Caption: Udechukwu and Innoson Motors Assembled Vehicles

Bennett  Oghifo

The Anambra State Commissioner for Industry, Christian Udechukwu tells journalists that the government sees Innoson Motors’ low and high capacity vehicles that are fitted with renewable energy technologies, as the solution to the challenges that are presently facing Nigerians with the removal of fuel subsidy. Bennett Oghifo reports

Why are you at the Innoson Vehicles plant?

The State Governor, Prof Charles Soludo had asked me to come to Innoson today, to see how Anambra State is getting ready for the solutions to the challenges that are presently facing Nigeria. The challenges that are facing Nigerian workers and the Nigerian public because of the removal of fuel subsidy. And we are aware that Innoson has renewable energy technologies such as CNG, LNG, and solar powered technologies that are able to support the mass transport system in Nigeria. So the governor asked me to come and see how Innoson is getting ready to help Anambra industries to prepare and to contribute to national contributions.

Are you saying that Anambra State is ready to providing public utilities for the people of Anambra State?

Yes. The challenge is not just for the people of Anambra State, it is for the 36 states of the federation plus the FCT. And the governor had already partnered with Innoson in Anambra. We engaged with Innoson for the mass transportation system in Anambra. The entire convoy of the Governor is made up of Innoson vehicles. We are aware that many other institutions in Nigeria are increasingly using Innoson vehicles. But the withdrawal of the fuel subsidy by the federal government has created a shock in the system, where for example, the NNPC has quadrupled by almost 200 percent, the price of fuel. That has shocked the transport system. And that is why there is restiveness in the NLC TUC and other regular Nigerians. I am a little bit agitated that the cost of transportation has increased substantially and one of the ways by which the government can alleviate that is by introducing mass transportation system that run on alternative energy as well as the ones that run on fuel. But the more you have the ones that run on gas,  solar powered and Liquified Natural Gas, the greater the pressure for stability in the regular fuel price. Because there is an existence of alternative fuel choices. And Innoson offers those alternative choices. That is why we are here. We are here to see how he is carrying out mass production of vehicles to be able to supply and support the federal government in its policies to alleviate the problems and challenges Nigerians face now in transportation. That is why we are here. If you look behind, you will see the buses that are lined up there. It is a large number running up to a few hundreds. There are small and big capacity buses. The more your people are able to get into the buses, the more mobility Nigerians will have. That is why we are here. I heard that some states, for example, are cutting down work days from five working days to three working days. That cannot enhance and help the productivity of Nigerians. In fact, we are mindful of the fact that part of the challenges we would have to overcome in order to reduce Nigeria’s debt burden is to increase productivity. Not to decrease it. So, if you cut out work days from five to three because you want to help workers save money, you will be reducing productivity. So the economic challenge will multiply instead of reducing. What we need to do to shrink the national debt profile is to expand the economy, increase productivity and power industries on a 24-hour basis. That means that workers are able to go to work in three shifts, eight hours shifts so that people are able to maximize their output. We don’t need to withdraw now. We need to rise to the challenges. That is why I am here at Innoson because I know he has some of the solutions that will contribute to making life easier and transportation more affordable, reliable and more dependable for Nigerians as they move around.

Most state governments in Nigeria, including organisations, especially the MDAs still believe in importation of vehicles into Nigeria. As one of the major stakeholders in the state, how much do you think Nigeria is losing in terms of forex and manpower to this exercise?

It is increasingly challenging for people to source the forex they need for importation. As a matter of fact, we need to conserve it because the risks that arise from buying dollar denominated goods, maybe vehicles into Nigeria, are increasingly high. And the cost of recovery is also very high. When you talk about local solutions and local manufacturers based in Nigeria, it is obvious that the cost of acquiring assets from them is Naira denominated. So there is no risk of currency exchange  or risks of currency movement, either in the period of order or payment. All over the world, countries that have industrialised and created massive wealth did that by spending government money locally. By using the purchasing power of the procurement capacity that the government has, it can support industrial growth. There is no alternative to creating jobs in Nigeria other than by supporting industries. And I know that the new administration is geared in that direction. What we are trying to do by being here today is to see how Anambra State can contribute to national solutions in the face of the challenges that are facing Nigeria today. That is why Gov. Soludo sent me here. 

