The advent of the Global System for Mobile communication (GSM) opened a new vista in Nigeria’s business environment. Many direct and indirect jobs were created and the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) enhanced. From the sale of airtime alone, the telecommunication companies make fortune, part of which goes back to the government as tax.
Phone and accessories sales and repairs, recharge card retail and other jobs came with it.
Benjamin Igwe, who deals in smartphone accessories at the Computer Village in Ikeja, Lagos State, is one of the beneficiaries of the new vista.
It was not easy getting him to discuss his business with Africana Entrepreneur. No thanks to the impression government officials gave him with the treatment of his colleagues in the past for reportedly raising issues about the market in the media.
But his reticence could not endure, as our reporter kept at him. Then he eventually opened up.
Igwe was quite bitter about having lost a lot of money in businesses.
A question from the reporter that tickled him was how he was coping with the hectic pace of business at the market. The advent of technology, he said, favoured him by giving him a lucrative source of livelihood.
“Technology has been good to me since the growing trend of mobile devices and phones. I have found an interesting area that has been taking care of my needs and those of my family. I am not that educated, but I have been able to understand how this business goes,” he said.
Also, he uses technology to sell his products. His words: “I have been using technology to expand this business. My son is the one that uses Facebook, WhatsApp and other social media networks to sell our products. We have had people calling and coming over to buy from us. Let me tell you, you must find something to do for yourself knowing that there is no work now. Since the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) strike last year, my son has been here with me. He must learn this business because we are in a time you must find work and don’t wait for government, which doesn’t care about the masses.”
He still has worries: the high cost of renting shops in the market, being a petty dealer in phone accessories and other electronic items.
To him, technology is the way forward in Nigeria. He, however, lamented incessant demands from government agents in form of taxes and levies without any assistance from the government.
“Lagos State government asked us to apply for loans that we need, but the conditions are too stringent. They asked us to get people to sign the forms and get two others to sign for us. I couldn’t get anyone to do that for me.”
Igwe, who has been in the Computer Village for 10 years, asserted that “though the place booms, it is not there yet.”
On his experiences in the business, he was full of regrets about the absence of public infrastructure.
“Is there anything good in a country where there is no light, no water, where the masses are dying of hardship? The government just does as if it doesn’t care. Nigeria is a place where you use generator to power your residence and business,” he said.
He has not been able to train anybody in the business, because “youths want to make it quick; they don’t care how it comes.”
In the next 10 years, he wants to grow the phone accessories business “I also hope that my children can draw up a plan for that.”
Get real time update about this post categories directly on your device, subscribe now.
