Must Nigerians Settle For Inferior Products?

It is very difficult for me to pinpoint the exact inferior product that led me to do this piece as almost any product in the market today has inferior versions and these inferior versions tend to permeate our everyday life as they are cheaper and readily available to unsuspecting and sometimes fully aware Nigerians who feel they do not have choices.

How did we get here?

I will be focusing on batteries on this article as a major battery distributor I get batteries from told me that they have stopped giving any form of warranty on their batteries, new batteries not used batteries!

When I asked why I was told that many importers simply go to China and ask them to produce cheap substandard batteries for them and they cannot be held responsible for providing warranties for products that might disappoint in no time.

Another reason which I honestly feel was valid but unhappy about was that if the batteries will be used for inverters then its zero warranty but for cars, trucks they would give 3 months warranty. Their reason being that many people have bought batteries for inverter systems only to return them in no time due to frying of the electrolyte in the battery due to over charging.

I will not blame the battery seller for a position based on this because a badly setup inverter will kill the best battery in a matter of days not even weeks or months.

So, back to the China angle and the problem it has created for many Nigerians, my question is this, “when did things become so bad that Nigerians must be forced to choose between competing inferior products instead of choosing between genuine and inferior ones?

Do we blame poverty or greed and wickedness on the part of the importers (remember substandard drugs)?

Agreed, good and genuine batteries don’t come cheap, but is it not better to offer people options and let them choose whether to pay high for genuine products or pay less for inferior ones?

In trying to figure out where the problem was, I contacted a battery manufacturer in the US and asked them to provide a quote for different configurations of batteries and the first thing that struck me was that price was about 3 times the price of the same configurations here in Nigeria even without adding transportation costs, customs duties and of course profit.

I told them that these batteries are far cheaper when compared to what we have here in Nigeria and the reply was as interesting as the price, “we don’t compromise on quality and our batteries come with 2 years full warranty”.

Is this why many importers avoid getting the genuine batteries? Is cost that important that Nigerians are forced to waste money on bad or sub standard products? Is this what the Chinese astronomical growth in technology is all about? Price tag for any quality?

What is the Standards Organization of Nigeria doing about this menace? Have we reached a point of no return?

Can’t cheaper prices and high quality ever come to agreement in Nigeria?

So many questions and yet very few answers. What can justify the frustration that many Nigerians face each day, from buying generator, to socket, electric bulb, handset etc?

You don't have to be sorry, it's a small article not a chat session.