Geidam traders decry poor telecom network

The development has forced thousands of residents to flee their houses and seek refuge in neighbouring communities.

Geidam traders are lamenting how their businesses are suffering  difficulties  due to lack of network connectivity in the town. 

The mobile networks in Geidam town were reportedly destroyed following insurgents’ attack that ravaged the town in April.

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The development has forced thousands of residents to flee their houses and seek refuge in neighbouring communities.

However, with the relative return of normalcy, traders who depended on small income to survive were eager to return to their businesses.

Modu Goni, a goat seller who recently returned from  Gashua, said although business has started retuning to normal, it cannot be compared to some weeks back due to poor phone service.

Goni said the absence of network connectivity has made transactions difficult with his customers outside the town.

“There is no limit to what I can do with available network in business. I place orders via simple phone call; I could easily liaise with my customers outside  and ask the kind of stocks they needed even before coming to the market.

“I used to make calls to do a price analysis of products with other partners and ask for more supply as the case may be, just to mention but a few.

“I have now resorted to buying few stocks, and in case I am not able to sell them, they wouldn’t hold much of my capital.

“And If I am ever lucky to exhaust them before close of business, I have the plan to rush to the park and enter a commercial car that can take me to a place I can get network to make calls and place order. The process is just tedious.”

He lamented that with the current condition, if care is not taken, traders would suffer a big loss, adding that without network, business cannot move smoothly.

Usman Ali, a POS operator, said his type of business is facing a total shutdown because there is no way one can make a POS transaction without network.

He said when there was network, he made nothing less than N5000 profit on a daily basis but the current condition has forced him to change to another business.

Ali maintained that some of the POS operators had to temporarily relocate to other locations because the environment is not favourable for their business.

Alhaji Umaru Auwal, another business man, told KanemTrust via phone that he has suspended all business trips to Geidam Wednesday Market due to poor network.

“We used the network to know about security of the town, before going, and most times  I used bank transfer to make transactions because I bought products in volumes.

“I cannot risk carrying liquid money to enter that route, so unless the network is restored and the place is secured, I would not patronise the market.”

He said the lack of network connectivity is a strong challenge to a revenue-generating town like Geidam.

He appealed to government and the service providers to come to their aid.

The  Chairman of Geidam Local Government Area, Ali Kolo Geidam, didn’t respond to a call put to him by our reporter but an official in the local government said the council has been making efforts to come up with a solution to the issue.