That Nitda’s Ranting on Imported ICT Products

The experience of Nigeria shows that the nation has never been lacking in handing down directives and indeed policies.

What is always absent is the political will to implement, coupled with reckless ranting of government officials who are busy doing nothing.

Lack of political will to push ICT issues at various tiers of government has reduced Nigeria’s competiveness and made it only a consumer of imported ICT products and services.

It shows the near absence of true ICT professionals in power and corridors of power.

That is why the recent directive by National Information Technology Development Agency (Nitda), a parastatal of the Ministry of Communication Technology to government ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) to use Made-in-Nigeria IT products is laughable.

Before Nitda’s directive, President Goodluck Jonathan had directed the ministry of Trade and Investment to compile the list of goods currently being imported into the country but which have local substitutes.

According to Goodluck, the list will enable his government grant incentives to the affected companies to enable them produce these goods and enjoy government patronage as well.

This makes sense and shows the desire of the present government to fire the kiln of production and rekindle local production.

It is however doubtful if much would be achieved with Nigeria’s notoriously unreliable public power supply, multiple taxes, insecurity and sundry issues.

Now back to the Nitda’s directive, it is an irony that the government agency’s offices and even the presidency are still being furnished with the latest imported IT products.

It is also confusing which products are banned when Nigeria cannot produce switches, routers, mainframes and others.

Also the government agency did not state how it is going to enforce the directive in an open market like Nigeria or say what efforts it has made to make local ICT products and services acceptable.

Remember that previous governments had in the past tried to ban imported goods but used the banned products themselves. Do what I tell you and not what I do.

For instance, government officials still cruise in imported cars while local assemble plants like Peugeot, Volkswagen and Innoson are dying of low patronage.

Children born today may never see Nigeria’s ofada rice or Abakaliki rice because their leaders are legitimizing the importation of foreign rice at the detriment of local farmers.

And while Nigerian waxes are dying by installment, government officials regale themselves in well cut foreign suits, jackets and wears.

Nigeria can only achieve her objective of increasing local production with strong political leadership, increased budgetary allocations to ICT and removal of the many roadblocks to have hobbled the industry.

She must learn from other countries which have made ICT a pivotal part of national development and it can only do this by putting square pegs in square holes.