Despite their risk, fake electrical products abound in the country. They are the causes of many fires in which scores were killed and properties destroyed. ADEDEJI ADEMIGBUJI examines why their importation is on the rise.
Richard Adekunle, a business executive working in a new advertising
agency got his ideal job effortlessly. Fresh from the university, he was placed on a yearly salary of N1.2 million. After receiving his first salary, Adekunle got an apartment close to his work place to save transport cost. He also bought some electrical appliances from the Alaba International Market where such items are cheap.
He bought electrical fittings, a toast machine, an electric kettle, a table freezer, all for N20,000. He saved about N30,000 on his purchases. Excited with starting life on a good note, Adekunle called his technician to fix the cables, sockets and other electrical gadgets and asked his fiancé to put the kitchen electrical appliances in order.
Ten days after he fitted his electrical appliances, they suddenly packed up. After an assessment, his technician discovered that the power cable transporting currents to the electrical appliances had melted while the appliances too could not withstand the voltage being transported. The technician told Adekunle that his electrical appliances are fake, adding that he was lucky to have escaped electrocution.
But Francis Emenike’s family was not so lucky. The price he paid for using counterfeit electrical cable were the lives of his two sons!
As he and his wife, Adauma made for the children’s room, they found it engulfed in thick smoke, the couple forced their way into the room to rescue the children. Two of the children had been choked to death while their little boy, Eze, survived.
Emenike’s family was a victim of counterfeit electrical fittings. The family while building its house patronised a technician who uses counterfeit electrical materials in order to maximise his gains. All the cables, which passed through the roof from the outer electrical poles source, were found to be fake. Since the cable could not withstand heat, it caught fire.
Director-General, Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON), Joseph Odumodu notes Nigerians’ penchant for fake products, citing his experience in a popular electrical and electronics market in Lagos.
“I went to Alaba International Market and I saw an old woman trying to buy an electrical appliance. I saw what she was buying and I told her that the product was counterfeit. She said my son, this is what I can afford and I said, madam if you get home and it burns your house, what will you do? She said God will not allow it to happen.”
Beyond Nigeria, counterfeit electrical materials are wreaking havoc in many households. In 2007, the global media reported that a seven-year-old boy was electrocuted by a fake Nintendo Game Boy charger his family bought in Thailand. Later examination of the charger showed that the gap between the primary and secondary circuits was only 1mm instead of the 4.6mm recommended by European Union standards. The implication is that the touchable charging pins of the device could become live. The incident prompted a United Kingdom (UK) Trading Standards Institute investigation that led to a Europe-wide recall of dangerous chargers and adaptors, but six years on, sub-standard and counterfeit chargers are still on sale.
According to UK-based Plugsafe, a voluntary group of electrical engineers, as major retailers are selling illegal chargers in the UK. Senior electrical engineer at South Africa-based CBI Electric, Dr Michael Grant, says counterfeit goods may look the same, but they don’t perform in the same way.
“The reproduction (of our circuit breakers) is visually similar, but there is no quality reproduction whatsoever,” he says. “The counterfeit versions offer no form of safety at all, and pose a direct risk to the installation.” Indeed, when tested against IEC 60947 standards for low voltage switchgear and control-gear, the counterfeit devices fail dismally.
“The South African government, through its Department of Trade and Industry conducted raids, seized counterfeit goods, and tested them in a laboratory. Even under normal load-conditions the counterfeit products ignited and started to burn,” adds Grant.
The world is under threat of counterfeit electrical appliances. The International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) estimates that trademark counterfeiting accounts for about six per cent of world trade estimated to be $350 billion annually. In the mid-year report for 2005, the US Department of Homeland Security (US DHS) reports that customs seized more than $64 million worth of counterfeit products during 3,693 seizures.
Electrical equipment alone accounted for over $6 million worth. The Canadian Anti-Counterfeiting Network (CACN) estimates that Canadian market in counterfeits is between $20 and $30 billion yearly.
In Nigeria, the situation has not fared better. Odumodu said last year, consumers spent over N500 million on sub-standard electric bulbs. Also, to cut the distribution of sub-standard electric cables, he said SON also seized over N450 million counterfeit electric cables at the Alaba International Market after an earlier raid of nine truckloads of substandard electric cables worth over N200 million.
