The Miracle of Huawei Mate 60 Pro And What Nigeria Must Learn from China

Things happen but you would not have expected that Huawei could come back within years, to be put in the same bucket as Apple, considering that it was on ground zero about two years ago. Yes, Huawei Mate 60 Pro is now seen as a generation leading smartphone for some remarkable breakthroughs it has inside it: “Huawei’s chip breakthrough poses new threat to Apple in China”, CNBC wrote.

Across the industry, the question is this: how did Huawei execute this? Some may explain the success away, arguing that Huawei bypassed Western sanctions, while others will posit that Huawei had inherent capabilities which morphed under sanctions, to ascend to its evolving greatness.

In the Igbo Nation, we say that  “mberede ka eji ama dike”  which loosely translates to “you know who a brave person is when the person is confronted with unforeseen problems, and that person is able to tackle them”.  Huawei did not achieve anything that even Africans could not achieve. What is remarkable here is simple: even during peacetime, the government of China, and Huawei in particular, are able to rise to overcome their challenges.

During the Biafran war, all the technical professors in University of Nigeria Nsukka became legends. They designed bombs, grenades, rockets, etc. In short, they designed a refinery to refine crude oil. 

Prof Gordian Ezekwe led the Rocket Group under Biafran Research and Production Directorate (that was Lockheed Martin, Boeing, etc in one). The accomplishment is uncommon as they not only designed the systems, they designed production systems, and manufactured the stuff, while under sanctions and blockade, which made it impossible to even import salt. Prof Njoku Obi while under the sanctions invented a vaccine which the WHO approved for the treatment of cholera. That vaccine was later used during the Kano 1970s cholera outbreak.

Why this deviation? I just want to tell everyone in Nigeria and Africa that we have these inherent capabilities. The Biafran war showed that we have everything. The real challenge is how we can innovate and lead during peacetime the ingenuity and unbelievable brilliance demonstrated during the war. For China and Huawei, they do not need wars to break the periwinkle to get the gems of cryolite, and that is the Huawei Miracle.

:”A new smartphone from Huawei Technologies could threaten Apple’s dominance in China, CNBC reports. The phone, called the Mate 60 Pro, has a semiconductor chip that’s apparently 5G capable — which, if true, represents either a breakthrough achievement or a violation of U.S. trade restrictions. The U.S. cut off the Chinese tech giant’s access to 5G chipmaking technologies in 2019, prompting questions about how Huawei was able to make a 5G chip and whether it can scale production of the Mate 60 Pro enough to turn a profit. The stakes could be significant, since Apple’s market share in China is about 20%. ”

• Huawei’s latest smartphone, the Mate 60 Pro, has a chip that appears to support 5G.
• This despite U.S. sanctions that have sought to cut the Chinese tech giant off from the technology.
• The chip, made by China’s SMIC, has sparked concern in Washington and raised questions about how it was possible.
• A resurgent Huawei could pose a challenge to Apple in China, one of the U.S. company’s biggest markets.

Permit me to borrow your beautiful adage ‘Mberede ka eji ama Dike’ translation ‘you know who a brave person is when the person is confronted with unforeseen problems, and that person is able to tackle them’.

Suffice to say, that necessity is the mother of invention. This is…

— Chukwunedum Ekwenibe (@MiriEnweIlo) September 20, 2023

Comment on Feed

Comment 1: People who built airstrip, bombs and a refinery in wartime obviously can do much more in peacetime. But Nigeria is not a real place, here the politics is more important than development, so what you see are people who are incapable of doing anything grandstanding that they must be in charge, thereby keeping everyone on the ground.

If you have a medical issue, you go see a doctor, and if you want to build, you go see an engineer. But in Nigeria, when it comes to governance and development, you bring those who never excelled in anything humans admire and revere. And somehow the delusion continues that we will get it right, no, you are never going to get it right, because what will make it right is right there staring at you.

We know how to cite other people’s cases and their commitment to excellence, but magically become numb and hysterical when asked to demonstrate same on homefront.

Dishonest people are never going to advance, and Nigeria is filled with dishonest and unscrupulous creatures.

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