December 10, (THEWILL) – On Monday, the Senate Committee on Industry visited assembly plants of Dangote Sinotruk West Africa Limited, Nord Automobiles and Simba TVS, all in Lagos State, as part of its oversight functions.
The committee was led by the Vice Chairman, Senate Committee on Industry, Senator Shuaibu Lau, which also had Senator Sadiq Umar, Senator Victor Umeh, Senator Ekong Sampson and Senator Benson Agadaga on the inspection team.
Also part of the vising team were the Director-General of the National Automotive Design and Development Council, NADDC, Oluwemimo Joseph Osanipin, Director, Policy, NADDC, Mr Sani Musa and Deputy Director, Press and Protocol, NADDC, Mrs Felicia Oyebolu.
Speaking shortly after inspection of the Assembly plants, Senator Lau said their visit, which is part of their oversight function, was geared towards helping the automotive industry because they are key to the economy of Nigeria.
Stating that they had visited to see what their challenges were, with a view to proffering solutions, Senator Lau noted that most of the challenges are surmountable, even as the vehicle assemblers also need to liaise with the NADDC DG so that they can come up with areas they need the lawmakers to enact laws, which can help them in reducing the cost of productions and help them and Nigeria by providing job opportunities.
Emphasising that the Senate wants the auto manufacturers to succeed, the Senator representing the Taraba North Senatorial District said “We want them to expand and we have had some of their problems and we will definitely look at them. When we look at them, those that require piece of legislation, we will do; those that require advice to the executive, we will advise them in view to solving the problem. We agree that there is hard time but I believe we can surmount them.”
On compliance with backward integration, policy, Lau said “it was evidenced that there is serious attempt by the assemblers for backward integration. And in one, we have seen it. The other one, they have intention to have started but they have not gone far. We encourage them to keep the momentum so that we reach our final destination.”
Also speaking, Osanipin said oversight duty is statutory and that the Senate Committee has the statutory right to visit and perform its roles.
The NADDC DG, who confirmed that he was impressed with what the visiting team have seen, said they have given advice where necessary, told them where they want them to improve and the kind of improvements the government is expecting.
He hoped that by the time the Committee come back in the first quarter of next year, there would have been some changes, improvements and increase in percentage of local components they are using.
“These are the areas we want. We also discussed about their challenges, some of them may require some legislation, some will require one or two changes in policies. And some of them may also require themselves doing some things differently. That is why we met them and discussed with them.”
On his next year expectations, Osanipin added that “In 2025, we expect to have more backward integration and more increase in local component contributions to the automotive industry. We want auto industry to create more jobs and stimulate the economy more. We can do that incorporating more local components in the production of tricycles and motorcycles in Nigeria.”
Other areas the Senate wants the auto manufacturers to look at, are in the areas of compliance with backward integration, workers’ welfare, job creation, pricing and outsourcing of raw materials.
The senate committee members alongside the NADDC team who toured the three assembly plants for several hours, were taken through the vehicle manufacturing processes in each of the plants visited.
Anthony Awunor, is a business correspondent who holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Linguistics (UNILAG). He is also an alumnus of the Nigerian College of Aviation Technology (NCAT), Zaria Kaduna State. He lives in Lagos.