Also, the Consumer Protection Council (CPC) in Southsouth Nigeria has impounded over 100 sub-standard cable wiring products valued at N5 million from markets and distributors in Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital.
With majority of the cables coming from Asia, especially China, according to the International Anti-Counterfeiting Coalition (IACC), it is estimated that about $125 billion is lost in tax revenue and additional welfare spending in developed countries alone while about 2.5 million jobs have been lost. However, Alaba Market, Port Harcourt and the porous borders are cited as the gateway through which counterfeiters enter the market.
An electric cable manufacturing company, Nigerchin Electrical Development Company Limited, recently alerted the CPC to the entry of counterfeit electrical products through Port Harcourt and Alaba International Market. But the Chairman, General Electrical Dealers Association, Chief Uche Igwe denied the accusation, saying there are no factories in Alaba where counterfeit electrical products are produced.
“That is an erroneous notion. Alaba is not a market for counterfeit. There are no factories in Alaba. Is it Alaba traders that bring those counterfeit through the border to Nigeria? How can you crucify a trader who bought goods he wants to sell and does not know whether it is a pirated product or not? Who are those people loading and bringing the containers from the borders? I think the blame for the influx should go to the government,” he said.
The porous borders and ports provide perfect grounds for dumping of counterfeit products. Investigation reveals that the Customs and SON hardly collaborate to stem the tide. A Customs official at Apapa, Lagos who does not want to be named, told The Nation that the job of Customs is to ensure that the products being shipped into the country are not illegal and not to subject them to quality test.
Notable electrical product supply chains, such as Leventis, Kingsway, among others, have folded up because of the influx of counterfeits. Sharp brand has suffered the worst blow in the last two decades too. The company, which produces electrical and electronic appliances while trying to consolidate its market presence in partnership with Dajcom Limited, affirmed that the brand lost its market leadership when consumers’ confidence waned following the faking of its electrical and electronic products.
The Managing Director of Sharp Middle-East and Dubai, Fumio Yamagudu, told The Nation, that the company is ready to start all over again after two decades of onslaught from counterfeiters. Also, the Managing Director of Dajcom, Mr. David Safa, said in the last two decades, there were many fake Sharp products at Alaba International Market, which he regarded as the biggest home to electrical products in West Africa.
With strategic alliance between Sharp and Dajcom, he believes that it will be difficult to counterfeit the Sharp brands as they are ready to assemble the product in Nigeria at a competitive price while the opening of shops across the country will make patronage of counterfeit meaningless to consumers.
To restore confidence, Odumodu said SON is beginning to uncover more than it used to, since the agency began to inspect the warehouses of importers. “We have also noticed that some warehouses are being relocated to more remote areas to avoid our inspections,” he said.
He assured Nigerians that those who specialise in the importation of sub-standard products won’t escape no matter how hard they try. He advised importers to buy only products that are safe for use.
“This issue of sub-standard product is a Nigerian issue, not just mine or SON’s but everyone is involved. It is a very sorry story when you go over to the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN) and discover that over 60 per cent of companies on its lists have closed down because of this menace. Those who bring in these substandard products are promoting unemployment and insecurity, which is indirectly fuelling terrorism. The more people speak up, the cleaner Nigeria will be for all of us,” he said.
Counterfeit cables worth over N2.2 billion have been destroyed by SON, while 50 companies have been sealed off. But the consumers face enormorous challenges, including poverty and unequal income even within the same social bracket.
Many of the consumers spoken to expressed their preference for the cheaper counterfeited products because they are within their income range. The question regulatory agencies are asking is: Is the price worth the risk to consumers’ life? A sales representative at a Quick Service Restaurant in Lagos, Gbenga Durojaiye, affirmed that his purchasing decision is based on his income. Veronica Nonzo said despite being able to afford original products, she still believes the spec for the market is still low compared to used imported electrical products from Europe and America.
“The used imported ones, which are manufactured to standard specification in the UK, US and other developed countries are better option for me. I have the money to buy original ones coming to Nigeria, but I normally go for the used imported ones because they last longer,” she said.
An electrical technician in Alagbado, a Lagos suburb, Tunde Oluwole said most of his customers often complain of cash constraint compelling him to buy whatever their money can afford. He stressed that used imported ones seem more reliable than new ones. This reasoning may be strange, but it is a generally accepted standard in the country.
