Problems of all-night free call
By OKUNOLA ‘TUNDE
Sometimes last year (2006), the Globacom and MTN GSM operators introduced all-night free calls in Nigeria. This has made more than 70 per cent of the subscribers to keep wake in order to enjoy the free calls.The subscribers who could not afford to recharge their phones took the risk of cheating the nature, sleep, at the expense of calling their families, friends and love ones in the night.
Not only that, the introduction of all-night free calls by these GSM operators has revealed the level of poverty in the country. Also, it shows how Nigerians love hawuf. The sleep disorder invested by GSM operators, I refer to as GSM-insomnia, causes difficulty and staying asleep among Nigerians.
Nevertheless, sleep is a natural state of rest characterized by reduced body movement and decreased awareness of surroundings. Sleep is distinguished from other sleeplike state, for instance, hibernation or coma, because it is easily interrupted by external stimulation such as loud noise.
Although, no one knows for sure why we sleep, there are a number of theories. In the case of animals, sleep may have evolved to protect them from their predators by reducing their activity during the times when they are most vulnerable. Yet, the exact purpose of sleep remains mystery.
The scientists measure sleep by placing metal electrodes on the scalp to record the electrical activity of the brain. This procedure called Electro Encephalo Graphy (EEG), enables sleep researchers to evaluate levels of brain activity at different times during sleep.
Moreover, amounts of sleep vary significantly with age and even between individuals. New borns sleep the most - a newborn baby sleeps between 17 and 18 hours in a day. By age of five, children sleep between 10 and 12 hours a day.
Meanwhile, the average young adult seems to need about eight hours to sleep per night to function optimally during waking hours. Some people, however, can just sleep for six or seven hours to feel rested.
Despite the fact that the exact purpose of sleep remains a mystery and that no one knows for sure why we sleep, there are some dangers attached to sleeplessness in the night.
Firstly, sleeplessness in the night slows reaction time during waking hours. As the nature can not be cheated, inability to sleep in the night makes one to have a slow down in action during the day. This includes one looking dull, sick and inactive because the body will definitely demand for what it missed in the night.
Inactive, as a result of sleeplessness in the night leads to reduced productivity. Those that are victims would not be able to put more effort to the production in their various places of work and will directly or indirectly cause low production in the country which can easily affect the nation’s economy.
Meanwhile, I entered an office some times ago, and this is an office that used to be booming, but when I entered on this fateful day, initially, I thought they lost one of the staff because of the calmness in the place. But on getting inside the office proper, I met 70 per cent of the workers sleeping. I could not hide my feeling. Therefore, I asked one of them if they did night duty that day. He responded, “you never hear about MTN free call.” And this happens in one out of every seven offices in Nigeria.
Also, night sleeplessness reduces concentration during the waking hours. Sleep research shows that certain regions of the brain play critical roles in sleep. The brain stein, the potion of the brain just above the spinal cord and the fore brain are particularly important in sleep control.
While intentional prevention of sleep at night can cause damage or injury to a region in the brain stein, called the pons, and adjacent portions of the midbrain. And damage or injury to these regions of brain will cause little or no concentration on what the person does.
Another danger of sleeplessness in the night is accident, which can occur in various ways. A driver who used the whole night to enjoy free call and put his car on the road during the day is bound to have accident because of imbalances in his body chemistry. The factory workers, more especially, those that operate machines are not left out in the accident.
Also, one of the myth about sleep states that smarter mammals spend long periods in the night. However, inability to have enough time to sleep in the night would not make one to look smarter.
I went to pay a visit to one of my friends just of recent, when I saw him, he was like someone suffering from HIV/AIDS. However, it was after spending few days with him that I discovered that the call he makes all-night is what makes him to look lean. And this is a man that can not afford a balance diet. How many Nigerians that make all-night free call can afford to take a balance diet, even in a week ?
Nevertheless, this write-up is not written to discourage GSM operators of their “generosity and philanthropy” of all-night free calls, but to urge them to perhaps reduce it to week end alone or two to three times in a week. Moreover, it may be free calls at weekend at day time. I know that this is not much compared with what they (GSM operators) have realized as profit from Nigerians.

Okunola ‘Tunde is with our Features Section as intern.