Minda: Moving Nigeria into high-tech world

Helped by a team of telecoms engineers, the youths with financial support from the Niger Delta ministry have begun assembling the low-cost smartphone and tablet called Minda, a name coined from Made-in-Niger Delta Area.Like the factories next door where high-paid oil workers churn crude oil for export, the Calabar Skill Acquisition Centre students with the […]

Helped by a team of telecoms engineers, the youths with financial support from the Niger Delta ministry have begun assembling the low-cost smartphone and tablet called Minda, a name coined from Made-in-Niger Delta Area.
Like the factories next door where high-paid oil workers churn crude oil for export, the Calabar Skill Acquisition Centre students with the watchful eyes of Swift and Just Nigeria Limited’s engineers are equally determined to sell Minda devices abroad.
Clad in blue overall work clothes and a face cap, Deprieye George is proud to be one of the Minda producers. “I never thought I could assemble a phone,” he said.
Coming out from the creeks after many years of participating in kidnapping and oil theft, George, 35, did not have any skill before the training commenced at the centre about a year ago in Calabar.
“When I was chosen as one of those to be trained, they told us we were going to be trained in ICT but I said to myself: can I understand anything of electronic components. I was wondering if I would be able to know it. But when we finished the training and I was part of the team that assembled the tablet and phone … I was very happy,” George said.
His family and friends were equally skeptical. “None of them believed we did it here,” he said. “Tablets and phones assembled in Calabar? What are you talking about?” they told him.
“Many Nigerians believe that nothing can be done in this country. We have just proved that Nigeria can be great, we Nigerians have the capacity to do many things,” he said. “It’s not just Americans or Chinese. We can also do what they do, in terms of technology.”
With funds from the Ministry of Niger Delta, and using imported Asian components, the skills acquisition centre with Swift and Just produced the devices that run on Google Inc’s Android operation system.
“The devices show that Niger Delta youths are not just destined for wretched life, kinapping and oil theft,” said Arc Darius Ishaku, Minister of Niger Delta Affairs. “It’s shown that the youths in the region can be productive in a positive way which will make them work their way out of poverty.”
With many expensive imported tablets in the market, Minister Ishaku said Minda phone and tablet would be the cheapest mobile devices in the market.
“’They are easy to use and they take really good quality photos, like Nokia and Samsung and indeed any other good brand out there,” said the minister, who spoke with Daily Trust in Abuja.
He said President Goodluck Jonathan has even thrown the first challenge: “He (the president) has taken these devices and given them to the Minister of Communications Techology and directed her to go and check if these phone, and tablets meet with standard– with what is obtained in international market. The minister is to check whether the devices are as good as the ones made by big brands.”
He added: “But I must tell you that I use the devices myself and since I have been using them I have seen that they are as good as the other phones manufactured by big companies. I use the devices myself and they are of the same quality with my Samsung; I can browse with it I can do a whole lot of activities with them. And the beauty of it is that they are handy than most smartphones and tablets.”
He said the factory has been getting positive feedbacks from some of the people who have got the devices. All the people that have gotten them have been demanding for more to give to their loved ones, he said while waving the smartphone.
“So, we are faced to having to tell the consultant to, in collaboration with our students, produce more of the devices, using our students.”
Because of the demand, he said, the consultant would now employ the entire 100 students that have graduated.
“I believe thousands of jobs will be generated in about a year’s time because some of them would have set up their own small ICT workshops and they would employ many hands to work with them.”