Mr. Lucky Ofuafor is the Chief Executive Officer, Rolof
Computers, a company that provides and equips old and young generation
of Nigerians with quality training in computer technology.
The company with a bigger vision he said is in Nigeria to create awareness much needed in the IT world and at the same time procures its customers genuine IT products thereby saving the customer the risk of purchasing fake ones that you hardly differentiate in the market today. According to the CEO, we want to see quality IT engineers produced by Rolof that can measure up with international standards.
In this interview with Saturday Vanguard Business, Lucky Ofuafor, a
former Chief Engineer of NNPC, revealed that the company is offering a
total package to the IT business in Nigeria. Excerpts:
Tell us all about Rolof Computers…
Rolof Computers is a business that started small but with a bigger vision to change the way business is being done in Nigeria by offering quality service and products to customers, training, technical support.
We found out that the customer needed a company that can be trusted. The customer has been cheated by opportunists who sold fake products to customers at very high prices. It was even difficult for the customer to source for genuine IT products and services in our environment. So Rolof Computers started computer training in September 1996 in Warri and added business centre services to be able to survive. Rolof Computers started the IT business with one desktop computer and one electric type writer that was given to us by a friend to use for a while.
The business focus was on the youths who God asked us to reach out with his Word and to change their lives. When the business started growing with also growing competition, I voluntarily retired from NNPC as a Chief Engineer to team up with my wife who has contributed tremendously to the growth of the company you are seeing today.
Why do you think we need to advance on computer technology?
Nigeria needs to advance on computer technology so as to be able to fit into globalization, be able to communicate and do business with the rest of the world. We also need it to be able to fight crime and generate employment for the idle youths, training and equipping them to face the challenges of life. We also need it to reduce leakages and wastage in government and business.
How do we achieve advancement in computer technology?
There must be a deliberate and conscious policy of government to embrace computer and information technology. The policy must be a long time one say 20 years, consistent and backed up by law enacted by the National Assembly so that subsequent regimes will be bound to implement it. All government ministries, agencies, parastatals and companies at all levels must embrace the policy and key into it.
If Government should invest into IT, what does Nigeria stands to benefit?
Government investment in Information Technology will change the way things are done in the country. Investment in IT will curb corruption, reduce waste, and improve efficiency in the running of government ministries and parastatals. There will be drastic reduction in recurrent expenditure and money will be saved for capital projects. Skills will also be provided and majority of our unemployed graduates will be engaged. There will be inflow of investments from outside because of the efficiency in the running of government business. The private sector will be encouraged to also invest in that sector since there will be government patronage. The multiplier effect is a quantum leap in employment generation.
How can we solve unemployment with IT?
Virtually every business is now managed with IT. Unfortunately our graduates are not conscious of this fact. The knowledge they acquired from the school cannot give them jobs. They need IT skills to be employable. Not many business owners will be patient enough to train them on IT skills before they start paying them salaries. Apart from being computer literate, they should acquire IT proficiency skills in their chosen profession. Accountants should have computer skills in the use of accounting software packages such as Peachtree, QuickBooks, and Microsoft Access etc. Engineers should have skill in software packages such as AutoCAD and so on.
Most of our graduates and undergraduates have notebooks. They do not know the value of what they own. If properly exposed, they can make a lot of genuine money online working from home and even employ others to work for them. The internet is a goldmine waiting for our youths to explore to make their lives much better. Unfortunately, this group of people wastes these invaluable asset: notebook and time on playing games, music and watching videos or committing crime with them.
Back to Rolof Computers, what are your products line?
Rolof Computers is involved in the sale of computers and offering support service for all the products will sell. We also run Rolof Computer Academy that is licensed by the Ministry of Higher Education, Delta State, Asaba to offer computer skills as a tertiary vocational institution.
Rolof Computer Academy runs certificate and diploma courses in Basic and Professional Computer Skill. We prepare students for certification courses organized by CompTIA, Cisco, Microsoft and Adobe. Rolof Computers sells notebooks, tablets, desktops, servers, digital cameras, projectors, inverters, ups, deep cycle batteries, genuine software such as Microsoft Office 2010, Microsoft Windows 7 and Servers; Norton and Kaspersky antivirus etc. We have partnership agreements with HP, Dell, Acer, LG, Samsung, Microsoft, Intel, Western Digital, Cisco, Dlink, Kaspersky, Norton to sell their products in our showroom. What it means is that all the products on display in our showroom come directly from the manufacturers.
