From - Fri Sep 26 17:44:24 1997

From: Prince Dugba <pndugba@UCDAVIS.EDU>

Subject: First Made-In-Nigeria Car Launched

Nicholas Ibewuike, PANA Correspondent

OWERRI, Nigeria (PANA) - The first made-in-Nigeria saloon car known as Z-600 has been launched in the eastern city of Owerri.

Nigerian engineer and Chief Executive of Izuogu Motors, Ezekiel Izuogu, said at the launch Tuesday, he conceived, designed and manufactured the car, which has been tested by the country’s vehicle inspectors and found roadworthy.

The entire body work and chassis frame is our design from first principles. We also made the mould from which the body can be stamped out to produce hundreds of thousands of cars, Izuogu said at the elaborate presentation ceremony.

The Z-600, built on 4-stroke 1800 cc engine, Izuogu said, could cover some 30 kilometres on one gallon of petrol. The engine could also be mass-produced and put to other uses like agricultural mechanisation, standby electricity generator and tricycles, among others, he said.

The unit price of the new car is put at between 150,000 and 180,000 naira (between 1,800 and 2,000 U.S. dollars). Nigeria has several vehicle assembly plants, but new cars have been priced beyond the reach of the average salary earner, forcing many to patronise the booming market of imported used vehicles mainly from Europe. Izuogu said it would require some 200 million nairas or 2.4 million U.S.

Dollars to set up a factory that would be able to produce about 30 Z-600 saloon cars a year. It is as low as this because we have the expertise, he added. Also speaking, the Chief of General Staff, Lt. Gen. Oladipo Diya, challenged Nigerians to invest in similar technological ventures.

He said by manufacturing the car, Izuogu had demonstrated the spirit of self-reliance, adding that the theory of technology transfer was a myth. Diya said the breakthrough showed that Nigeria, which is endowed with human and material resources, could as well play a great role in world economy like the Asian Tigers.

He said Nigerian engineers needed to be encouraged. Also speaking, Nigeria’s former foreign affairs minister, retired Maj. Gen. Ike Nwachukwu, said it is gladdening to see a black man, a Nigerian, design and manufacture a car that is indigenous to Nigeria. Nwachukwu said no country could be free economically without having its own industrial base, adding that education must be addressed squarely as democracy prevails.

Nigeria’s minister of science and technology, Maj. Gen. Sam Momah described technology as the bedrock for development. Technology is prosperity and progress, he added. Momah said the ministry would assist Izuogu Motors to produce the new car brand for the market.

Prince Dugba, University of California, Davis.

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