By Charles Mgbolu
LAST Friday, the Director General of the National Information Technology Development Agency, NITDA Professor Cleopas Angaye told journalists and executive members of the Computer and Allied Products Dealers association of Nigeria CAPDAN that a policy looking to ban the importation of refurbished electronic materials and phones in the country is already before the Federal Executive Council.

In the meeting held inside the union’s office inside the computer village, Angaye said that already, there was a strong a collaboration with the Federal Ministry of Environment and that the proposal was before the FEC  “already, the preliminaries are being worked out; what type of products, number of years and other standards and regulations are being compiled”

Professor Angaye, has however, said that for now, there was no definite date as to when the policy would be officially made public “We are still working with the ministry of environment to have the best time table of when it would be completed. I wouldn’t know for now but we are fully represented in the committee,” he said.

The NITDA boss however reaffirmed that there was a deliberate effort to work out the issue “what we are doing is that we are trying to look inwards and see what we can generate. Instead of importing these refurbished computers and electronics materials, our boys could easily recycle what we already have here in the country.”

While  hundreds of containers stuffed with used PCs, e-gadgets  and their accessories 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.

The new policy now before the FEC may just be the beginning of a very bad business days to come for hundreds of Nigerians currently making a living, selling used, refurbished electronic products inside the nation’s ICT market.

Contrary to situations in foreign countries, the trade of selling refurbished computers, phones and other electronic gadgets had received maximum boost due to current prevailing factors that has not too favoured brand new electronic gadgets. Top on the list has been price. Nigerians, largely, cannot afford computer or other electronic devices that run into tens of thousands of naira. This is the single market advantage of refurbished electronic products and it has endeared it to the market.

In the mean time, Angaye has said that there is already a vibrant programme going on, on e-waste management and environmental control and which would now involve CAPDAN.  “That is why we have said any programme that is carried out by NITDA will now have CAPDAN as a stakeholder,” he said. — Charles Mgbolu