THE increasing apathy for locally made Information and Communications Technology (ICT) wares, including laptops, deskstop computers and software products seem to be bringing huge discomfort to indigenous equipment manufacturers in the country.
This is coming on the heels of increasing drop in personal computer ownership across the globe.
Besides, the proliferation and domination of foreign ICT vendors in the country has been described as a dangerous trend for the industry, which must be nipped in the bud.
According to the Chairman, board of Nigeria Communications Satellite (NigComSat) Limited, Prof. Turner Isoun, the continued dominance of foreign vendors has capacity to undermine will
the war against security challenges.
Isoun, after a board meeting last week, frowned at this ugly trend saying this proliferation of foreign ICT vendors proposing and supplying security solutions to Nigerian security, Para-military and critical infrastructure bodies portend serious threats.
According to Isoun the danger is that the nation is exposed “to a myriad of potential security threats from otherwise restricted data being exposed to numerous vendors”.
Isoun who is the longest serving Science and Technology Minister in Nigeria’s history explained that “this predicament is particularly worrisome not only because of the present state of national insecurity but also because NigComSat Limited is the only government agency mandated to act as a clearing house and solution provider for security related ICT solutions to Ministries Departments and Agencies (MDAs) and institutions”.
Indeed, NigComSat Limited currently manages the National Public Safety Communications Systems (NPSCS), a national safety network. A network upgrade for the safety network is on, Isoun explained.
This, the board Chairman said, is to protect the nation’s borders and other key infrastructure such as oil and gas pipelines.
He therefore “cautions all government agencies to direct their ICT needs to NigComSat limited or through the Federal Ministry of Communications Technology within the next four weeks.
Isoun also advised state governments “who are interested in providing security solutions for their respective states to liaise with NIGOCMSAT limited for effective planning and integration into the NPSCS”.
In a related development, the Chairman, Zinox Group, Chief Leo-Stan Ekeh, in an interview with journalists at the weekend, said the Nigerian government need to do more to foster growth on indigenous equipment manufacturers in the country, stressing that local players are bleeding due to harsh business environment.
Before now, the Managing Director of Omatek Ventures had lamented the influx of foreign OEMs dominance of the country’s PC sector and others, stressing that President Goodluck Jonathan must champion the buy made-in-Nigeria campaign.
According to Ekeh, one area which can deliver patronage for local OEMs include the education sector, stressing that this sector had yet to be explored to create the required demand for PCs, as is the case for most markets in the world.
He described the educational sector as the largest consumer of technological products, saying the Nigerian government had not done enough in that regard, owing to the degree of weakness and deficiency seen in the sector.
Ekeh stressed that the 21st Century student started with technology and has passion for technology; hence, the need for encouragement so that the technological developments that could lead to wealth creation are fast-tracked like is the case with countries in Europe and America.
He said Nigeria with its huge youth population is currently consuming less that 500,000 PCs yearly, while South Africa with a population three-times less than that of Nigeria, is doing over 1.2 million a year in terms of PC consumption.
The Zinox boss stated, “Any average university that is 20 years old, will have at least 500,000 students. This alone is a big market for technological products. But our governments are ignorant of this.”
He said a robust ICT market provided the right platform for creativity and innovation, which were better ways the country could build human capacities and drive revenue generation, adding that, “All the mega technological deals we read about everyday started like this. Some of these businesses, which were very small some few years ago, have turned out to be multi-billion dollar firms.
“The kind of money that is generated when some of these companies are sold cannot be replicated in many other sectors of the economy. For me, the only way God can bless Nigeria now is through technology. I am not against agriculture or oil and gas. The agric and oil sectors are rather too cumbersome and nature-driven.
“Nigeria’s foreign reserve today is less that $40 billion, which is a crisis because if major companies decide to buy foreign exchange at a time, we will have no money as a country. Today, if Nigeria can commit $1bn to technology with 10,000 Nigerians exposed to technology, in the next two to five years, this will amount to $250 billion. It is only technology that can do this.”
At a function in Lagos, the President of the Institute of Software Practitioners of Nigeria (ISPON), Chris Uwaje, again reiterated the fact that foreign software still garnered more patronage than those made by Nigerians, this he described as a disincentive to ICT growth.
Uwaje said that government must take up the challenge and fashion out ways to develop and encourage the abundance of talent Nigeria is blessed with.
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