Supervising Minister of Niger Delta Affairs Darius Ishaku hopes that soon locally-assembled MENDA (Made in Niger Delta Area) phones and tablet PCs will enter Nigerian market and be welcomed by Nigerians.
The mobile devices are being assembled at Calabar Skills Acquisition Centre in Cross River State by the 100 graduates of the centre with the assistance of an Ireland-based firm.
It all began when the Department of youth empowerment and employment joined efforts with the Department of community development and education to look for the means to empower Niger Delta youths. They came across and subsequently collaborated with a Nigerian Information and Communication Technologies team in Ireland who helped to develop and assemble Nigerian-made phones and tablet PCs. Essentially, Nigerian Delta authorities wanted locally-made mobile devices that also could be repaired in Nigeria to train and employ as many youths as possible.
First hundred students have already graduated from training and assembled the MINDA phones and tablet PCs.
In a recent interview with Daily Trust, Minister Darius Ishaku assured that MINDA phones are equally good to some of the foreign-made devices. He confessed to using them himeslf and finding them useful and user-friendly. He added that he received positive feedback from other individuals who have also tested the devices.
The Minister disclosed that he does not know yet how much each phone will cost, but promised the devices would be cheap and affordable, in range of N20,000. He hopes to make Nigerians aware of the locally-made products through advertising.
President Goodluck Jonathan was “very happy and highly impressed” by the progress, Minister Darius said. He was glad to hear that the project would help to lower the uneployment rate in the country.