AfriOne launched its assembly plant in Lagos last Friday, with claims that it is the first smartphone assembly plant in the country. But it is a fact that back in 2014, RLG, another feature phone and smartphone manufacturer, opened an assembly plant in Ilesha, Osun State. So, who really opened the first smartphone assembly plant in Nigeria?
Incidentally, this would not be a question had I followed up on an old plan to visit the RLG facility. I have seen the RLG plant from outside. I have driven past it several times during my numerous road trips but never followed through on the mental note I made to visit. Perhaps it is time for that long overdue visit.
Is the RLG plant still functioning? What kind of activities go on in there – assembly of feature phones or smartphones? Or is it just a warehouse of some sort? A visit will answer these questions; no? One thing is sure, AfriOne’s PR machine trumps RLG’s.
Who would like to ride shotgun on a quick road trip to Ilesha? Barring all the annoying police stops along the way and a few bad road sections, this might just be fun!