By Helen Ovbiagele, Woman Editor Vista

Madam, is everything   all right?”  I asked a  neighbour who I saw standing outside a nearby private hospital with one of her sons.  “Hope no-one’s hurt.”

“Ah, my sister, dis one pass me o.  It’s the man who helps us around the house. His wife rang this morning, to say that they needed help to get him to the hospital.  She said he was making a call on his mobile phone when it exploded in his hand, and fragments from the phone set their room on fire.”

“That’s a pity.  I hope he’s not too badly hurt and the whole of his room and property didn’t get burnt down.”

“No, luckily for them he was on his way out so, it was the drape on the door of their room that caught fire. This was rapidly spreading, but the wife who was nearby, ran to fetch water to douse the flames. He got some burns on his hand and arm, but not too severe. He’ll survive.  The doctor says he’ll have to spend the night here so that they can monitor his health.  You know, he’s middle-aged, and his health has not been so good for some time now.  He’s in shock.”

“Well, we thank God for controlling the situation,” I observed.  “If he had been alone in the house, the injury would have been worse and the apartment could have been razed.  The shock would have prevented him doing anything to stop the fire.  I’m sorry o.”

“Thanks.  Accidents from the use of mobile phones seem to be on the rise.  It must be the poor quality phones that are allowed into the country.  The other day, the battery in my new mobile phone just melted.  It was incredible.

It was being charged when suddenly I noticed some liquid oozing out of the set. I screamed. What if a young child had touched the liquid and then use the same hand to eat?  He would be poisoned and the parents won’t know how.  The government must do something about all the poor quality products being dumped in our country.”

True, but whose duty is it  to control the quality of mobile phones that come into the country?  SON or NCC?
One of the good legacies of the Obasanjo administration was bringing gsm services into the country.  That was almost 10 years ago.

There’s no doubt that it has changed our lives enormously for the better, and our lives have never been the same again. Apart from improving the communication system, it has provided many jobs.    Two companies were first given the  licences to provide the gsm services, but several others have since then got theirs and we continue to have wide choices; triggering off fierce competition among the service providers.

Of course, we started off on a high note with only the elite in a position to afford to buy these phones, but gradually the doors were flung open for the masses to come on board.

There were several teething problems – high charges, poor services, etc., but where would we be without the gsm services? It is always a delight to see people of all walks of life clutching a phone to their ear and gesticulating wildly as they talk.  We’ve come a long way from the telephone services provided by the almighty NITEL, where we virtually had to go down on our knees to get the ‘men with the ladder ’ come fix our lines.

However, as the gsm networks expand, to bring services to all nooks and crannies of the country, the quality of services deteriorates, with ‘network problem’ on most lips every day.

That apart, the quality of the handsets allowed into the country is alarming.  The reality is that we want the phones to be affordable to the man on the street. That is good, but at what cost to life and health?

Trust the average Nigerian.  We seem to be addicted to ‘tokunbo or used’ goods.  Name anything (vehicles,
computers, refrigerators, freezers, vehicle parts, clothing items, cookers, televisions, radios, etc.) and our business people bring in the used versions.

The Western world and even Asian countries are just too glad to off-load their used goods on us. We eagerly grab them, thinking that since they had been used by expatriates, they must be good for us.  In some cases, our traders try to convince us that used items are of a higher quality than the new ones, which they claim are made with inferior raw materials.

If you need to change a vehicle part, your mechanic is bound to tell you that the ‘tokunbo’ version is of better quality and more durable than the imported new parts.  Maybe they’re right; maybe they are wrong.  There is no official guidelines on these used goods.

Oh, from time to time, we’re told that we shouldn’t buy used television or computers imported into the country because there have been instances when some of them have exploded.  For our health and our safety, we’re told to shun them, but many of these imported used items are basic things that we need for a better lifestyle, but which are out of the reach of the masses.

Many  Nigerians are hooked on imported used items because they’re more affordable than the new versions, so, we should find a way to make them safe for use.

Having gsm sets explode in our hands and faces, or their batteries melt  is quite  frightening.  The first thing that many parents do when they’re sending their young children away to boarding schools is to get them gsm sets so that there’s easy communication between them, and there can be peace of mind on both sides.  But, God forbid, that set you’re giving the child could be lethal.

I’m aware that gsm services are under the control of NCC, and right now there’s a campaign that all gsm phone users should go register with the relevant service providers, otherwise after the period of grace given, owners would not be able to avail themselves of the gsm service.  I learnt this is to reduce its use for criminal activities.  Fine, but what about the quality of the phones allowed into the country?

I have nothing against used items, but I think the importation of  all used electric/electronic products should be responsibly monitored and controlled. There should be guidelines for the importers and their suppliers to follow.  There should be lectures and seminars so that the regulatory bodies can educate our business people on what’s safe to bring into the country.

Used products may not have to carry  SON registration numbers like the new ones, but such interactive sessions with our importers would prod them into bringing in what’s safe.