By Adeyemi Adepetun
FOR technology transfer and local
content development in Nigeria’s Information and Communications Technology
(ICT) sector, a Ghanaian firm, RLG Communications, has unveiled plans to
commission a multi billion-naira Personal Computer and phone assembly plant in
Nigeria.
With about five years of operations
in Ghana, the firm, which entered the Nigerian market in 2012, operating as RLG
Communications Nigeria Limited, informed that the assembly plant, which has its
site in Osun State, should be ready by May ending and commence operations in
June.
The Chief Operating Officer of the
company, Mr. Taiwo Latilo, made this known in Lagos at the weekend at a
programme organised for the disabled titled: ‘Communication and the disabled’.
Latiwo, who said promised that the
company would churn out quality products that can compete with the other known
brands around the world, stressed that the world was rapidly changing in the
area of technology and people with disabilities needed to be equipped with ICT
skills that will make them fit for the job market.
“For us, this is a mandate to
revolutionise ICT in Africa and create one million jobs for the youth in the world.
In this regard, we have just commenced the construction of ‘HOPE City’
(an acronym for Home, Office, People and Environment), which is an ICT Park
modeled after Silicon Valley in America. That will be the first of its kind in
Africa,” he added.
According to him, if communication
meant thought, messages and information exchanged through mediums like speech,
visuals, signals, writing or behaviour, a significant segment of society would
not be able to communicate effectively.
According to him, this significant
segment is for people living with disabilities, and represents 15 per cent of
the population of the world (by The World Health Organisation’s figures), which
is about 800 million people worldwide.
Indeed, he stressed that this set of
people might have visual impairments, hearing impairments and/or physical
impairments, “how then can this class of people overcome the hurdles in their
way of communication? The answer is simply ICT. Our organisation is in
the forefront of training people with disabilities in ICT, not just to
communicate but also to learn and thereby have more access to opportunities
open to the rest of us,” he said.
The forum had in attendance officers
of the Federal Road safety Corps, National Union of Journalists, religious
leaders, Mrs. Funke Oga of NTA Channel 10 (who is the coordinator), among
others.
Latilo said in Ghana, the firm had
unveiled an ICT training programme initiated by government and RLG for persons
with disabilities, adding, “The initiative is worth N2.1billion and is to train
5,000 people living with disabilities in phones and computer repairs.
He disclosed that graduates from the
scheme will be employed as instructors in various resource centres and will be
assisted to set up shops to sell and market RLG products, stressing that some
others will work as engineers and technicians in the firm’s plants across
Africa.
He said RLG Nigeria was prepared to
work with government at various levels in Nigeria to replicate this initiative
and bring hope to people living with disabilities, and make their dreams a
reality.
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