By Moses Akaigwe
The Chairman of Innoson Group, Dr. Innocent Chuwuma, last week, cast his mind back to the early days of his Nnewi-based auto plant, recalling that as the governor of Anambra state, Peter Obi, gave the company tremendous encouragement that helped boost its activities.
Chukwuma also recalled that the directive to patronise only locally made vehicles issued by President Goodluck Jonathan while commissioning Innoson Vehicle Manufacturing Company Ltd {IVM} production plant in October, 2010, mobilised patronage for the brand from the Federal Government and its agencies.
Chief Chukwuma, who was interacting with a group of journalists that toured the factory, equally thumbed up for President Muhammadu Buhari and the current governor of Anambra state, Willie Obiano, for contributing to the success so far recorded by the auto company.
The industrialist said that apart from making the access road to Innoson plant very motorable, Peter Obi placed repeated orders for hundreds of mini buses, pick-up trucks and SUVs.
He disclosed, however, that the former governor is a hard bargainer who would always insist on the lowest possible unit price, even though he would pay promptly for every order placed.
“Peter Obi gave me much encouragement when I started. He first ordered 700 units of buses for schools in Anambra State, for which he made upfront payment. This upfront payment helped me a lot because I was just getting started.
“Later on, he ordered for another 500 units of pick-ups for security agencies in the state. But the only snag in dealing with him is that he would beat the price down to the lowest point. However, the good thing about him is that he will never owe you. He gave me a lot of encouragement. He also came back to me to say that he needed 500 SUVs for all the traditional rulers in Anambra state.
“Then, I had not started producing SUVs. I asked him to give me 14 days to study his need. I called all my engineers together and we discussed how to produce his order. Peter Obi made me to start producing SUVs and pick-ups, and we have no regrets doing so.”
Obi himself had some years ago disclosed on television that some people in his government had tried to dissuade him from purchasing the Innoson vehicles, alleging that they were death-traps.
“But I insisted on the state buying from Innoson; I told them, ‘let the vehicles go ahead and kill us. The rest of us that survive will continue to use them,’” the former governor stated, confirming that the vehicles performed satisfactorily.
The result of meeting the mass purchases was that the auto maker gradually added more products to the IVM line-up, including shuttle buses, bigger buses for mass transit, various pick-up truck models {some made for the security agencies}, sedans, SUVs, ambulances, family vans, and refuse management vehicles.
The addition of many products also led to the commissioning of two new plants in July 2021 and installation of an automated robotic paint spray booth, which was integrated into the production processes to increase efficiency and quality in the IVM factory complex
Chukwuma further told his guests that Obiano had continued from where his predecessor stopped, stating that the steady supply of electricity from the national grid which the plant is currently enjoying is owing to the efforts of the governor.
He expressed his gratitude to President Buhari, whom according to him, rescued manufacturers, including the Innoson plant, with a special bail-out fund that came through the Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment, from the crippling effects of the COVID 19-induced lockdown last year.
“If not for that intervention fund by the Federal Government, many industries in this country would have gone under,” the Innoson Chairman remarked.
He said that part of his vision for the auto plant in Nnewi, in the next few years, is to see sundry IVM products being widely used on the continent, leveraging on the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) opportunities.
Chukwuma disclosed that a pointer to the plant’s commitment to building vehicles according the customers’ needs is a batch of 100 mass transit buses his plant is currently producing for the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC).
All the 100 buses {IVM G115} will have engines that run on both compressed natural gas (CNG) and the usual fuel, as well as have the capacity for 60 seating and 40 standing passengers.
The Innoson Chairman disclosed that already IVM vehicles are being used in some African countries – the result of personal efforts of some customers who find the products reliable enough to take them outside Nigeria.
He explained that formally exporting various IVM vehicles to other African countries would earn for both the company and Nigeria a lot of foreign exchange and boost production in the Nnewi plant.
Chief Chukwuma acknowledged patronage from other states. The Imo state government, for instance, uses hundreds of special patrol vehicles built by Innoson for its ‘Operation Search & Flush.’
He, however, said that Innoson vehicles are not manufactured exclusively for government and its agencies: “Auto industry is not meant to be patronised solely by government. The vehicles are for everybody in this country. I want everyone to know that Innoson vehicles are manufactured for all Nigerians.
“It is a Nigerian idea, an indigenous brand Nigerians should be proud of, and I will like every Nigerian to see it as theirs. Innoson is a brand Nigerians should regard as their ambassador anywhere they see it in the world.”
