By Adaobi Rhema Oguejiofor
For a long period, the Nigerian automotive industry has been heavily dependent on imports to meet local demand for vehicles due to insufficient domestic vehicle production. According to the United Nations Comtrade figures, in 2021, passenger cars constituted the largest export dollar value of more than $1 billion from the United States to Nigeria.
However, in a recent development, the Director General of the National Automotive Design and Development Council (NADDC), Oluwemimo Joseph Osanipin, disclosed that the Federal Government has concluded plans to invest in Made-in-Nigeria vehicles. Osanipin revealed the plan while speaking with journalists during an Inspection Visit to Lanre Shittu Motors in Lagos, calling on Nigerians to embrace manufactured or locally assembled vehicles.
According to him, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has also directed Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) to patronize the purchase and use of vehicles manufactured or assembled in Nigeria.
He stated that the first path to supporting and ensuring the industry’s growth is patronage, which should involve not only the government but all Nigerians.
In his words, “The first support we are asking is from all Nigerians. Let us replicate what we have done in truck business. Most of the new trucks you see on the road today are assembled in Nigeria and Nigerians have embraced that. Can we now start taking it further by doing so with buses? Yes, it will be easier with buses. People that are investing in buses are not investing in it for luxury, they are investing in it so as to make more money. They will be cautious of downtime. If it can go down with trucks, let Nigerians embrace buses.”
The NADDC Boss noted that the government is also going to patronize made-in-Nigeria vehicles, highlighting that the president ordered that for any of the MDAs to make any submission for vehicle acquisition, it has to be those manufactured or assembled in Nigeria and it has to be Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) powered as well.
He said the president’s directive to MDAs is the government’s current stand on the matter and how the government intends to support domestic vehicle production, as well as those in the automobile sector.
Osanipin also expressed that he was impressed with what he saw at the Lanre Shittu Motors. “We came here to look at the process because we have been talking about building capacity, and then doing full Semi-Knock Down (SKD). We have the plan to transmit from SKD to Complete Knock Down (CKD). And you could see that, especially, we have seen the way the pickup came, the frame and everything is being done. All the kits put together and assembled right here in Nigeria.
“In this factory, you have seen how the heavy duty vehicles are being assembled. We are here to look at what they are doing and look at how we can now take it further. We want to see some of these things being done right here in the factory. You could see that we have CNG pick-up assembled already, and we have another facility at the back where they do conversion to CNG. It means we are ready. What we are appealing to Nigerians is to start adopting this,” he stated.
The NADDC Boss explained that the distance that a vehicle powered by 60kg of CNG will cover would be more than 300 kilometres and when compared to other sources of powering vehicles including Premium Motor Spirits (PMS) or diesel, it is now known that CNG is far better. He also noted that there are safety aspects of CNG, which is being put in place, declaring that the country is ready for CNG.
Osanipin praised Lanre Shittu Motors for identifying with the government’s policies. In his words, “One other thing I am impressed about is the human capital development, the manpower development. You have seen the training process, not only that, the after-sales; you have seen the parts there. It means they are ready to support their customers with after-sales services and that is very critical. Of course, without that, you cannot sustain the market. I have seen capacity; I have seen ability. They have the ability to meet the market demand.
“I am not too surprised because Lanre Shittu has been in the industry for so long. With my discussion with them, we want to take it further. We want to go beyond that. We have seen the whole pickup assembled together from nothing, we want to go beyond that.” He concluded by noting that NADDC wants to start having Nigerian components as part of what will be assembled in the country.
Despite the many prospects of investments in made in Nigeria vehicles, citizens raise concerns over certain potential obstacles like quality concerns, infrastructure challenges, affordability, supply chain disruptions, limited access to financing, economic instability, dependence on imported components, high cost of production, limited market size, competition from established brands, and inadequate power supply, among other concerns.
Some stakeholders are of the opinion that if in the long run, these issues are addressed, Nigeria might be able to create an enabling environment for the production and patronage of made-in-Nigeria vehicles, which will enhance economic growth, create job opportunities as well as fuel industrial development.