The recent announcement about the global shutdown of BlackBerry devices and services did not come as a surprise to most Nigerians.
BlackBerry Ltd., formerly known as Research In Motion, had announced that after Tuesday January 4, 2022, the services required to keep wireless connectivity/data services running on the mobile devices and others would be switched off.
The shutdown is part of an “end of life” decommissioning programme that was initially announced in 2020.
Meanwhile, Nigerians have reacted to the shutting down of the device especially how it would whether or not affect phone markets in Nigeria.
Speaking with SaharaReporters, a spokesperson of Computer Village, a popular electronic device market in Lagos State, identified only as Godwin, stated that the announcement would have little or no effects on Nigerians as people had already zeroed their minds from all BlackBerry devices before its eventual close down.
He further noted that the situation was like shutting down a business that had already been shut down adding that Nigerians were no longer using any of the BlackBerry devices.
Godwin said, “If I’m right, 95% of Nigerians have stopped using Blackberry; so shutting it down is like winding down a business that has long been shut down. I don’t think the effect will be felt by anybody. Blackberry had sometimes about three or four years ago, if I’m right, informed the public about the shutdown. When Android came, people no longer considered Blackberry, they left Blackberry and shifted to Android and Windows phones such as Lumia.
“But the problem people encounter most of the times with Windows phones is that it’s difficult to use some applications like WhatsApp. Some phones especially those from Windows are not compatible with WhatsApp and it’s hard to find someone who does not use WhatsApp in Nigeria.
“They’ve started winding down before now and the truth of the matter is that nobody will feel the impact of the shutdown. The circulation of Blackberry especially during this period when Android and Iphone are all around has reduced drastically. People have stopped using the device even before they shut down. Let me just say about 98 percent of Nigerian populace has shifted to Android and iPhones. They find those phones more advanced than Blackberry products.”
An Abuja-based phone dealer known as Kings Phones also added, “Before now, everybody had been informed that the device would shut down. So everybody has zeroed their minds from it already. Shutting it down yesterday did not come as a surprise to me. People don’t really use Blackberry anymore in Nigeria.”
