•Speaks On The Latest 5G Technology
It is no more news that the Computer village in Ikeja, Lagos is a selling and buying hub for IT products. It is a pace-setter in electronic goods, a platform where entrepreneurs of different colours have opportunities to ply their trades. With its sight set beyond the shores of Nigeria, attracting foreigners from other African, European, Asian countries and even the United States of America (USA). Business transactions daily generate millions of Naira.
But what has been the fate of transaction since the sudden shutdown of the market because of the Covid-19 pandemic could not but be a source of concern for patrons and traders. City People’s Assistant Editor, SUNDAY ADIGUN, spoke with the President of Computer and Allied Products Dealers Association of Nigeria, (CAPDAN), Mr Ojikutu Adeniyi Ahmed, and he speaks in the interview exclusively on how the lockdown has affected the market and why everybody must embrace the new 5G technology.
What is your take on the recent invention of 5G technology?
In the first instance, I would like to explain what the 5G technology is. 5G technology is in the same class with its predecessors.
5G is basically an improvement on the 1G, 2G, 2.5G, 3G, 3.5G, 4G and the introduction of the 5G is the latest in the literal development of the technology. it’s just a faster speedy radio-wavelents or radio-signal.
5G is just a gadget of increased speed, a times 20 of the 4G’s speed wavelents. That is to say that, the speed of downloading a movie, the speed of your system will be faster than what it’s used to be. Movie that you used to download for 2hours, would now be downloaded within 3-4minutes with the 5G technology. Before now, the 4G technology has a band weight, channel of about 700mgh and 2.5gh.
If 4G is between 700mgh and 2.5gh, now what 5G is giving you 2.5gh to about 28gh or more, so, the micro speed/second, while 4G which is about 1g/s 5G will be like 10g/s, that is the speed at which information will be displayed. The speed at which your communication gadget will boot and the speed will be much faster. So, 5G is much enhanced.
Very fast and its minimum is 2.4gh upward, For your special information, the radio transmission, even in some establishment in government in Africa, may be the national intelligence agency, the security services, the military bases. In some developed countries; some military bases have up to 100gh, but not for public use.
This 5G now, as it goes into commercial services, it would increase speed for commercial users. It is the first time the world is introducing it. As it is, it’s just a gadget that increases speed unlike what we used to have.
Does 5g has any link with pandemic, coronavirus?
No. To some conspiracy theorists, 5G is being installed as government is ordering lockdown of states and country because the government wanted to install 5G. Conspiracy theorists further said that 5G was mainly introduced because the government wanted to inplant biochips in people’s bodies.
They would induce people to take vaccine, so that by the time they are infected with viruses they would now come back to ask for the vaccine. They went on to claim that the vaccine would be what the Western world or the Chinese would compulsorily ask people to take, so it would now facilitate human bodies to work directly with the new technology of 5G.
It has to do with the usage of internet, which 5G will enhance. Now, it is easy for anybody to think about anything most especially in this technology age. Anybody could think about anything, but at the same time, the reason we have knowledge about internet is not just for the social things, it’s basically for us to acquire knowledge.
I want to say to you that up till date, WHO, international regulators, commissions like independent scientific organisations, the commission on non-iozing radiation protection commission and lots of other organisations have not categorically said that 3G or 4G technology has negative impact on human health.
But it is our obligation as an educated persons to throw light on issues, so that ignorance will not prevail over the land. Let me say this, when coronavirus was detected in China, some people accused the US because of the trade rivalry between the 2 countries, they also said US also attacked Iran with the virus, 3 weeks after it had gained entrance into Europe and later enter US.
The theorists turned round and alleged that China intentionally started the biological weapon and tested it in Wuhan and now they are using it to attack the US because they wanted to sell vaccine they produced. Now, don’t let us forget that the world is becoming a flat place, meaning, this flat place the world is becoming, and implication of this is that, China needs to sell to America, China needs to sell to Africa, even China needs to sell to every country in the world.
If any part of the world infects the other with any virus, you are already affecting your own market. If you produce, how do you sell or where will you sell it. Every nation needs one another, either developed or underdeveloped.
The world has become a global entity whereby interaction has increased, knowledge is being shared, market is being opened and progress of the world has to do with collectivism. Therefore, there is no connection between 5G and the pandemic; called coronavirus.
As a matter of fact, there has not been any proof to justify that. People should not just be speculating based on the fact that they just feel or somebody just sit on his bed, and say jargons and put it online without empirical research, many go on twitter, Instagram to fabricate all manner of lies, and when you look at their pedigree you will discover that they are people who just want cheap popularity, and they just want to be in the news.
These are people who, if they go to UAE, theywould switch to 5G and when they get back to Nigeria they would say 5G is not good. My fear is that people would not start burning the entire masts that are useful for us in the name of destroying 5G masts. Funny enough, most of the masts are not owned by telecommunication companies.
They are owned by young guys, young CEOs, who are just doing their legit businesses by renting farming out their masts to all service providers. That is why you can see MTN. GLO, ETISALAT etc. on masts. If we do not educate people and they start destroying all these assets, it will affect them and we won’t also be able to communicate.
What are the advantages of 5G?
The advantage would be in terms of better cities, a smart city in terms of traffic, health, taxation, business and information. If, for instance, you want to sell lady bags at a particular age, the information, data will be more precise and accurate because the 5G will let you know all the people you want to sell to.
Because everybody data information, buying behavior, buying attitude, customer’s behaviour, customer’s attitude, customers journey, these are the new areas in business and economy that the 5G will really assist in. so the projection, prediction and all that will be faster and better. In terms of speed, it will assist as well.
Furthermore, 5G will be able to study more on the internet usage and understand it. Therefore, it’s going to be a new user’s experience. It is going to be a new way of using smart ‘phones, New ways of communication and new ways of doing things and the only thing we can do is to keep moving forward as a people, as a country.
And do we take advantage? We have to study more. Be ahead of technology, sit back study 5G, look at how you can use 5G to be able to improve on your own business, improve on your life and your studies. When it comes to operation, medical science and education, I will tell you that many people would sit back in their houses and take BSC, MSC and Phd from the comfort of their homes.
So school, educators, everybody should be looking for how to take this advantage. Nobody is going to build a big school anymore. In the coming years, people will sit back at home doing courses that somebody who wants to go to the University will do.
You will get so many things done. People will be in Nigeria and they want to conduct an operation, surgeon will not need to come from anywhere in the world. This is the new gold and we should all try as much as possible to queue into it.
How has this pandemic affected your constituency?
The implication is that the Covic-19 lockdown has affected a lot of businesses, even before the lockdown, people will be saving money for food and wellbeing of immediate family members survival not basically technology, in as much as technology industry that would benefit in terms of data and people want to keep up with loved ones and business associates. The lockdown has actually affected the industry because when people are looking for money to buy food they won’t be looking for money to buy ‘phone and gargets.