Some cellular phone sellers in Abuja on Thursday solicited the assistance of the Federal Government in establishing indigenous telephone plants as a method of diversifying the economy.
In separate interviews with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja, the sellers also noted that the establishment of telephone manufacturing companies would create jobs for the youth.
Mr Yusuf Alijafaru, the Task Force Chairman of GSM Village, Abuja said government could go into the establishment of phone plants and create employment for youths.
According to him, government should welcome the idea of bringing in manufacturers into the country because Nigeria is one of the highest countries in terms of utilising phones.
“It will diversify the economy on one hand, empower our youths and it will also help to remove so many youths from the street and get them employed.
“If government can concentrate on manufacturing phones, the tax that the foreign countries enjoy from exporting phones will come back to us and it would increase our Gross Domestic Product.
“Government should organise empowerment programmes where youths can be taught how these phones are manufactures and help them in accessing soft loans to start-up.
“When you walk through this market, you find many shops scanty because they lack funds to stock their shops, but if manufacturing plants are here, the phones will be cheaper for them to stock,’’ Alijafaru said.
He, therefore, urged the government to live up to their campaign promises by empowering the youth.
Similarly, Mr Obinwanne Ofurum, a trader in the market said the idea of establishing a phone manufacturing plant in the country was a welcome idea.
“The problem is with the Nigerian mentality; they don’t want to buy any phone made in here because they feel it is inferior even without using it.
“There was a time ZITEL was producing phones here in Nigeria but people were not buying it because it is locally made.
Mr Samuel Tom, a trader in the GSM village, Abuja, also opined that the economy was not booming due to current foreign exchange rate.
“Most of our phones and their parts are all imported; there is no one being produced here; if we can be manufacturing, it will lessen importation and we would be exporting outside the country,’’ he observed.
Tom added that it would also help the economy and enhance the productivity of the engineers and phone technicians.
Sharing similar sentiments, Mr Usman Dauda, the Chairman of GSM Village, Abuja, said that manufacturing phones in Nigeria would boost the economy and reduce the high cost of phones. (NAN)
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