Beware! Nomophobia rampant in Nigeria

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LATEST research on Nomophobia explosion indicates that more mobile phone users are getting addicted to their phones and when separated could cause some fuss, which may not be entirely pleasant. So, beware!

Experts at the free and open source online encyclopedia, Wikipedia, defined Nomophobia as the fear of being out of mobile phone contact. The term is drawn from an abbreviation for “no-mobile-phone phobia.”

DigitalSENSE News investigations revealed that ‘Nomophobia’ was coined during a study by the UK Post Office which commissioned YouGov, another UK-based research organisation to look at anxieties suffered by mobile phone users in 2008. Just as women worry more about losing their phones, than men, who usually carry two phones.

With the use of mobile phones globally, the figure of those affected by Nomophobia, especially in Nigeria with over 136, 038, 021 connected lines as at April 2012; may have risen to 66 per cent in population, and are likely to be affected by Nomophobia.

According to the latest study by the United Kingdom (UK)-based SecurEnvoy, an estimated 66 per cent of the population is at risk of suffering Nomophobia and equating that to the 101, 077, 658 active lines in Nigeria, could mean that an estimated 66, 711, 250 subscribers may be at risk of Nomophobia.

However, a Lagos-based spear parts dealer situated at the Westminister, along the popular Oshodi-Apapa Express way, Olodi-Apapa area of Lagos, Mr. Celestine Dom, is a typical modern-day Nigerian whose small scale business of selling new tyres of all sizes, revolves on his two mobile phones.

As said by Dom, his business now depends largely on the number of calls he receives per week, of which 85 per cent are business calls. For this reason alone, he would not dare to forget his two phones anywhere or even distancing himself for 10 minutes without checking if he had a missed call.

“I can’t stay without my phones for a whole day and which batteries are fully charged,” he said.

For him, there are two things that could lead to him feeling Nomophobic; if those mobile phones get missing or the batteries just went blank, saying, “Whenever the battery of any of the phones is down, I feel uncomfortable and make every effort to ensure its powered on in the shortest time.”

This, Dom says, is because during such a time, the mere thought that customers may be calling that particular line in trying to reach him, spurs him to ensure it’s powered on as soon as possible.

Dependence on his mobile phones for livelihood and sustaining of his small enterprise is not a joke as he openly berates co-dealers, that if their phones are not working, it means they are not working themselves.

Celestine Dom represents an average Nigerian, who now finds it pretty difficult to forget his mobile phones at home, not to mention distancing himself from the mobile device. Unknown to him, he is suffering from Nomophobia.

Though the case of nomophobia is yet to be clinically proclaimed in Nigeria, there is evident that more Nigerians may be in the league of those affected with this affliction originating from loss of contacts on basic phone availability.

Dr. Muideen Owolabi Bakare of the Federal Neuro-Psychiatric Hospital, New Haven, Enugu, Enugu State, told DigitalSENSE News exclusively, there are two categories of people who are usually involved in usage of a product or device.

One, he said, are those who are not bothered whether they are with their phones or not. That is, they are not addicted to their phones and rarely communicate with the phones. He stressed, this category, may include old and illiterate parents in the villages.

The other category, Dr. Bakare noted, of course, are those who are addicted, who feel devastated if they lose their phones.

He explained that their daily routine activities revolves around their phones and solves a lot of communication and transaction problems with their phones.

“They feel incapacitated without their phones and include the youths and some middle age individuals,” Dr. Bakare said, it is an area for further research.

Reacting, an ardent mobile phone user, Mr. Ben Uzor, told DigitalSENSE News that if he ever forgets his mobile phone on his way to work, even if he has reached the office, he would find a way of getting the phone as quick as possible.

“I feel incomplete without my mobile phone. I will go home and pick it up,” he declared.

Meanwhile the UK-based survey of 1,000 people in employment, conducted using OnePoll, revealed that two thirds of respondents fear losing or being without their mobile phone.

DigitalSENSE News notes that the study, sponsored by SecurEnvoy, also stated that global leader of Tokenless two-factor authentication, reveals 41per cent of people interviewed, in an effort to stay connected, have two phones or more.

Chief Technical Officer and co-founder, SecurEnvoy, Mr. Andy Kemshall observed that there is another study into mobile phone use that found people check their phones, on average, “34 times a day so it wouldn’t take long for you to realise if you’d misplaced your device.”

 
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How tech-giants promote child-labour

Over the past decade, consumer electronics have become a cornerstone to most people across the world and if they are like most Nigerians, they probably own a cell phone, computer and at least one television, but the question no one seems to be asking is ‘Where do all these gadgets come from?’

It would amaze you to know that these electronics products are manufactured in some of these cities, namely Reynoza in Mexico; Jaszerbereny and Polgar in Hungary; Chennai in India; Hanoi in Vietnam; and Pathum Thani in Thailand, but some of the leading electronics makers may have contributed adversely to impoverishing the world children, through child labour.

Some of the beneficiaries of this situation include Samsung, Apple, General Electronics, Nokia, Motorola, Dell, Panasonic and dozens more, who are direct or indirectly contributing to child labour at the countries where they have assembling plants, based on poor wage apart from poor working conditions.

It was also discovered that 36 per cent of all children under 14 were employed in manufacturing during the period under review, while the average work day for each child is 10 hours.

According to a recent research by Jen Rhee, a Master student, an estimated 90 per cent of American adults live in a household with at least one cell phone, 59 per cent of American adults own a desktop computer, 52 per cent own a laptop computer; while 96 per cent of American households have at least one television and more than half of homes have at least three.

Additionally, the report says that China is responsible for one third (1/3) of the global electronics manufacturing, wondering, however, where the other 2/3 come from?

In view of the research, DigitalSENSE News discovered that five manufacturing plants produce bulk of the world’s television sets, computers, cell phones GPS systems, tablets, and cameras that populate homes, invariably for various brands and aforementioned brands precisely.

These electronics products, the research added were produced. Reynoza in Mexico; Jaszerbereny and Polgar, Hungary; Chennai, India; Hanoi, Vietnam; Pathum Thani, Thailand, maintaining that 36 per cent of all children under 14 were employed in manufacturing as at the time of the research, while the average work day for each child is 10 hours.

Remarkably, estimated at the report stated that after explosions at an Apple supplier plant in China in 2010, many of the company’s factories came under scrutiny.

“Of 127 Chinese Apple supplier plants audited in 2010, 80 had not properly stored or handled hazardous chemicals; 41 did not dispose of hazardous waste as required by law; 37 did not monitor and control air emissions and 11 had waste water problems,” part of the report conducted under MastersDegree.net read.

They pointed out that when other gadget suppliers were examined, it became clear that Apple did not fall far from the tree and companies like Samsung, General Electronics, Motorola, Nokia, Dell, Panasonic, and some more from these manufacturing capitals have extremely poor wages.

On daily average, the report says wages range between $8.9, about N1,403.08 to $190, about N29,953.50, citing for instance that the United States tops the factory cities with $190 followed by Jaszerbereny and Polgar in Hungary  with $13.3; Hanoi - $3.3, Reynosa - $4.52, Pathum Thani $7.19 and Chennai - $8.9.

“These companies don’t just pay poorly, they’ve also been found to employ children (child labour); face threats of suicide; face employee protests and be negligent in handling waste; as poor working conditions allow you to get your gadgets a little cheaper, but is it worth it?”

 Remmy Nweke

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