How Effective is the Move by NCC to Rid the Market of Sub-standard Devices

The growing rate of sub-standard devices in the Nigerian market has come to the notice of the Nigerian Communication Commission (NCC) and it decided to team up with the Computer and Allied Products Dealers Association of Nigeria (CAPDAN) to curb the menace.

This decision, according to Guardian, was revealed during a tour of Computer Village by Prof. Umar Danbatta, the Executive Vice Chairman of NCC, who said that the market for a sub standard device has become a source of worry, and so the Commission feels responsible for the protection of the Nigerian citizens.

With plans to sign a Memorandum of Understanding with CAPDAN, Prof. Umar charged them to put up measures which will address the issues of phone and other device cloning, since many mobile devices sold in the Nigerian market are not approved by the NCC, and are not safe, and also affects the quality of service rendered by the mobile network operators in the country.

Ahmed Ojikutu, President of CAPDAN of the Computer Village (which is apparently the major market for these products) has noted that about N1.5 Billion is being spent daily on gadgets in Nigeria. Hence, the nation is seen as the hardware capital market of the Continent, also employing the largest number of graduates in any market in Nigeria and Africa.

NCC, CAPDAN Partner On Tech Products Services Improvement. https://t.co/uXN3syGUCr pic.twitter.com/wBLYKJAXRs

— Channels Television (@channelstv) September 2, 2017

The capacity of the NCC to squarely address this issue is. The big question really is how much of the supply, circulation and usage of these sub-standard devices does the NCC have control over? There are other government agencies that will play crucial roles in this process. For instance, how much of this vision is being shared by the customs or by the  Ports Authority (the sentinels of the nation’s entry points)? Moreover, why should the NCC take upon itself what ought to be the responsibility of the Standard Organization of Nigeria?

Yes, floating the market with sub-standard products is bad. Shouldn’t we be more bothered with the reason our people find these devices a preferable option?