THE National Automotive Design and Development Council (NADDC), alongside its Governing Board and Management, on Wednesday continued its inspection tour of automotive assembly and manufacturing facilities across the country.
The visit took the NADDC Board to KOJO Motors and Innoson Vehicle Manufacturing (IVM) to assess their operations, technical capabilities, production capacity and areas requiring further support.
Speaking during the tour, chairman of NADDC Governing Board, Chief Emma Eneukwu, expressed satisfaction with the level of investment and technical development witnessed at the facilities.
Eneukwu explained that the visit was designed to provide board members with first-hand information on the technical know-how, production capacity and challenges confronting local vehicle manufacturers.
He stressed the need for a strong NADDC industry law that would empower the council to effectively regulate the automotive sector, address the influx of used and substandard vehicles into the country, protect local manufacturers and create an enabling environment for locally produced vehicles to compete favourably in the market.
Eneukwu commended the Federal Government under the leadership of President Bola Tinubu for its support towards the development of Nigeria’s automotive industry.
‘Greater emphasis must be placed on local content, technology transfer and skills development, enabling Nigerians to acquire the technical expertise required not only to assemble vehicles but also to manufacture complete vehicles locally,’ he said.
Addressing the team, the Executive Director of KOJO Motors, Mr Chinedu Oguegbu, said the company had operated in the automotive industry for more than 30 years and had built partnerships with Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) globally, through which it has benefited from technology transfer and international best practices.
Oguegbu noted that KOJO Motors complied with global standards in vehicle assembly and provided warranty and after-sales support through its service centres.
He explained that the company’s partnership with Yutong, one of the world’s leading vehicle manufacturers, had enabled the assembly of its products in Nigeria, while the OMAA brand, a Nigerian product, is being developed with the ambition of reaching international markets.
At Innoson Vehicle Manufacturing Co Ltd (IVM), Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Chief Innocent Chukwuma, highlighted the importance of transitioning to Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) and Electric Vehicles (EVs) as part of efforts to address the challenges of high fuel costs and promote sustainable transportation.
He commended the Federal Government’s investment in CNG infrastructure and called for a review of policies, including vehicle import duty concessions, which he said could place local manufacturers at a disadvantage.
Chukwuma emphasised that supporting local manufacturing would create employment opportunities, strengthen the economy and ensure that investments in the sector deliver wider benefits to Nigerians.
In his remarks, the Director-General/CEO of NADDC, Otunba Oluwemimo Osanipin, said the tour was organised to enable the Governing Board and Management to understand the operations, capabilities and development needs of vehicle assemblers and manufacturers across the country.
Osanipin expressed delight at the scale of investment witnessed at Innoson Vehicle Manufacturing, particularly its production of commercial buses and mass-transit vehicles, as well as its processes for building vehicles from the chassis stage.