Expert Tasks Nigerians On Manufacture Of Computers

The President of the Institute of Software Practitioners of Nigeria, Prof. Chris Uwaje,  has said that Nigerians needed to be strategic thinkers in the manufacturing of personal computers.

Uwaje told newsmen that the ability to manufacture certain components was all that could propel Nigerians to great heights in the information technology sector.

“There is no company in the world that holistically manufactures personal computers (PC), because the personal computer is made up of up to 750 components.

“This is what really dictates the small-scale industries around the ecosystem of information technology.

“So if one company will have been manufacturing PC, all these small scale companies would have died; they are the supply chain side in the assemblage of personal computers.

“The ownership of the PC brand was through the Basic Input/Output System (BIOS) and of course the Central Processing Units are those that are configured.

“Then you have a special component which is the processor being manufactured by Intel, Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) and others, stressing that, “everybody has their own component as areas of specialisation.’’

Uwaje said Nigerians could specialise in the manufacturing of certain components of personal computers hardware or software to  compete in the IT industry.

“The PC as a hardware itself will never work without software.

“So, you have two components of software which are the embedded chip as software and software intangible as operating system, applications, utilities, card-based Input Output Systems.

“It is within this realm that Nigerians should know that if they want to address the strategy of moving forward in the IT environment, they must address how the eco-system works.

“Nigerians must also understand how the components are manufactured, how this leads to maintenance.

“How it leads to back up services, training, marketing and system evaluation and analysis.

“These are gamut and the components of how the computer itself comes into being and is marching on.

“So Nigerians should be strategic thinkers when it comes to how to compete with the rest of the world in ICT.

“It is not through wholly manufacturing of the whole component, which nobody does, but it is ensuring that you probably can create a fore mode. A fore mode is what makes the hollow and chassis of the PC.’’

Uwaje explained that some IT experts who have the fore mode were using it to manufacture the chassis, while others are using it to manufacture the mother-board.