Do you think CNG vehicles are sustainable alternatives to petrol and diesel? 

The choices that consumers have are diverse. They are electric, solar, gas, and hydrogen powered vehicles. All of these provide choices to people. And what matters really is that at a time of challenge like we have now, the pressure for the price of petrol to go up does not increase. It cannot increase if there are alternatives and if there are alternative mass transit powered technology vehicles because the government has a choice to buy both fuel or gas powered buses. And here in Anambra, we have the capacity for all of that. We have the capacity for solar technology, gas powered mass transit system, fuel and we have new refineries springing up and the old ones revitalized and renovated. So all of them are going to come on stream. We, as an oil producing nation, are not going to give up on fuel. But the price must be sensible and affordable. Just a few days ago, I was with someone and we stopped at a gas station and it cost them about N50,000 to fill their tank in one day. For some people, that is two months salary, for others, it is three months salary. For some people who are lucky, it is a month’s salary. But you can’t spend it to fuel your vehicles alone. So it means that the more people we can get into buses, the more people we can get to work. The more people we can get into gas powered vehicles, the lower the cost of transportation for them. And then, that means that the lower the cost of transportation that they have to add to their goods and services to pass on to their customers. We want people to have a higher quality of life. You can’t have that if you are struggling to spread your income on transport, food, electricity and other utilities that Nigerians need to live a very quality life. 

What are your thoughts on IVM in terms of mass production of vehicles? 

We have always been very proud of Innoson and that is one of the reasons that governor Soludo appointed himself as the chief marketing officer of all industries in Anambra State. We are proud of the quality of the vehicles. We are proud of the designs from firefighting trucks, ambulances, big and small buses. This is a solution that Nigerians need today. And it is not far-fetched. It is local and the capacity, skill are there. All we need is for the public sector, government at all levels to look for local solutions and Innoson is one. 

Do you think that Innoson has the capacity, if he is challenged by the federal government to manufacture vehicles for them in large quantities at a very short period of time? 

I believe that Innoson has the capacity to contribute to the national solution that is required today. We are very proud of him and he had, with a foresight, established this industry well before these challenges arose. He is growing in capacity. We have seen the number of vehicles that are already manufactured daily, weekly and monthly. It means that, if there is an order that comes through, he will be able to ramp up production. That is really what we need. We are lucky today that we have local industries that have the capacity to manufacture on a mass scale. Even though the government orders vehicles, in the time it would take the vehicle orders to be placed and for the procurement process to come through and all of that, Innoson would have been able to solve that problem. The best option that we have is to challenge our local industrialists to expand and grow. There is no nation on earth today where the government spends its own procurement funds overseas. America is increasingly domesticating their spending. They have a law that ensures that Americans buy America first. Europe has the same policy and almost all industrial countries in the world buy services and goods from their own people before they look overseas. So I don’t see Nigeria, in a time of crises, will not look domestically to source solutions wherever they may be. As I said, Governor Soludo asked me to come to Innoson today because there is a national challenge or crisis in the transportation system because of the sudden increase in the price of fuel and Anambra has industries that have the capacity to contribute  solutions. This is the reason we are here. We have a local capacity that will solve and contribute to the solutions that Nigeria needs. There is no reason any sensible person will not choose local solutions, will not choose to empower local industries, will not choose to create jobs locally, will not choose to spend money locally and improve the quality of life of the people. This is the primary purpose of the government and we can do that. We have industries in Anambra that can do that. We look unto the government as it settles down, that it is able to look to Anambra for solutions because we have them. 

Are you saying Governor Soludo will take this solution to the FEC meeting? 

Governor Soludo has already extended a hand of cooperation, support and partnership with the government at the centre. We run a federal system of government and all states are interdependent. The federal government is dependent on the states for so many things. If the federal government calls on Anambra State and the industries in Anambra state to rise to the challenges of today, there is no reason we cannot do that. We are rallying our industries to ensure that they are ready to meet the opportunities and challenges of today by providing solutions. By blocking the gaps that exist today and helping to make life easier for Nigerians.