My Visit to Innoson an Exciting Eye-opener, We Look Forward to More Partnership, Says Osanipin

The Director General of the National Automotive Design and Development Council (NADDC), Joseph Oluwemimo Osanipin, on Tuesday, November 14, visited Innoson Vehicle Manufacturing Company Ltd (IVM), Nnewi, where he was received by the Chairman of Innoson Group, Dr. Innocent Chukwuma. Innoson thus became the first automaker the new Director General visited since his appointment was announced in October. During the tour which took him to the various sections of the existing factory, as well as the site of a new plant under construction, Osanipin gave his impression and commented on other issues in the industry. Bennett Oghifo reports

The Director General of the National Automotive Design and Development Council (NADDC), Joseph Oluwemimo Osanipin, on Tuesday, November 14, visited Innoson Vehicle Manufacturing Company Ltd (IVM), Nnewi, where he was received by the Chairman of Innoson Group, Dr. Innocent Chukwuma. Innoson thus became the first automaker the new Director General visited since his appointment was announced in October. During the tour which took him to the various sections of the existing factory, as well as the site of a new plant under construction, Osanipin gave his impression and commented on other issues in the industry. Bennett Oghifo reports

What are your thoughts, having seen the Innoson factories in Nnewi?

I have visited the Innoson factory where sedans, SUVs, buses and other vehicles are being manufactured here in Nnewi. I have also come here to see another massive factory that is under construction in another part of the town. As you can see, this new plant under construction occupies a land space of about 20, 000 square metres. That is one. Yet another one of the same size is being constructed next to it. I have come to inspect and see the huge investments, the huge capital being invested in Innoson, and know how we can come in and partner with them to know how to move the sector forward. And this is because there are a lot of potentials in the industry. From what I have seen today, I am impressed. And let me say that I am positively surprised, because I never thought we had this kind of investment here. I never knew we had this kind of expertise existing here at Innoson, and I never knew that a lot has been going on here in the industry. I have been hearing of Innoson and I have been seeing a lot of Innoson vehicles on the road, but now I think I have a better understanding of what IVM is all about

Having visited and seen what is going on at Innoson, what should we expect from you in terms of impact?

The impact from this visit will be more partnership. Now that we know the capability of Innoson and know their capacity and growth plan, we are in a better position to look forward to more partnership. From what we have seen, by February or March, this new factory under construction would have been completed and commissioned. That means that long buses and trucks can be produced here. So, we are going to have at Innoson two separate factories that can produce different ranges of products. And again today, I saw a CNG-powered long bus that can go more than 1,000 kilometres on a fully-filled up cylinder. These are eye-openers for us. These are things that we did not know before now that have been happening here at Innoson. So, we want to expose all these to Nigerians. We need to make these things known to everybody in Nigeria, and bring them to the knowledge of the government and make them known to the fleet operators. Let me tell you that we did a study on the cost of fuel per kilometre: While PMS (Premium Motor Spirit, also known as petrol or gasoline) is N135 to N137 per kilometre if you use a bus, it will cost between N37 to N39 if it is a CNG vehicle. This is a message we want to pass to the average fleet operators, and tell them: ‘Come and try this. Come and use these CNG buses manufactured by Innoson.’ So, we are going to talk to the fleet operators and see how we can bring them together. 

We are going to talk to every other stakeholder and see how all of us can work together to grow the industry.

How do you intend to help the auto plants in Nigeria like Innoson source foreign exchange?

We all know the federal government’s policy concerning foreign exchange today. It is about encouraging the export of more locally made products. It is part of the discussion I have been having with the Innoson Chairman. We can produce more and export to earn foreign exchange. Again, it needs financing. I cannot come here now and promise this or that. But, what I can say is that whatever we can do in terms of support, we will do it; even if it means talking to other financial institutions that finance green energy, we can bring them together

With companies like Innoson partnering with NADDC, will you say the future of the automotive industry is getting brighter?

The future of the industry is bright. We have not done anything yet. There are a lot of opportunities in the industry. We only need people with courage and people that love the country. If Innoson doesn’t love his country and doesn’t have the courage, he will not be making all these investments. If you don’t love your country, you won’t be doing all that. If we have people like Innoson, then we need to support them as a country, support our own, and support made-in-Nigeria vehicles and made-in-Nigeria goods. For me, it is part of what I stand for. I stand for made-in-Nigeria vehicles, made in Nigeria goods. I asked what is the percentage of local content in the production of that bus we use in our airports, and I was told it is between 60 and 70 percent. Gradually, we hope to get up to 80 percent, and from there, we know we can achieve more. From what we have seen today at Innoson, the future of the automotive industry is very bright with the support of everyone, all of us. You don’t say you cannot support. In every little way that you can, try as much as possible to support. Talk more about msde-in-Nigeria vehicles. By the time all of us support it, the industry will grow.

Innoson started manufacturing CNG-powered vehicles two years ago and is so far the only automaker doing so in Nigeria, but IVM is not among those partnering with the Federal Govt to produce the buses to be rolled out following fuel subsidy removal. Is there anything NADDC can do about it, or is it too late?

Let me say one thing. We are not involved in the procurement process, but having said that, whatever assistance we can render by putting forward the manufacturers we have in our list, we will do it. We have the automotive manufacturers which Innoson is part of. So, we are going to push forward our members; that is, those companies that we licensed. We are going to talk to every agency and we are going to talk to the government. We are going to put their names and products forward too. Many people don’t know some of these things, like the CNG, for instance. So, we are going to take it out and let people see it, and from there, I am sure in the next round, we will be able to push for patronage for all our members, including IVM.

You took over as the DG at a time the auto industry is at a critical state. What would be your priority in the next few months?

First, what I need to do in the next few months is to first of all put us forward, I mean to put us out there. Let Nigerians know our capability in the auto industry. A lot of things happening in the auto industry are not being told to the public. So first of all, we need to put our better face out there, so that people will know what we have there. Secondly, I know and I talked to some people and the question they ask is: ‘What about after-sales service?’ Innoson knows and I discussed it with him. I am happy that he is working along that line. We are going to encourage every member of the industry to pay more attention to after-sales support. Apart from that, we are going to encourage more local components. And I am happy Innoson is already doing that. What he is doing is what we want to extend to every other member of Industry, let’s improve more on local content.

Is giving legal backing to auto policy a priority? I ask because the Jonathan administration introduced it, but did not sign it into law. Buhari was in office for eight years, but didn’t sign it either.

It is one of our priorities, but I didn’t want to put it among what we are going to achieve in three, four, five months. Anything that involves law, you may not be able to put a timeline to it. However, we will continue to push. By this time next week, we will be having a meeting with all the auto assemblers and manufacturers in Lagos. We are going to discuss the NAIDP (Nigerian Automotive Industry Development Plan). As I mentioned before, we want it to become law because it is when it has become law that it will encourage more people to invest in the sector.