The Chairman, National Association of Government Approved Freight Forwarders (NAGAFF) Ijora/Lillypond Chapter, Rev. Emmanuel Agubanze has faulted the federal government’s decision to employ the services of the established foreign auto manufacturing companies to develop the auto industry in Nigeria.
Speaking in an interview with Primetime Reporters in Lagos, Agubanze argued that if the federal government allows the established foreign companies to come and assemble their vehicles here at the expense of the indigenous manufacturers like Innoson, then the aim of the auto policy would be defeated.
He said,” when you look at the government policies like the auto policy issue, you discover that at times, the government is not being advised or it is ill-advised. For instance, if you talk about auto policy and the need to encourage Nigerians to develop the auto industry, there are lots of things that need to be done”.
“You don’t bring already established foreign companies like Nissan, Toyota and so on, if you allow these foreign companies to come to Nigeria through the auto policy, you are not encouraging local content. But if you are talking about may be Innoson, these are people that are indigenous auto makers here in Nigeria. When you now encourage foreigners to come in, you have defeated the aim of the auto policy”.
He maintained that the foreigners would come, knowing how they operate, they would assemble their vehicles in Nigeria, sell them and repatriate the money realized from such transactions to their home countries thereby creating capital flight in the country.
“But overall, the government being a listening government most times, they are ill-advised, they are not given the true picture of things. Our government is always listening, it is only those people that have access to the corridors of power that bring those advice and most times, those people do not mean well for the Nigerian business environment , they do not mean well for Nigerians”, he said.
The NAGAFF Chairman therefore called on the federal government to reconsider the policy with a view to encouraging local manufacturers to develop the nation’s auto policy rather than the current trend where Nigeria’s auto industry is at the mercy of the foreigners who do not mean well for Nigeria, her people and her economy.
