No evidence 5G has negative health impact, says Danbatta

Umar Danbatta, executive vice-chairman of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), says there is no scientific evidence to prove that radiation emissions from the fifth generation (5G) network technology will have negative health impact.

Danbatta said this on Thursday at a media capacity-building workshop held in Lagos, and organised in collaboration with TheCable.

The federal executive council (FEC) had, in September, approved the deployment of the 5G network across the country.

On December 2, the NCC announced three telcos as approved bidders of the 3.5 gigahertz (GHz) spectrum auction for the deployment of the 5G network.

The qualified bidders are MTN Nigeria Plc, Mafab Communications Limited, and Airtel Networks Limited, and the auction is scheduled for December 13.

Speaking on concerns raised over the possible health implications of the 5G network, Danbatta, who was represented by Anthony Ikemefuna, head of wireless networks at the NCC, said the radiation generated from 5G is smaller than what comes from a hair dryer.

“In February 2021, there was a stakeholders’ conference organised by the minister of communications and digital economy. There, he was able to tell stakeholders about the risks associated with 5G. Out of it, there is no scientific evidence to show that 5G causes cancer or things like that,” he said.

“We need to know that when you step out of your area of competence, you are actually disgracing yourself, because you’ll say things that you’ll eventually find out that you lied or you did not say the right thing and you’ll be ashamed and worst of all, some of them will still insist on what they’ve said which has been proven to be wrong.

“The biggest giver of electromagnetic waves is the sun. It’s also the biggest source of energy in the world. The World Health Organisation and the International Commission on Non-Ionising Radiation Protection (ICNIRP) came up with a document that says that the safe range of electromagnetic exposure is 10W/m2. Anything above that isn’t good for you.

“The microwave is 3W/m2. Hair dryer is 1W/m2. The smartphone is 200mW/m2. And then the 5G radio is 0.159w/m2. So, if you start looking at it empirically, from the available information, your 5G radio is safer than your cellphone.

“So, as of today, there is no evidence to show any negative impact on human health associated with radiation from 5G network. Apart from the World Health Organisation and the ICNIRP, the UK and also the Institute for Engineering and Technology have come out to say the same thing. If I don’t rely on the experts, who do I rely on?”

See photos below.