A major threat to the development of Africa was revealed in the announcement, last week, that an NGO Corporate Aid International has called on the Federal Government to cooperate with the UK based charity to flood the Nigerian market with outdated, dysfunctional and refurbished systems. The news report further revealed that over 25,000 of these computers have been brought into the country in the past two years and that they cost like six times less than the brand new computers.

For the discerning it is impossible to sell this as good news for the following reasons - Why were these systems boarded in the first place? Are they really cheaper? What is the total cost of ownership? Can our educational institutions patronize these refurbished systems?

The report on Page 31 of This Day on Thursday 4th February, 2010, explains that the computers are "acquired as donations from corporate organizations in the UK who are changing their IT systems to newer ones. " The statement implies that these corporate organizations are buying newer IT systems primarily because they want to improve on their service delivery not necessarily because they want to make IT systems available to developing countries.

They have found the systems unable to cope with recent challenges and they require newer and better systems to enhance their competitive platform. The option open to these corporate organizations is either to recycle the systems or dump them on a developing country like Nigeria. Recycling of computers today is complicated, expensive and not yet in vogue. The cheapest and convenient option is to dash it (dump it) on Nigeria or Ghana or any developing country and earn some respect as a charity. Unfortunately, these systems would be deployed in such a country to address the very developmental challenges that they have failed to cope with in the UK. The acceptance of dysfunctional and refurbished technology is a great disservice to the aspirations of the Nigerian.

In the early 80s the government wanted to improve the scary transport system in Lagos. Somehow, the project committee ended up with refurbished Scania buses. The Scania buses frustrated commuters with frequent breakdowns and the government could not cope with the cost of maintenance. A thoroughly embarrassed government quickly shelved the scheme. The truth is that the cost of maintenance is very high when you buy refurbished systems. Like Nigerians have realized that the best purchase status of any machine or equipment is the 'TEAR RUBBER'.

When you buy tear rubber, you can enjoy the ride/machine for at least 3 - 4 years before you start spending on maintenance. To the contrary, you start spending on the machine as soon as you buy a tokunboh. If it isn't the air conditioning; it would be the shocks or the brakes or the top cylinder. Something must be the problem with a tokunboh.

In IT the greatest consideration before procurement of a computer is the total cost of ownership. Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) is a tool that systematically accounts for all costs related to an information technology (IT) investment decision, this time a computer. Simply stated, TCO evaluates all costs, direct and indirect, incurred throughout the life-cycle of an IT asset, including acquisition and procurement, operations and maintenance, and end-of-life management.

While comparing the cost of different IT products and vendors can appear to be a simple task, there are frequently less obvious costs unrelated to the initial purchase price which can strongly influence the "best choice." In fact, the initial procurement cost is typically a relatively small part of the total cost of owning and operating most IT products. The computers from the Corporate Aid International cost as low as N14, 000.00 a unit as against the average cost of N70,000.00 for a brand new computer imported or indigenous. I am aware that Zinox Computers, the leading local manufacturer, has achieved the objective of producing a brand new N50, 000.00 PC. A popular Nigerian clichй says that cheap article often leads to a running tummy.

A N14,000.00 price tag is as misleading as it is mischievous because of the predictable sequence that would follow purchase of this laptop - upgrading costs. The Computer Aid laptop is reported to be running on Pentium II, III, and IV. There would be an immediate need to upgrade it in an effort to bring it closer to today's need for fast, graphics friendly and multi tasking mobile systems. What about the cost of time? Zero downtime is one of the marketing strong points of indigenous PC manufacturers but you would not get that from a N14, 000 PC, not with wasting two - three months, at a time, in the workshop trying to resolve support issues that are not cushioned by any warranty.

The point must be made at this point that Nigeria has long past the stage when the computer is just an object of wonder and fascination. The computer today is required for real work and play to address development goals.

Therefore, it would be wrong for educational institutions to purchase these deceptively cheap PCs under the notion that at least their students are getting familiar with the computer. That would be the wrong mindset for an administrator in education given the public outrage that Nigerian universities have year after year failed to get respectable ratings. Come to think of it, would it be right for a Nigerian university or polytechnic to accept fairly used computers from an American university or polytechnic? It would be wrong because acceptance would be mean that we are prepared to build universities and polytechnics that are inferior to the American university.

The tools of teaching and learning must be of the same standard because the products of the American and Nigerian universities are going to compete in the same global space. The same goes for our Research institutes, they should be competing with their peers all over the world. If a research institute in London finds its computer dysfunctional and inadequate for their challenges, then on no account should a research institute in Nigeria accept those computers either as donation or dash.