By Chuks OLUIGBO
Nigeria is a Third World country, otherwise called underdeveloped or developing. Like many Third World economies, its level of technological advancement is next to zero. It therefore relies on other technologically-advanced countries for the supply of a wide range of products which are absolutely necessary for day-to-day living in a fast-changing world. This need it fills through the importation of those needed products. Prominent among these imported products are electronic equipment like television sets, radio sets, VCD/DVD players, VHS/VCR players, refrigerators, computers, and a host of others. As would be expected, the importation of these products impacts significantly on the economy of Nigeria, negatively or positively, at both the micro- and macro-economic levels.
A panoramic look at the issue under survey would likely reveal a confluence of blessings accruing from the importation of electronic gadgets into Nigeria. Prominently, it is understandable that for any product that comes into the country, import duty is paid. It therefore means that importation of electronics is a source of revenue generation to Nigeria via the payment of import duties. This goes a long way towards increasing the country’s Gross Domestic Product, and then Gross National Product in the long run.
At the micro-economic level, importation of electronic gadgets provides a source of income as well as creates jobs for a lot of people linked in the chain. First and foremost, the importers of the products themselves buy at a very cheap rate overseas and sell at a higher rate, with a higher profit margin in Nigeria. Through this they make a living. Involved in this are also the retailers who buy at a reduced price from the importers and equally sell at a relatively high cost and make their own profits. There could also be sub-retailers or touts who would have been societal nuisances had they not been involved in this chain of business. In this way, the problem of unemployment at the larger level becomes minimised.
Like every other product, these electronic gadgets at times develop one fault or the other. This fact has equally created jobs for another group of people—the artisans who now undergo training and specialise in the repair and servicing of these gadgets. A lot of them would otherwise have been unemployed.
Furthermore, it is clear that the latest word in the world econonmic dictionary is globalisation. The world has gradually but consistently shrunk into a global village. Without these wide varieties of electronic gadgets, where would Nigeria be in the scheme of things? But the introduction of gadgets like television, radio, computers, and others has meant that Nigerians can feel a sense of belonging and have a part, however minor, to play in world affairs since they too can sit at home and watch happenings in other parts of the world and can equally transmit happenings in Nigeria to other parts of the world.
The introduction of electronics like television, radio, and computers into Nigeria has more or less revolutionized information dissemination in the country. Almost every household has access to either a television or a radio set or both. This equally means that producers and marketers of different new products find it easier to get across to their numerous would-be customers via television or radio advertisement. It has also revolutionized the learning process. Teachers and preachers of the gospel now find it easier to get across to their viewers and listeners. Through the use of computers, Nigerians can send and receive electronic mails from their friends across the world. In addition, electronics gadgets open the eyes of Nigerians to current trends in the world of both entertainment and fashion.
On the other side of the coin, certain incontrovertible facts stand out clearly. First and foremost, in an economy where everyone, especially those in power, preach the gospel of self-sufficiency and advancement in science and technology, continued importation of electronic gadgets into the country is at best lip service, and at worst sabotage, to the efforts at technological advancement. It is arguable that prior to the commencement of the mass importation era, Nigeria may have developed some indigenous technology, however crude or obsolete, which could have advanced over time. When mass importation began in the colonial era, it literally killed the existing or emerging indigenous technology as well as innovative abilities of a lot of promising Nigerians who then had to abandon their skills and rely solely on imported goods.
To think then that importation of electronic gadgets into Nigeria has led to any form of technological advancement is to make a mountain out of a molehill. The truth of the matter is that technology, as it were, is not environmentally neutral. That is to say that for technology to have taproot, for it to succeed in a place, it must be home grown from the foundation level to full maturity. It is not a seedling that can be uprooted from some nursery bed and transplanted into another totally different environment. As economic historians agree, industrialisation involves a continuum of activity starting from the conception of an idea, the formulation of a theory, the transfer of theory/idea to the drawing board and the production of machines with which to produce intermediate as well as final consumer goods. So, even when technology is imported, experts from the selling country must be in place to train others from the buying country who must then redevelop the technology from the foundation level, taking cognisance of existing local circumstances. But hardly any country can sell the crux of its technology to another for fear of economic suicide. Rather than make Nigeria self-sufficient, importation of electronics brings about a dangerous sense of complacency, and makes Nigeria increasingly dependent on other countries. The money used to import these gadgets could have gone into the development of our indigenous technology, however long it takes.
It is also true that importation of electronics, or of any other item for that matter, reduces Nigeria to the unenviable status of a dumping ground for the world’s refuse. Through importation all sorts of factory-rejected, over-used and outdated products find their way into the country. Even though the bulk of the fairly-used products that are brought in are still fairly manageable, dubious importers bring in these unusable wastes into the country, which must now be disposed of by burning, rather than by crushing, which is obtainable in advanced economies. In this way, toxic wastes are released into the atmosphere, thereby causing pollution, a veritable source of health hazards. Moreover, the end users who buy these gadgets end up wasting their scarce resources since what they have bought cannot be used.
Importation of electronics equally leads to misplacement of values and its attendant conspicuous spending. Students who can hardly pay their fees or buy their books compete among themselves on who will use the costliest and most flamboyant gadget in the market. Some of them go to the extent of stealing in order to measure up. The result of this on our social values is unquantifiable.
Importation in itself is not a bad idea. In the face of the current trends in world civilisation, no country can claim to be an island; no country has all the resources needed for its development, and so no country can survive alone without one form of dependence or the other on other countries. The import of foreign goods should not be allowed to go out of proportions to the point that nation’s economy depends entirely on the vagaries of the supplier-nations’ economies. A country like Nigeria should strive to balance its imports with the exportation of other products which it has in abundance which other nations need, aside from crude oil. It is only in this way that it can derive to the optimum the benefits accruing from importation of foreign goods, and those of international trade in the long-run. The nation’s economy will be the better for it.
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