Shittu Tasks FG on Policy to Drive Auto Industry

Bennett  Oghifo

Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Lanre Shittu Motors (LSM), Taiwo Shittu, has called on the federal government to make sustainable policies that will drive and transform the automotive industry in Nigeria.

Shittu made the appeal when the Senate Committee on Industry paid a working visit to LSM Automobile Assembly Plant in Lagos.

The visitors inspected the LSM assembly plant, locally assembled trucks and CNG buses as well as the new CNG conversion centre accredited by the Pi-CNG.

He stated that there are many young people who strongly believe in Nigeria and are willing to invest in the country.

According to him, those already investing in the country are cautious, waiting for the enabling environment and laws to protect and guide their investments.

Shittu said, ‘’I am very delighted to hear very recently President Bola Ahmed Tinubu renewing his administration’s determination to revive the auto industry.”

He called on the National Assembly to speed up the passage of the Nigeria auto industry development plan bill for the President to sign it into law.

The LSM boss commended the bold efforts of the executive and the legislative arms, adding that the eventual enactment of the law would guarantee the best quality products and generate more employment opportunities for Nigerians. 

He disclosed that LSM have a staff strength of 418 with two expatriates, adding that the auto assembler is ready to do more.

Shittu also informed the visiting Senate Committee members about the LSM training scheme to cater for students who could not go further in their studies but have interest in automobile.

‘’Once we find that interest in such persons, we will start paying them immediately after the training programme. Just like ‘Esusu’; we pay them for them to come to work. After four or five years, we get them jobs from major LSM customers.

‘’Once we have finished training them, we pass them over to fleet operators of LSM trucks. We dictate their salaries, other entitlements with good conditions of service. 

“I can tell you that today, some of these peope are managers on their own with fleet. And these are people that ordinarily would have been roaming the streets. But today, with our technical support and their personal interest, we are able to take them out of the street by giving them a lifeline.”

The managing director promised that a new LSM four-line assembly plant for the production of windscreen and glasses, batteries, fibers and other components as well as the CNG conversion centre located in Ogun State would be commissioned before the end of 2025.

Also speaking, Senator Samson Ekong commended Taiwo Shittu for keeping and sustaining the dream and the legacy left behind by the late Lanre Shittu, the founding chairman of LSM. 

He said, ‘’What you have done at LSM should throw a larger challenge to other Nigerians, especially our youths. They should not go to sleep and rely on their father’s wealth alone. They should aim at doing better.

“Our visit is timely, coming at a time, when there is a refocusing in the automobile sector. I just want us to share the dream among other Africans and I am sure your father will be very happy with what is going on at LSM after his death.”

Senator Victor Umeh, on his part advised Taiwo Shittu and the LSM management to spell out out those incentives required by the company to grow the business and feed other markets within West Africa after meeting the demand of the local market.

‘’It is a very good dream which we would like to share with you. We would like to have a brief of the type of incentives needed; the challenges you face within the automotive industry and the type of legislation that you want us to look into,” he said.