Ojikutu condemns SON activities in computer village

Computers and Phones Association of Nigeria (CAPDAN) which is the umbrella body of all the units in the market has strongly expressed disapproval of Standard Organization of Nigeria(SON) activities on the premises of computer village, describing, as the worst that could have showed up.

The Computer village as the implies is an Information and Communications Technology (ICT) accessories market located in the capital of Lagos State, Nigeria.

“We saw this as appalling and abysmal to the standard norms in other client that things are supposed to be done in the rightful way.”

This was the statement of the the CAPDAN president, Comrade Ojikutu Adeniyi when Daly Times visited the association secretariat, claimed SON said traders would needed to register the goods and services.
“We saw that some of the offices are locked but we engaged the SON operators that came and we found out that they needed the traders or businessmen to register and we cannot register but we get the majority of our products from the manufacturers.” According to him, computer village is not a manufacturing hub rather than buying and selling.

Speaking further, on counterfeit products in the market, “There are different brands and these brands go by different names. People will now go to Dubai and produce it’s own brand and does not make it a counterfeit but a brand of its own.
There are different manufacturers with different brand names.The prices might be cheaper from its generic brand. It is not our own duty to be able now say this is what people to bring in to the nation Adeniyi said.”
“It is the duty of certain government agency and regulatory bodies which include custom services, SON as well.

On relocation of the market by Lagos State government; he said the government wanted to relocate computer village to Katangowa but there are mix feeling. On their reservations they asked government that they should be carried along from conceptualization, formulation, evaluation and accommodation way.
A lot of things are involved in this project ranges from finances, term, tenure, light, broad bank connectivity and others.

On a flip side, the Standard Organisation of Nigeria, SON, an agency of Nigerian government, responsible for checking and approving standardization of products in the country, made a move recently, to check the standards of goods in the market with a view to weeding out substandard ones. The move resulted in a fiasco, which intrigues still resonate. It has also produced several allegations and counter allegations between the leadership of SON and that of the market. While SON claims that its intent is to sanitize the market, leadership of the market under the aegis of Computer and Allied Product Dealers Association of Nigeria, CAPDAN alleges that SON’s moves are tantamount to destroying the market. In the melee, Nigerians, who are major consumers of products in the market are left confused.

Recently at an Anti-counterfeit Africa Conference organised by Hewlett Packard, HP, in Abuja, Director General of SON, Dr Joseph Odumodu, berated activities of counterfeiters in the country lamenting that it has helped increase Nigeria’s already bloated labour market. Odumodu said at that meeting scourge has also seen to the closure of many legitimate companies with their workforce thrown into the labour market, leaving untold hardships that put undue pressure on families and the Nigerian economy in general. Odumodu said that the mere realization of the untold hardship Nigerians go through as a result of the effects of consuming counterfeit products was why his Organisation was bent on sanitizing the Computer village market, Ikeja. He regretted that the computer market in Ikeja, known around the world as the largest IT market in Africa sells more of counterfeit products than original. “unfortunately, 80 percent of their activities are illicit”.

Buttressing, the Comptroller General of the Nigerian Customs Service, Alhaji Abdullahi Dikko Inde, admitted that “counterfeiting and Piracy affects the wellbeing of any economy in a variety of ways. For example they promote criminality as successful counterfeiters are often also the promoters of social negativities in view of their possession of enormous illegal wealth.

Responding on the claims of SON; Public Relations Officer of Computer and Allied Products Dealers Association of Nigeria, CAPDAN, Mr Godwin Enemoh, described Odumodu claims as outrageous, saying the claim by SON DG was not only a lie but outrageous, unguarded and deceitful.
To this end, he alleged, “SON boss only visited the market not quite long in a pretentious manner, to disrupt activities in the market. So, claiming that 80 percent of products in the market are fake, was unbecoming of a government official” he added.
On the contrary, Odumodu’s statement may discourage those who may want to invest in the market from within or outside the country and may also discourage those who would want to find jobs in the market.