‘best price’ which I found out not to be the best after all. I was asked to pay N3,000 for a 512 MB but when I got to a particular place, I paid N2,000. And thinking that I was cutting cost, bought from that particular place, only to find out that I had bought a pirated flash drive.

"When I used it to copy a file, of course, it will show the file inside the drive but when you want to use it on another system, it wouldn’t open or copy. And I even found out from a technician that the MB was not up to the 512 indicated. It was the technician that now showed me the difference between the original and fake."

According to Mr. Victor Madu, Chairman, Machil Computers and Allied Products Ltd, there is no hard and fast rule on looking out for genuine flash drives but to look out for some signs.
"For light wave flash drives, the genuine ones come with a silvery hologram. The flash drive comes in a strong blister pack, while the picture of a lady on the pack is bright and sharp unlike that of the pirated one.

"The pirated flash drive does not copy well, while the gigabytes or megabytes are not what is written on it. This simply means that a 128 MB bought could be a 64 MB without one knowing except an expert who can detect it with a certain instrument."

While another stakeholder, Andrew Ibah, explained that for LG flash drives, the colour is quite important.
"Original LG flash drives, silvery colour are sharp and shinny while the blister pack are stronger than the pirated ones," he said.

Only last year, when Prof.John Akanya, director general, Standard Organisation of Nigeria (SON) visited Computer Village with two other Directors-General, he promised to open the Organisation’s office at the village for quality control. Unfortunately, the promise has not been fulfilled and this may perhaps be the reason why the village has now become another ‘Jankara’ market.

It is not an exaggeration to say that Sagem W-8 is perhaps the worst phone that has come from the stable of Sagem Company.
Though the phone with all its fantastic feature have always been returned by customers to shop of purchase owing to the way it ‘hangs’, many customers are now lamenting how they have wasted their hard earned money over nothing.

Chimdi Orji , a regular customer in Computer Village said, he made the greatest mistake of his life by buying Sagem W-8. “I am a ‘Sagem’ person, so I thought my buying a higher version of what I have been used to will raise my status. But it is unfortunate that I cannot even use it the way I would like to.”
From the survey carried out by ICT TODAY, it was observed that Sagem W-8 which price has now crashed drastically to N12, 700 is the most returned phone to dealers.

While many dealers would wave it off as a minor thing, many customers are not happy at what they term, the company’s irresponsibility at churning out phone that cannot stand the test of time.
Another customer who is an undergraduate, Busola Oke, explained that she became a victim of Sagem W-8 through a friend. “I had wanted to buy another brand but my friend convinced me that her elder sister is using it in the United Kingdom and reeled out the fantastic features. Later, I opted for it not knowing that I have made the wrong decision.

“Any slight press, it hangs and one has to switch off or possibly reboot as one does for a system. It is painful that we cannot enjoy value for one’s money. I think that it is best that these manufacturers go back to the drawing board and make necessary adjustments instead of making us go through the pains of wasting our time in the process of returning them.

“It doesn’t actually speak well of Sagem. Even the Standard Organization of Nigeria (SON) should try to properly investigate and scrutinize before allowing it in the market. That will go a long way in making an improvement on the products,” she said.

IN SPITE of the fact that the Federal Government waived off duty on Completely Knocked Down parts (CKDs) last year, this is yet to reduce the price of systems in the country.
Rather prices seem to have been out of the reach of the people. Unlike before, many people are today getting more technology- inclined owing to information gathered through the Internet. But price has remained the greatest problem being faced by the people.

In some quarters, it is believed that clone PCs are cheaper compared to brand ones but in reality, the cost of software installation as well as other peripherals put together is close to the price of a new one.
Even the Computer for All Nigerians initiative (CANi) has not done much to abate the situation even when it is hoped that things would change for the best with the coming on stream of the scheme.
But kudos should go to Zinox Technologies Limited, for initiating the Students Laptop scheme, which is meant to be affordable for the average Nigerian student.

Though the scheme, a partnership with First Bank of Nigeria seems to address this issue on the face value but some IT critics explained that rather than eradicate poverty, it adds to it based on the fact that the installment is far higher.

