The Oluwo of Iwo land, Oba AbdulRasheed Akanbi, has urged President Muhammadu Buhari, governors of the 36 states and members of the National Assembly to start using vehicles assembled in Nigeria.

Oluwo, who said this in an interview with our correspondent in Osogbo on Tuesday, said this would help the local automobile companies and boost the nation’s ailing economy.

The monarch explained that patronising made-in-Nigeria vehicles, would help the local automakers to become better and create jobs for thousands of unemployed youths in the country.

According to him, manufacturers of vehicles made in Nigeria will take into consideration the peculiar nature of the country’s roads, their suspensions and other features, which will make them better than foreign ones.

Oba Akanbi commended the President for his efforts to reposition the nation but said Nigeria was wasting too much money on importation of vehicles, saying this was retarding development of the automakers in the country.

Oluwo said, “I support the government of President Muhammadu Buhari and I am proud of his achievements. But I want him to lead by using made-in-Nigeria cars.

“Let the governors, senators, members of House of Representatives, ministries, the police and others use vehicles made in our country. This will be difficult at the beginning but as time goes on, the local companies will grow, they will become better and we will all be better for it.

“The automobile company in Nnewi, Innoson, for instance, will be able to make bulletproof cars if they are patronised by the government and other individuals. We need to show that we believe in this country by patronising things produced here.

“We are just using our resources to develop auto industries of other countries and abandoning ours. Yet, we are quick to complain that the naira is losing value everyday. Patriotism has to come into play and I think the tariff on imported cars should be further increased to discourage many from buying imported vehicles.”

The monarch warned that low patronage of the company by Nigerian leaders, government agencies and individuals would have negative effects on the country, adding that indigenous companies deserved to be encouraged.

 

Source: Punchng.com

Comments

comments