By Hon. Kingsley Ononuju, Esq.
For years, I have wondered when Nigeria would have a government bold enough to understand one of the secrets behind the rise of countries like China and India: you do not have to invent everything before you start building technological capacity. Sometimes, you start by assembling what others have invented. Then you learn, improve and grow.
There was a time when Nokia and Motorola dominated the mobile phone industry, with Samsung also becoming a major force. An average worker in a Nokia plant in Finland or Germany earned around $3,180 a month, while workers in China and India could be employed for roughly $96–$100 monthly.
Those countries saw the opportunity.
They opened their economies to foreign manufacturers, provided the workforce and infrastructure, and allowed their people to work around advanced production systems. They learned from the process, developed supply chains and gradually built the industrial capacity that would eventually make them global competitors.
Today, China is one of the world's greatest technology and manufacturing powers.
So imagine my surprise when I visited the Imo Technology Hub on Egbu Road yesterday and discovered that phones, tablets, laptops, routers and modems are being assembled in Imo State under the Imose brand.
Let us be clear: Imo is not manufacturing these devices from scratch yet.
But that does not make the development insignificant.
In fact, it may be the most important part of the story.
Governor Hope Uzodinma brought the company to Imo to establish an assembly operation. That means jobs, skills, exposure to modern production processes and, potentially, the beginning of a much larger technology ecosystem.
Every industrial giant started somewhere.
The question is whether we have the vision to move from assembly to manufacturing, from manufacturing to local components, and from local components to indigenous technology.
This is where I give Governor Uzodinma considerable credit.
His administration has demonstrated an ambition that goes beyond ordinary governance—from infrastructure and healthcare to digital development and now technology. The state's move into robotic-assisted medical procedures and the attraction of technology assembly to Imo suggest a leader interested not only in what can be achieved during his tenure, but in what can remain after him.
That is the difference between occupying office and building a legacy.
A governor thinking only about eight years asks: "What can I complete before I leave?"
Governor Hope Uzodinma thinking about history asks: "What foundation can I lay that the next generation can build upon?"
The Imose assembly project is a foundation.
But there is one condition we must never forget: there can be no technology revolution without security.
Investors will not bring serious capital into an insecure environment. Businesses cannot expand when they fear disruption. Young people cannot build careers where economic activity is constantly threatened.
Peace and security are therefore not merely political concerns.
They are economic infrastructure.
If we want more companies to come to Imo, more factories to open, more young people to acquire skills and more investors to take us seriously, then we must protect the peace.
Let us support what is working, demand improvements where necessary and, above all, give indigenous initiatives the opportunity to grow.
Imo may only be assembling these devices today.
That is okay.
The bigger question is what comes next.
Because perhaps the phone assembled in Owerri today will be the beginning of a journey that eventually leads to phones designed, engineered, manufactured and exported from Imo tomorrow.
China did not become China in one day. I remember those China phones back then that could literally wake the dead when they ring.
Imo may start small today, but God willing, we'll definitely get there.
Every great industrial story has a first chapter.
Perhaps this is ours.