The company with a bigger vision he said is in Nigeria to create awareness much needed in the IT world and at the same time procures its customers genuine IT products thereby saving the customer the risk of purchasing fake ones that you hardly differentiate in the market today. According to the CEO, we want to see quality IT engineers produced by Rolof that can measure up with international standards.
Ofuafor: We can reduce unemployment with IT skills
Tell us all about Rolof Computers…
Rolof Computers is a business that started small but with a bigger vision to change the way business is being done in Nigeria by offering quality service and products to customers, training, technical support.
We found out that the customer needed a company that can be trusted. The customer has been cheated by opportunists who sold fake products to customers at very high prices. It was even difficult for the customer to source for genuine IT products and services in our environment. So Rolof Computers started computer training in September 1996 in Warri and added business centre services to be able to survive. Rolof Computers started the IT business with one desktop computer and one electric type writer that was given to us by a friend to use for a while.
The business focus was on the youths who God asked us to reach out with his Word and to change their lives. When the business started growing with also growing competition, I voluntarily retired from NNPC as a Chief Engineer to team up with my wife who has contributed tremendously to the growth of the company you are seeing today.
Why do you think we need to advance on computer technology?
Nigeria needs to advance on computer technology so as to be able to fit into globalization, be able to communicate and do business with the rest of the world. We also need it to be able to fight crime and generate employment for the idle youths, training and equipping them to face the challenges of life. We also need it to reduce leakages and wastage in government and business.
How do we achieve advancement in computer technology?
There must be a deliberate and conscious policy of government to embrace computer and information technology. The policy must be a long time one say 20 years, consistent and backed up by law enacted by the National Assembly so that subsequent regimes will be bound to implement it. All government ministries, agencies, parastatals and companies at all levels must embrace the policy and key into it.
If Government should invest into IT, what does Nigeria stands to benefit?
Government investment in Information Technology will change the way things are done in the country. Investment in IT will curb corruption, reduce waste, and improve efficiency in the running of government ministries and parastatals. There will be drastic reduction in recurrent expenditure and money will be saved for capital projects. Skills will also be provided and majority of our unemployed graduates will be engaged. There will be inflow of investments from outside because of the efficiency in the running of government business. The private sector will be encouraged to also invest in that sector since there will be government patronage. The multiplier effect is a quantum leap in employment generation.
How can we solve unemployment with IT?
Virtually every business is now managed with IT. Unfortunately our graduates are not conscious of this fact. The knowledge they acquired from the school cannot give them jobs. They need IT skills to be employable. Not many business owners will be patient enough to train them on IT skills before they start paying them salaries. Apart from being computer literate, they should acquire IT proficiency skills in their chosen profession. Accountants should have computer skills in the use of accounting software packages such as Peachtree, QuickBooks, and Microsoft Access etc. Engineers should have skill in software packages such as AutoCAD and so on.
Most of our graduates and undergraduates have notebooks. They do not know the value of what they own. If properly exposed, they can make a lot of genuine money online working from home and even employ others to work for them. The internet is a goldmine waiting for our youths to explore to make their lives much better. Unfortunately, this group of people wastes these invaluable asset: notebook and time on playing games, music and watching videos or committing crime with them.
Back to Rolof Computers, what are your products line?
Rolof Computers is involved in the sale of computers and offering support service for all the products will sell. We also run Rolof Computer Academy that is licensed by the Ministry of Higher Education, Delta State, Asaba to offer computer skills as a tertiary vocational institution.
Rolof Computer Academy runs certificate and diploma courses in Basic and Professional Computer Skill. We prepare students for certification courses organized by CompTIA, Cisco, Microsoft and Adobe. Rolof Computers sells notebooks, tablets, desktops, servers, digital cameras, projectors, inverters, ups, deep cycle batteries, genuine software such as Microsoft Office 2010, Microsoft Windows 7 and Servers; Norton and Kaspersky antivirus etc. We have partnership agreements with HP, Dell, Acer, LG, Samsung, Microsoft, Intel, Western Digital, Cisco, Dlink, Kaspersky, Norton to sell their products in our showroom. What it means is that all the products on display in our showroom come directly from the manufacturers.
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