The Director-General of the National Automotive Design and Development Council (NADDC), Mr Joseph Osanipin, has urged stakeholders in the automotive industry to prioritise the local manufacturing of vehicle components.
He made this call during a stakeholder engagement meeting with the Association of Motor Dealers of Nigeria (AMDON) on Thursday in Ikeja.
The theme of the meeting is, “Import of Used Car Dealership Regulation in Nigeria”.
Osanipin said it was important for stakeholders to leverage on new innovations and manufacture component parts.
“Your role cannot be overemphasised. This engagement began in 2024, and the auto sector alone has the potential to generate employment opportunities on par with agriculture.
“So, because of this multiplier effect, the government is taking the auto sector very seriously.
“If we get automobile sector right, it has the capacity to build infrastructure on its own. The auto sector also has the capacity to conserve foreign exchange.
“If you look at the amount we spend of importation in Nigeria, the amount is overwhelming; all these put together will lead to growth in economy.
“It will lead to growth in employment. Our role is to come up with policies, recommendations and regulations that will lead to the improvement of auto sector,” the DG said.
Osanipin further said that in order to build a car manufacturing industry, it was important to establish a sustainable component parts manufacturing sector.
“We have started with the development of component parts because we understand that growing this sector is crucial.
“So, we have engaged the component parts manufacturers. We ensure that we push them into the limelight.
“For those who are already producing, we make sure they increase their capacity so that they can meet market demand. We need your cooperation,” he said.
The DG said that car dealers should look inward to standardise vehicles on the road and curb the influx of substandard vehicles contributing to accidents.
He added, “Our mandate is also to regulate car dealers’ activities in order to combat the flooding of accidented vehicles on our roads.
“There are some vehicles in Nigeria that are not supposed to be on the road. We can’t fight this battle without AMDON.
“Also, we have to talk about safety, it is an issue that government is worried about and we need to self-regulate within AMDON.
“We need to fish out some bad ones.
There was a time in Sweden, cars abandoned were marked for scrapping. Some Nigerians went there and brought it in; they couldn’t get them into Tanzania, Ghana but ended up in Nigeria.”
He urged car dealers to showcase Nigerian-made brands, stating that Nigerian brands were hardly on display in showrooms.
“We need to start patronising Nigerian brands. I don’t want them to see Nigeria as a country where all stolen vehicles end up, the destination of stolen vehicles and scraps should not be Nigeria.
“We need to talk to ourselves. This is not an indictment, it shows the responsibility that we have at our hands. We cannot turn our country into a dumping ground.
“We want to address authentic car dealers and we are committed to working with you,” Osanipin noted.
AMDON’ President, Mr Ajibola Adedoyin, keynote speaker, in his response, said that there was need for government to have records of authentic car dealers.
According to him, government slso needs to punish those found wanting of approving the importation of scraps.
“How are these vehicles brought in? There is need to re-orientate the Customs and there should be sanction. I mean all those saddle with the responsibilities of checking imported vehicles should be punished.
“Also it’s important that we regularise. In Nigeria, anyone can wake up and bring in vehicles. We need to be able to check that,” he said.
Similarly, Mr Bawo Omagbitse, Chairman Nigeria Automotive Manufacturers Association, called for regularisation of stakeholders in the industry. (NAN) (www.nannews.ng)
