The award of contracts for the supply of about 132,000 units of direct data capture (DDC) machines for the voters registration exercise by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to largely foreign vendors has drawn outright condemnation from Nigerian IT professional bodies including the Nigerian Computer Society, Information Technology Association of Nigeria, ITAN and the Institute of Software Professionals of Nigeria, ISPON , the Nigerian Internet Group, (NIG) as local players were left in the cold.
The core issue and concern of Nigerian IT experts and software practitioners and professional bodies is that Nigeria may pay a great price down the line if our national database is left for foreign agents to manage. Major concern among Nigerian IT experts, however were that award of the contract to foreign vendors would lead to capital flight and as such, will not in any way encourage local players who have been sidetracked in the execution of government IT jobs.
Meanwhile, Haier Thermocol, Zinox and US based ICT firm, Avant Technology after Lenovo was dropped were said to have been awarded the contract for supply of INEC’s DDC machines for the voter’s automation process ahead of 2011 general elections.
While there is general expectations that both the hardware and software aspect of INEC’s DCC machine should be controlled by indigenous solution providers, experts in the Nigerian IT industry who spoke to Vanguard CyberLIFE noted without mincing words that the present posture of the government in sidelining other local Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) including Beta Computers, Omatek, Brian Integrated Systems and other indigenous software makers in the deployment of solution for the automation process raises some sort of doubts in their commitment to support local capacity.
With this development, the professional bodies had queried for awarding the contract for the supply of thousands of notebooks, webcams, printers, back up batteries, finger print scanners, among others that make up the DCC to foreign vendor when local vendors in the Nigerian ICT sector have the capacity to do the same job.
Majority of IT professionals who reacted on the present government postured noted that they were not consulted in the e-automation process.
For the President of Nigerian Computer Society, Professor Uwadia, neither CPN nor NCS was consulted before the decisions were taken.
“The position of NCS on substantial local content in all IT contracts remain. This position has been made known to the new INEC Chairman at our last meeting with him.
“It is also important for the country to continue to assist the local oems in building sufficient capacity in order to avoid reliance on importation which eventually leads to capital flight. NCS has continued to canvass the protection of local industry as well as government patronage through implementation of existing policy on it” he said.
On the timeline for the exercise, the NCS President believed that if all parties involved play their role properly and on time too, the exercise is achievable within the scheduled time line.

Full story - VanguardNG: http://www.vanguardngr.com/2010/09/2011-electionsconcern-mounts-over-data-security-software-issues/

I think if possible every contract at local, state and federal level in Nigeria should be awarded to foreign businesses as they are often more reliable at handling contract (even at the cost of not developing our own contractor/facility etc) This is because Nigerian Construction contractors , etc, have never been good at completing the job they are given, we will benefit more if companies from Germany US UK japan etc were were responsible.
, or is it better to keep handing contracts to Nigeria businesses (to develop our own capacity) even when they keep running away with the money

Naija my naija, I wonder how nigerian firms are deprived from benefitting from this contract.remmember thousands of Nigerians are working in these local companies oooooooooooo.Well I still believe they will be awarded the contact-local computer manufacturers