Adebayo Shittu, the Minister of Communication who recently visited the Omatek Computers factory in Ikeja, expressed his pride in the local production and assemblage of computers and solar panel electrification by the company.
Omatek Computers Limited is the first factory to locally assemble computer cases, speakers, keyboards and mouse, other than computer systems and notebooks in the whole of Africa.
Commending the efforts of Precious Seriki, Chief Executive officer and founder of Omatek for a job well done, Shittu said; “I am here to encourage a trail blazer in computer assembly here in Nigeria, a pioneer in the field and a woman who has done so much to make Nigerians proud. Without her pioneering job, perhaps we would still have a long way to go in local production of computers.”
“I am very impressed and I believe she deserves the support of government. So I have committed myself to the fact that whatever I can do on behalf of the federal government through my ministry, I will certainly do it,” he added.
Addressing key ICT stakeholders present at the event, Seriki said that ICT should be a major factor to job creation.
“With ICT, the whole nation can be repositioned and we can now be manufacturers and no longer where products are dumped,” she said.
In other to achieve the goal of Nigeria, being computer manufacturers, Seriki said that certain challenges including economies of scale, exchange rate fluctuation, supply chain management and so on must be either eliminated or brought to the barest minimum.
According to her, Nigeria has a whole lot to benefit from public private partnership in order to grow our manufacturing capacity, which will also create opportunity for research and employment.
Also present at Omatek Ventures during the Minister’s visit was Godfrey Nwosu, president of Phone and Allied Products Dealers Association (PAPDAN), who told the minister that, “shareholders are worried about not yielding dividends after investing in the ICT industry.”
Shittu replied by saying that change has come in the industry.
“I want to assure you that that I am not one person who makes empty promises and I am not a procrastinator. Having been opportune by providence to be appointed as minister of communications, it gave me the opportunity to really come in close contact with industry leaders. I want to assure you that stakeholders such as Omatek will be encouraged to really play a role at the national level of ICT development,” he said.
Talking more extensively about the development of local content in ICT, Shittu explained that Nigerians have a duty to patronise themselves particularly because there is hardly any issue of lack of quality.
“The quality of computers that I have seen here today is as good as any other foreign product. So I would say that whatever collaboration that is required, if you want me to take a memo to the federal executive council for a formal national policy evolution in this regard, I will be willing to do it.”
The Minister concluded by saying that with the right support, it is possible for indigenous products to dominate the African market, “and I think that should be our goal, to ensure that we see them through that.”
Jumoke Akiyode
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