THERE IS NEED FOR A NETWORK BANK BY ABAI FRANCIS | PENGlobal

Immediately on my arrival at one of the creek communities of Delta State origin, I pulled out my phone only to discover the network signals for the two mobile lines were missing, signaling 'no network'. Just then, I felt like someone that is being marooned in an island, left with the option of prayers for a miracle to happen. But just then, a thought struck me!

Let me throw a challenge to the innovators of the 21st century. And this innovation stems from the challenges I have had to deal with on several occasions when executing jobs as a writer during field works, most especially in the creek communities of the Niger Delta, a supposedly rich, but impoverished region in southern Nigeria. After all, I do believe that societal challenges are gateways to future wealth.

So, here is the challenge: that innovators should come up with a device that can store telecommunication 'network'. If they (innovators) can come up with power banks that can store energy (electricity) for use in the remote areas that are lacking constant electricity, then developing such a network storage device to aid the connectivity of those people living in areas that are suffering from the lack of or poor mobile networks, would be more than helpful.

In this modern age, the Internet has made the world a global village. Through the Internet via social media and other online platforms, one can quickly get updated on current events across sports, politics, education, business, etc. As such it could be quite frustrating being cut off from the rest of the world and be left isolated because one could not gain access simply because the power that drives the Internet is absent.

There are many communities in the creeks that are cut off from the larger society. The absence of other basic Infrastructures has also made these locations a sort of secondary home as most inhabitants choose to reside or spend more of their days in the cities where there are availability of modern infrastructures, whose accessibility is cheap.

Telecommunication companies in Nigeria need to do more by citing more of their infrastructures in these remote communities. But then, the cost of running and maintaining these communication infrastructures is another issue. Business-wise, it is not acceptable to invest in an area where the revenues is less than incurred expenses. Moreover, most of the coastal communities are inaccessible by roads, only water, leading to a high transport rate.

And so, in the above circumstance, it becomes more cheaper or economical to have a network bank to save up network for use in these remote parts. This could also reduce loss of revenues by network providers in those parts as well as give access to the inhabitants. The idea might sound weird, but nothing is impossible to achieve.