Another company, West Atlantic Computers Ltd, initiated another kind of scheme in the mould of the UN-backed One Laptop per Child initiative, the One Student per Laptop scheme, in the country.
This scheme is purely based on refurbished laptops, which are made available to genuine students that can produce certain documents as well as a guarantor after which the student can now own the laptop.
Much as this favours a few of these students, what happens to others that would want to own a system but cannot still afford it?

It is also a known fact that this is computer age and every one needs to be computer literate. This cannot be achieved if price of systems seem to be skyrocketing and not in the least stable.
Much as it appeared that the government has done its part in the waiver of duty on CKDS, many dealers still argue that there should be a zero percent waiver on complete systems as well.

This they say would invariably reduce drastically the cost of systems in the country and help in accelerating access to the computer as well as bridging the digital divide. They argue that if government should limit its waiver grant on only CKDS then, it has not done enough to alleviate the problem being experienced by people who seek knowledge through the Internet. Whether the government is ready to give a listening ear is another.

According to some IT critics, except the government is ready to grant zero per cent waiver on all Computer products, clones and brands, the issue of computer access for Nigerians will remain a mirage. And this is bound to defeat the laudable CANi programme.

Systemtech Services Limited, major dealers for Hewlett Packard (HP) has warned that pirates at the popular computer market, the Computer Village in Lagos, will soon face a hard time as plans are underway to curb incidences of pirating of HP products.

The company, which markets HP Laptops, printers and peripherals, disclosed to ICT Today that the parent company HP has set things in motion to launch an attack on pirates of its products. This warning is coming even as some companies, which included Microsoft, has in the past organized raid actions against software pirates in the market.

On several occasions traders have been arrested and goods worth several millions seized to forestall further incidences of piracy in the market, but the action has yielded little or no result as the traders continue on the illegal trade.

According to Emeka Ndukwu, marketing officer, Systemtech: “HP has been monitoring the situation here, and the company is about launching an attack on pirates, they are not happy about the situation.” He said HP which offers direct after-sales services and warranty on all original products purchased from the company, are making arrangements to come into the market so as to have a full presence in the market, the largest concentration of computer and peripheral traders in sub-Saharan Africa.

“When they begin to take active part in what is happening here, piracy will be a thing of the past. We know some of the importers of substandard products in the market, we know where they are and we will work with HP”

He further said that as a way of complementing the raid, Systemtech will also embark on a sensitization drive to educate consumers of the harm in buying substandard products despite the price differential.
Some of the hazards, Ndukwu said, include damage to the product it might be used in. He noted that fake toners could damage a printer and cost the user more that the amount he has been trying to save in purchasing a fake and substandard toner.

On pricing, Ndukwu noted that the cost of importation is affecting prices of products and solicited a 0 percent duty on all technology products. According to him, this will further brighten the hope of Nigeria bridging the technology gap that exists between it and other advanced nations.

Systemtech started business in the Computer Village barely one year ago and within this period has set itself as a distributor of HP products in the market.
The company, which currently has outlets in Port Harcourt, Okigwe, Abuja and Lagos, with head office in Surulere, is also looking at diversification as a means of extending its services to other Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs).

Thuraya Satellite phone is not exactly new in the country but the company has now gone back to the drawing board and produced a smaller, sleeker and sturdier phone unlike when it was first produced as a bulky phone.

Many shops at the Computer Village, Ikeja have started to sell this SO-2510 Satellite phone that offers total convenience and mobility without using any of the GSM networks.

Kingsley Nwogu, a dealer, said with the phone, users can enjoy uninterrupted, border-to-border satellite telecommunications in more than 110 nations in Europe, Africa, Middle East, Central and South Asia.
“The phone is already selling from N96,000 and comes with enhanced memory up to 32MB and great polyphonic ring tones. It supports more than 10 languages including Arabic, English, French, German, Hindi, Spanish, Russian and Turkish.”

He added that the Global Positioning System (GPS) feature is an added advantage for the handset.
“While traveling in remote and unconnected areas, the handset facilitates communication in various destinations. And the lightweight pocket size handset is designed to be portable and for easy use.”

On other features, Nwogu said, “it often comes with a wide range of services that include voice, data, fax, short messaging as well as Global Packet radio, service (GPRS) services, and comes in a coloured screen.”