Expert decries dwindling nature of software entrepreneurs

The Chief Executive Officer of SystemSpecs, Mr John Obaro, on Monday linked the dwindling nature of software entrepreneurs in the country to lack of patronage.

Obaro said this in a statement made available to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos.

The statement said that there had been low patronage of the indigenous software by the government and Nigerian companies.

It said that lack of ‘specific funding’ to develop the software sector of the economy was another challenge faced by the software practitioners.

“Experience has shown that many indigenous software entrepreneurs have become discouraged, while others have closed shop and thrown employees on the streets,’’ the statement said.

It said that patronising indigenous software by the government would assist in realising the objective of providing employment to Nigerian youths.

According to the statement, such patronage would ensure the conservation of the huge foreign exchange currently been lost.
It said that foreign exchange was lost when paid as annual software maintenance fee to foreign software providers.

The statement added that patronising indigenous software would help retain the 100 per cent annual maintenance fees within the Nigerian economy.

“Had the government patronised the indigenous software industry, this would have helped the country to preserve its foreign reserves, thereby become a net exporter of software and an earner of huge foreign exchange.

“Let us imagine that at least one Nigerian bank uses indigenous software, rather than the prevailing situation where all the banks use foreign software procured from India, Jordan, Switzerland, etc.

“Nigeria would have benefited had the software installed at the Office of the Accountant General of the Federation (OAGF), Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) are powered by indigenous software companies,’’ it said.

The statement said the country would have benefited had the software installed at the Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement Systems (NIBSS), the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the banks were all powered by indigenous software companies.

“Let us imagine what would have happened if Government Integrated Financial Management Information System (GIFMIS) and Integrated
Personnel and Payroll Information System (IPPIS) at OAGF are powered by indigenous software and not one from Estonia and USA respectively.

“If Integrated Tax Administration System (ITAS) at FIRS is an indigenous software and not from Canada.

“If the Bank Verification Number (BVN) platform deployed by NIBSS is powered by an indigenous software and not from Germany; if Real Time Gross Settlement (RTGS) platform at CBN is powered by indigenous software, and not one from Sweden,’’ it said.