Simeon Mpamugoh
The unbridled use of mobile phones in Nigeria has led to the death of many, and not a few people are getting worried.
In many parts of the country, it is common to see young men and women making calls or composing messages on their phones while walking along major roads. Some have died or sustained injuries after being hit by vehicles. Some others have been killed as they listened to music through ear phones on rail tracks, unaware of an oncoming train.
Chuks Njikonye, a businessman at Computer Village, Ikeja, Lagos, noted that there have been many instances when vehicles driving against traffic knocked down pedestrians who walked and texted on the lane meant for vehicles. He noted that most injuries occurred to people between the ages of 13 and 29 due to distracted driving, walking and texting with a cell phone.
“Cuts to the face and head are the most common injuries, followed by black eyes, bruising of the brain, abrasions and internal organ injuries. Most people get treated and released, instead of being hospitalised. While these injuries may not appear to be of major concern, there can be long-term consequences.
“Facial lacerations and subsequent scarring can lead to anxiety and lowered self-esteem, especially when infection occurs, which can increase the need for scar revision and other cosmetic surgeries,” he said.
The businessman said injuries associated with mobile phone use were reportedly infrequent until 2007 when Apple introduced the first iPhone.
“Although mobile telephones were gaining popularity prior to that time, their functions were limited. They were less likely to be major distractions when compared to modern smart phones. The use of a cell phone can damage necks and upper backs because for every inch that one tilts the head forward from a neutral position, the pressure on one’s spine doubles. So, if you’re looking at a smart phone in your lap, your neck could experience 20 or 30 pounds of pressure. And all that extra pressure puts a strain on your spine and can pull it out of alignment.
“It is like bending your finger back all the way and holding it there for an hour. As you stretch the tissue for a long period of time, it gets sore,” Njikonye said.
Statistics available show an increased cell phone use among drivers. The World Health Organisation (WHO) has warned that phone use distracts the driver, delays reaction to traffic signals, increases lapses in decision-making and reduces awareness of other vehicles and pedestrians. Though no reliable statistics exist, there are several reports of many Nigerians losing their lives or sustaining life-changing injuries while fiddling with smart phones on the road.
There are reported cases of people who have been hit by either trains or vehicles without chances of surviving because they were wearing headphones. A member of the National Youth Service Corps in Lagos, Nneka Odili, was hit by a train in the Ikeja axis of the rail line. Eyewitnesses said she had headphones on and failed to hear people yelling before the ill-fated accident. She later died from the injuries.
Reports from emergency agencies indicate that, in 2018 alone, they responded to at least 50 cases of road accidents in different parts of the country. The accidents were caused by victims fiddling with their phones while walking, texting or driving. While some have lost their lives following such incidents, several more continue to live with the injuries.
“We have been doing a lot of sensitisation and education campaign in different parts of the country to make people understand the need to stay safe all the time while on the road, whether they are driving or walking. We have responded to several emergencies and, sadly, most of them are caused by victims engrossed with their mobile devices while on the road,” one agency noted.
Social scientists have said that the human brain has evolved to only focus attention adequately on one task at a time.
“So, when you’re texting or talking on the phone while trying to walk, you cannot give your full attention to both tasks.
“People really need to be aware that they are impacting their safety by texting or talking on the cell phone. There is also the stigma and shame associated with reporting an injury in which one is partially at fault, and so some people may not have been upfront with the fact that they were using a mobile device when their injury occurred.
“It’s not just texting while walking that’s a problem. Talking, checking email, using social networking apps and even playing games all contribute to the problem of distracted pedestrians. And young people under the age of 25 are more likely to be injured while on their cell phones,” a group of social scientists said in a report.
A computer engineer, Peter Olatunbosun, noted that: “The trend is alarming. It has become an addiction for most Nigerians. I watched in Ikeja recently how a man trying to avoid a collision with a lady who was walking and texting had to block her with an open palm as a way of shielding her from head injury. If the trend continues, I wouldn’t be surprised if the number of injuries caused by cell phones doubles.”
He urged pedestrians and drivers to focus solely on walking or driving and get to their destinations in one piece.
“If you simply cannot wait to take that phone call or check your email, one way to avoid potential issues is to hold your phone up higher in your visual field so that you can see any potential risks as they come. Also ensure you cross the road at crosswalks or intersections and obey traffic signals,” he counselled.
A lecturer at the University of Lagos, Dr. Ebele Okafor, attributed the high rates of mass failure in tertiary schools to the use of cell phones in classrooms.
She said: “Using headphones to listen to music from cell phone affects the cells and can impair hearing. Sometimes, someone will be talking to the victims and they would not hear. As it is for the boys, so it is for the girls. Sometimes, vehicles would be honking, and they will not hear. We have seen some youths knocked down on the road because they had headphones on. The vehicle honked and they didn’t hear. Medical experts have said that prolonged use of ear phones is not good for the ear, and that it causes ear damage and could affect the brain. What these young people do with those mobile phones is mostly music, which is always in their brain.
“It also distracts students from concentrating on their studies because, if it is music they are listening to, since it is always in their brain, it makes them to sing all the time, instead of reading their books. Parents have been warned not to give their children or wards cell phones. If they have to, it should not be those ones that give them room to browse. There are occasions the university authorities think students should be given cell phones, when they are sick and need to contact their parents.
“Cell phones take children’s minds away from their studies. It is made for sourcing information and not for watching pornography and other negative things that mess up their mental wellbeing,” Okafor said.
She stated that the university authorities had been mandated to seize mobile phones from any student who comes into the class with it: “There are also plans in the university to ensure that students use their cell phones for studies. To this end, lecturers are encouraged to develop their courses and send them via mobile phones to their classrooms so that students could attend classes to get their course outlines. This is aimed at reducing the negative use of cell phones among students of the university.”