By Khadija Umar Tambuwal
Residents and small-scale business operators in Kano have continued to lament the persistent poor network services, especially those running Point of Sale (POS) businesses, saying the situation is crippling their operations and causing huge financial losses.
Many complain that the situation is worsening, disrupting not only personal communication but also economic activities and essential financial transactions especially during peak periods, this has left many residents stranded and unable to send or receive money.
Some POS agents said the issue has become a daily struggle. “Sometimes a customer makes a withdrawal and gets debited but the money doesnt reflect on our end. When we try to explain, some people think were lying but truly there is no way we can give out money that hasnt entered our account especially to strangers”, said a POS operator in Rijiyar Zaki, Kano state. Some transactions dont even go through at all because there is no Network, said Malam Suleiman a POS operator in Jaen.
Many residents also narrated similar issues, especially when attempting to send or receive urgent funds. Imagine needing money for medicine or food, and you cant get it because the network is down. Its frustrating, said Mal. Idris Muhammad, a resident of Gwale.
Fatima Musa, a mother said I face a lot of challenges with this issue and it really makes me upset. Just recently my husband sent me money but it hasnt reflected yet.
Abdallah Ibrahim another resident from Gwale said, anytime it rains, the network becomes very poor and keep hanging and also even when I used my mobile data, the network remains bad. I even bought new data thinking it was the problem, I restarted my phone several times, but the issue persisted. He lamented.
Engineer Rabi’u Haruna, a Communication expert stated that the reason behind the poor network coverage is the damage to communication infrastructure, often caused by ongoing road construction or the cutting of underground pipes. He explained.
Engr. Haruna added that, the current rainy season also affects network towers. Heavy rainfall, strong winds, and thunderstorms disrupt the transmission signals. And without stable electricity supply, these network towers cannot function properly, which contributes to the persistent network failure.
An economist, Professor Aminu Muhammad Daneji of Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, said Modern Communication when faced with persistent challenges as were experiencing now, poses serious setbacks to business operations and service delivery, which in turn affects the overall economy. He said.
Prof. Daneji added that Millions of financial transactions that are supposed to take place daily are being hindered due to congestion in the communication network. In some areas, residents have even become comfortable to the lack of stable network connectivity, which is not ideal and should not be normalized. He explained.
Business owners are now calling on the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) and major network providers to address the issue urgently. Its no longer acceptable for businesses to lose revenue daily because of network failure. Government and service providers must act fast, said Mal. Abdurrahman Umar Abdullahi a businessman in Kwari market.
