By Charles Mgbolu

The proposed ban on refurbished phones and computers by the the  National Information Development Agency (NITDA), has attracted mixed reactions among ICT vendors in the Nigerian market.

Used Cell phones

Just last week,  Vanguard Cyberlife had reported that NITDA was already in top gear to get the Federal Executive Council to approve the ban on the importation of refurbished phones, computers into the country.

This news so far has been greeted with a mixture of shock and  relief in many quarters with phrases like  “long overdue” and “sheer wickedness” being dominant in the reactions.

Majority of  traders at the Otigba market, or Computer Village in Lagos who spoke to CyberLIFE were yet to be aware of this brewing policy, despite the news being in the media.

Professor Cleopas Angaye; the Director General of NITDA had reassured that this policy was not meant to abruptly extinguish a major source of livelihood for the traders who deal in  refurbished electronic devices but rather to tap into their resources as young, but  inexperienced IT engineers found virtually in every corner of the computer market.

He said these local engineers would be properly trained under a soon to be introduced Software Development Policy. “Their talents in IT engineering would be properly  harnessed to recycle what already was inside the country rather than import these used electronic devices from overseas.”

But to some traders, however, the mooted policy translates to an outright ban. According to an employee who worked in the market and who simply gave her name as Bisi while speaking to this reporter on the issue indicated her skepticism that the ban would hold water “This is Nigeria and  I doubt that government would be able to stop these dealers from continuing to sneak these phones into the country. They are very desperate and tricky people who will do anything to save their only source of livelihood.”

But Mr Victor Okeke, a systems analyst with a leading bank in the country had disagreed: “Government can stop them if they are really determined but then expect to see the Nigerian factor here — bribing their way through will always remain an issue.”

Joy, another employee in the market had been more direct. She said “This is just unfair. There are other things bordering on environmental issues that government should be looking at and not these poor people who are simply trying to survive.”

Again Mr. Okeke had countered this “Let them go to jail. They are often the cause of this compromise in quality of phones imported into the country.”

These reactions are not far from views of executives of the Computers and Allied Products Association of Nigeria when told the news two weeks ago.

According to their president, Mr. Tunji Balogun, it was a welcome development. He said fully registered members of CAPDAN who own shops in the market face security challenges due to the presence of these ”boys” who hang around places in the market wooing visitors and potential buyers to their points in the market. “They are not registered members of CAPDAN and do not own shops but now their numbers are so great they are gradually taking over from shop owners in the market.”

In the past, there had been outright outbursts followed by more strident regulations from every relevant regulatory authority concerned; including the Standard Organisation of Nigeria, (SON) and the Basel Convention on the Control of trans-boundary movements of hazardous wastes and their disposal. Their cry had been that the country was fast becoming a dumping ground for used and refurbished electronic products, plummeting into a near uncontrollable e-waste epidemic.

There had also been task forces inaugurated in the past to checkmate the trend, yet, large numbers of refurbished computers still enter the country and into an almost insatiable IT market. According to the Basel Convention prohibiting International waste transfer, the dumping of e-waste into the Nigerian market and the rest of the African sub-region has continued to grow in geometric progression attracting both national and international regulatory authorities.

While  hundreds of containers stuffed with over used PCs, e-gadgets  and their accessaries have continued be shipped to African continents, especially, Nigeria as a result  of their  high demand, the ugly trend has continued to worry both  the government, the regulatory authorities  and the end users because of its health and economic implications.

Then, it had been hinted that soon, it will no longer be business as usual again as the National Environmental Standards and Regulations Enforcement Agency (NESREA) under the Ministry of Environment, (NESREA) will soon come up with tough regulations on e-waste management in the Nigerian market.

Professor Angaye was optimistic that with strong collaboration coming from CAPDAN, the new policy would strengthen the nation’s grip on emerging global benefits of an IT grounded economy and save the country from a looming health disaster.

Mr. Victor Okeke, still had his reservations. “I welcome the idea to ban such phones in the country but not for these reasons given here. Training these engineers to recycle our products is a shaky move. Let us be sincere, how many Nigerians will even be willing to buy a made-in-Nigeria phone? The only reason I support the idea of the ban is that quality of most of these products are compromised and doesn’t add real value to the consumer.”

It would be recalled that refurbished electronic products, mostly mobile phones, computers, television sets, CD and DVD players, microwave ovens, electric irons, juicers, etc had flooded the nation’s IT market a few years ago with staggering effects on established brands.