are heavily focused on commercializing research, establishing massive research funds, and funding strategic infrastructure, particularly in technology, biotechnology, and healthcare. Core government initiatives and policies include the newly instituted National Research and Innovation Development Fund (NRIDF), which aims to mobilize about $500 million annually to support research and the commercialization of scientific outputs; and the Nigeria Genomic City, a multi-ministerial initiative aimed at transforming Nigeria into a leading hub for genomics, precision medicine, and biotechnology. It is designed to protect indigenous data, stimulate artificial intelligence in health, and develop a highly skilled scientific workforce.
According to the General Secretary of NITRA, Mr. Chidiebere Nwankwo, the forum will also be a vehicle to propagating the views of decision makers to the public, thereby furthering the cause of public awareness and information dissemination on the topic.
The focus, he said will be on how Nigeria can sustain digital innovative growth and scientific development in Nigeria
The board of global payments company, PayPal, says a 53 billion dollars takeover offer from financial technology firm, Stripe, and private equity company, Advent International, does not adequately reflect the company’s long-term value.
PayPal
According to reports, the proposed acquisition, valued at 60.50 dollars per share, remains under consideration, with the board yet to formally respond to the offer.
The directors are said to be evaluating not only the financial value of the proposal but also the structure of the financing, the timeline for completing the transaction and the likelihood of obtaining regulatory approvals.
They are also considering the possibility of competing bids emerging.
Although the offer represents a premium of about 28 per cent above PayPal’s recent share price, the board believes the company could deliver greater value to shareholders if its ongoing turnaround strategy succeeds.
Following reports of the bid, PayPal shares gained about two per cent to close at 56.73 dollars.
Sources familiar with the discussions said Stripe and Advent have secured approximately 50 billion dollars in debt financing from JPMorgan and Morgan Stanley, while both firms would jointly contribute 17 billion dollars in equity.
Under the proposal, the two companies would jointly own PayPal instead of dividing its operations.
PayPal, Stripe, Advent International, JPMorgan and Morgan Stanley have all declined to comment on the proposed transaction.
The discussions come as PayPal seeks to strengthen its business after years of increasing competition from rivals including Apple Pay, Google Pay and emerging financial technology firms.
The company, which was valued at about 360 billion dollars in 2021, now has a market capitalisation of approximately 36 billion dollars.
Since assuming office as Chief Executive Officer in March 2026, Enrique Lores has embarked on a restructuring programme aimed at improving operational efficiency and restoring growth.
The restructuring includes the creation of three business divisions comprising Checkout, Venmo and Consumer Financial Services, and Payments and Crypto.
The company is also targeting 1.5 billion dollars in cost savings through the deployment of artificial intelligence technologies.
PayPal’s latest financial results indicated signs of recovery, with first-quarter revenue rising seven per cent year-on-year to 8.35 billion dollars, while total payment volume increased by eight per cent to 464 billion dollars.
If approved, the transaction would combine two of the world’s largest digital payments companies.
The combined business would process an estimated 3.7 trillion dollars in annual payment volume, significantly strengthening its position in the global online payments market.
However, analysts expect the proposed acquisition to face intense regulatory scrutiny because of the companies’ combined market share in merchant payment services.
To address possible antitrust concerns, the bidders have reportedly considered options, including separating PayPal’s Braintree business or other assets if required by regulators.
Sources said Stripe and Advent remain interested in pursuing the acquisition despite the board’s reservations, although negotiations are expected to continue.
Market observers are also awaiting PayPal’s earnings report scheduled for July 28 for further indications of the company’s financial recovery and future growth prospects.
Concerns over network reliability and its impact on Nigeria’s growing creator economy took centre stage at MTN Nigeria’s Data on Trial event, where content creator and streamer, Jarvis, challenged telecommunications operators to improve connectivity for digital creators.
Speaking during the event, Jarvis asked whether there were locations in Nigeria where uninterrupted internet connectivity could support real-life (IRL) streaming without network disruptions.
“Are there places where there is no breakage when streaming IRL?” she asked.
Her question highlighted the challenges faced by content creators who depend on stable internet services for live streaming, content uploads and real-time engagement with audiences.
Responding, MTN Nigeria’s Chief Technical Officer, Mr Yahaya Ibrahim, said network performance depends on several factors, including location, network coverage, device capability and the number of users connected to a particular base station.
He noted that operators continue to invest in expanding network capacity to meet the growing demand for data services.
Earlier, MTN’s General Manager, Network Performance and Quality Assurance, Mr Michael Ndukwe, explained the evolution of mobile network technology in Nigeria, from first-generation (1G) services to the current fifth-generation (5G) technology.
According to him, each phase of technological advancement has significantly increased network capacity and enabled new digital services.
Ndukwe cited Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) data showing that Nigerians consumed about 13.2 million terabytes of data in 2025.
He added that data usage reached approximately 4.06 million terabytes in the first quarter of 2026, reflecting the country’s increasing reliance on digital platforms and online services.
According to him, the growth is being driven by wider adoption of 4G and 5G networks, increased smartphone penetration, the proliferation of smart devices and expanding use of social media platforms.
Participants at the event noted that as more Nigerians build businesses and careers around digital content, access to reliable and high-speed internet has become critical to sustaining the country’s digital economy and creator ecosystem.
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