When we came here last year, critics and naysayers were quick to allege that we were doing it for the purpose of the election that was to come up later in the year; that the whole idea was mere window-dressing and once the election was over, the idea would lapse into oblivion. We thank the Almighty God today that they have been proven wrong once again.
On what have they not be proven wrong? They predicted that O’YES would fail, they predicted that O’MEALS would fail, they even predicted that O’REAP would fail. Then of course, they predicted that we would not win re-election. They also predicted that the alliance that produced the All Progressives Congress (APC) would collapse in six months. Then, they predicted that the APC Presidential Candidate would not win the election. But we are here today celebrating the goodness of God for the success of our programmes and our electoral aspirations; and we can now laugh at their puerile and malicious predictions that are doomed to failure ab initio. When their predictions fail, their next move now is to cowardly attack our families.
This plant, a public-private partnership arrangement between RLG Ghana and our state is the biggest in Africa and the first of its kind in Nigeria. Given the potential of the electronic market in Nigeria, a firm like this is a necessity. When fully operational, it will be able to assemble all kinds of electronic gadgets starting from mobile phones, LCD televisions, desktop computers, laptops, palmtops, tablets, air conditioners, refrigerators, deep freezers and any electronic device imaginable.
From a recent release from the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), as at February this year, there are 142.5million active mobile telephone lines in Nigeria. Every year, not less than 10 million lines are added to existing ones in an ever expanding national teledensity. This means that if a mobile phone has an average lifespan of three years, in the next three years, there will be a demand for 142.5 million phones, in addition to the new lines that would have been activated then. While it is practically impossible, in a capitalist world, for one manufacturer to corner this humongous market, we have the comparative advantage to capture a sizeable portion of it. No country in Europe, except Russia, has a market this big. This was our vision when we went into talks with RLG and we are happy today that the effort is bearing fruits.
A significant breakthrough for the company is that GSM service providers have also partnered with it. RLG has and has delivered an order for 50,000 phones from Airtel Nigeria. It has received the same order from Globacom. This company has provided direct employment for 150 workers. In the next phase of its operation which it has just entered into, it is providing indirect employment to 1,500 salespersons who will man the kiosks and other sales outposts for RLG products as it enters the mobile phone markets, first in Osun and then the South West and ultimately other parts of Nigeria.
The workers at this factory are graduates of Osun Youth Empowerment Technology (OYESTECH), trained by RLG, and are the ones who assembled the beautiful products on display here.
In the 1960s up till the 70s, only one or two houses would have a black and white television set in a whole street. Today, the story has changed. It is possible for a single house to have five. Our country is saturated with finished electronic products imported from all over the world, mostly from Asia, costing us billions of dollars every year and constituting a huge drain on our foreign exchange.
Our vision is that this company will bridge the gap, not only to assemble electronic gadgets locally but also to increase local content until it becomes manufacturer of finished products and suppliers of basic components like panels and semi-conductors to other manufacturers.
It is from this company that we will begin the assembly of our flagship e-learning device, Opon Imo. Our plan is to fulfil the needs of the public schools in Osun after which we will start taking orders from other states. Indeed, we have received multiple requests from many states of the federation and it stands to reason that more requests will come the moment we start taking orders.
Do not look down on small beginnings. Though this place looks small, but our vision is big. That is why we named this company RLG Adulawo Technology City. It is a city in the making. We have only planted the first seed, we are going to nurture and water this mustard seed and watch it grow into a mighty tree.
When we came into office, we advertised our intention to make Osun the ICT hub in Nigeria. It looked like a tall order then, but today, it is fast becoming a reality. Once again, we are grateful to the Almighty that we have fulfilled every promise we made to our people because God is with us. Any other promise we made that has not yet been fulfilled, we are going to fulfil it. We will not disappoint the people who trusted us and keep giving us the mandate to govern. It is not in our DNA to disappoint. Whatever challenges we are facing can only be temporary. Our commitment and passion to serve our people is undiminished. We remain resolute to lay a solid foundation and preside over the most peaceful and the most prosperous era in the annals of this state. We shall fulfil our mandate because our best is yet to come.
It is pertinent to thank profusely our partners. First, I must thank Mr Roland Agambire, the chairman of RLG Global, for his unwavering confidence in us. While we were negotiating the partnership for this joint effort, he stoutly resisted the formidable attempt of an oil rich south-south governor to hijack the project into his state.
I also thank Airtel for the company’s confidence in the products of RLG. I am especially grateful to the company’s CEO, Mr Segun Ogunsanya, for boldly identifying with RLG and agreeing to do business with us. Airtel is the fourth biggest telecommunications company in the world and must have considered RLG’s products capable of competing with global brands in the market and is willing to stake its reputation with us.
I will not forget Mr Bola Oyebamiji, the MD of OSICOL, the investment and business arm of the State Government that has been our representative at RLG.
Finally, I will like to thank every other person or organisation that has been involved in the success of RLG Adulawo Technology City. Your effort has not been in vain.
To this distinguished audience, I thank you for your kind attention.
Osun a dara!
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