They have a way with gadgets. They see through the most complicated machines, and their magic fingers move in to fashion out stunning pieces. Aba, a city of 1.5m people in Abia State, teems with a rare breed of fabricators and technologists.
They bring failed industrial machines back to life. Badly damaged car parts are easily replaced in Aba. All manner of old and broken-down cooling items such as refrigerators and air conditioners are taken apart and made to work again as if nothing went wrong in the first place.
Yet, the ingenuity of Aba technologists is not limited to gadgets. In fact, they are unlimited. Various home appliances come to life in the city, as do clothing like jeans.
Though the origin of one of the most populous commercial towns, east of the Niger, could be traced as far back as 1901, Aba became famous for the women’s riot of 1929 when women resisted attempts by the colonial masters to impose taxes on them especially in the then Eastern Province.
Apart from the women’s riot, the city also became popular because of its importance to the state and the volume of economic activities in the city. No wonder the journey of any serious investor in Nigeria would not be complete if he or she failed to visit Aba.
Aba is ranked among Nigeria’s economically buoyant cities because of its volume of trading activities. Experts in the economic sector have often claimed that the amount of revenue generated in Aba, if well managed and properly utilised, can sustain the state economy. The city’s major economic activities range from textiles, pharmaceuticals, plastics, cement, lubricants, cosmetics and its high technological creativity. There are breweries and distilleries within the commercial city.
This city popularly called ‘Enyimba’ is also known for its industrial profile, perhaps recognised as a global market. It is the home handcrafts. The ingenuity and the industry of the people in crafts such as handbags, belts and shoes, tailoring, steel works (machines, tools and equipment) and fabrication of both domestic and industrial engines spare parts justifies the ‘Japan of Africa’ slogan.
The unskilled engineers in the commercial nerve centre of Abia State have become the most wanted by most dredging companies who rely on them to replicate or reproduce some of their machine parts that are either scarce or must have been phased out of the market.
The ingenuity of the people in using locally sourced materials to produce things that can compete favourably with their counterparts in the global market has earned its goods the popular nickname ‘Made in Aba’ just like we have ‘Made in China, UK, U.S.A,’ among others.
Many have argued that what people regarded as ‘fake’ because it was produced in Aba, would outshine their contemporaries both in quality and durability.
This has attracted high patronage on goods produced and manufactured in Aba by consumers beyond the shores of the country. Aba products traverse the West, East and North African countries, making the commercial city a sort of Mecca for traders within Nigeria and other African sub-regions.
Aba has long been touted as the Japan of Africa given the many innovative and entrepreneurial activities going on among the inhabitants of the city. Speaking on the ingenuity of Aba Mr. Fortunate Dike, the President, Aba Small Scale Industrialist Initiative (ASSII) and a fruit drink manufacturer, in a chat with this reporter in his office boasted that, locally fabricated industrial machine spare parts lasts longer than the imported ones.
Dike said that for Aba engineers to compete favourably with their foreign counterparts, “all they need is to be exposed to the modern technologies in order to help them meet with the modern trends of technology”.
Professor Charles Chinekezi, a media consultant, added “anybody who tells you that Aba is an ingenuity city is only stating the obvious. From the beginning, Aba as a city has been known and exemplified for the gospel of copy technology which remains the scoring points of the Japanese technology and development. Today, the People’s Republic of China has repeated exactly what the Japanese did in the early 70s. If we talk about Nigeria, and possibly when you talk about Africa, Aba remains the bastion of the gospel of copy technology.
“The multi-nationals have survived doing business, making profits, keeping their owners and investors in all corners of the world in the last 25 to 30 years from the ingenuity of the mere illiterate artisans who parade the streets of Aba. So, if anybody tells you that Aba has played a greater role in the development of Nigeria and Africa due to its commitment to the gospel of copy technology, that person is merely stating the obvious.
“One of the problems Aba would face is lack of interest of the government to help these people to grow.”
The government has refused to build technological villages, clusters and a mere encouragement of individuals, organizations, companies, associations and unions that promote this gospel of copy technology and that’s what have been crying about in the last 25 years, because of irregularity and inconsistency of people in government or because of the poor quality and judgmental pattern of government in choosing who runs the technocratic departments of the government in the last 25 to 30yeras. That is the only challenge we suffer from the promotion of this gospel of copy technology for which Aba as a commercial city is known in Nigeria, West Africa and Africa specifically. So, I am afraid. But I think if with the help of the press, civil society organisations, intellectual discusses and public campaigns and lectures, I think we can overcome this weakness or threat to our development as regards to the promotion and development of our indigenous technology.
“How can anybody say that things produced anywhere is fake? They are just being mischievous to say that anything produced in Aba is fake. If you say that something that is produced in Aba is fake, that means, something produced in London, Italy, France, New York, Tokoyo (Japan), Hong Kong is also fake. That’s just the meaning. We are only interested in quality control which is a standard issue worldwide and specifications. The standardisation of quality control is the same from here (Aba) to where the world ends. We can only be talking about fake when people in our territory refuse to adhere to certain acceptable global standards. Anyone who is talking about fake and fakeness when it concerns quality control, when we are willing to collaborate with other people is being unreasonable. Technology is never transferred, it is acquired worldwide.”
However, the pride of the commercial town of Abia State is at risk as most respondents said that they were contemplating leaving the state due to what they described as ‘harsh and unfriendly’ condition of doing business, excessive taxes and levies by government agencies is threatening their continued existence in the business.
According to a machine fabricating engineer, “the challenges of epileptic power supply and over-estimation of PHCN bills has been a problem that we have long tried to address without any positive result. You know how much diesel is being sold at filling stations today and then imagine the amount of money we spend every day or would have spent running on generator throughout the year.
“All we need is for the federal and state government to provide us with the enabling environment to do our businesses. Aba is known for its ingenuity. We are proud of it and will always make sure that, that which Aba is known for will be protected. We hope that the state of power supply will improve when Geometric Power Station and the EEDC (Enugu Electricity Distribution Company) finally resolve whatever that has been hindering effective power generation and distribution in Aba.”
One thing that is certain is that the ingenuity of Aba people has come to stay and will only require the partnership of the artisans with Abia State, Federal government to sharpen their skills in order to help them grow their businesses beyond its present state.
