I found this very distressing story in businessday 8th February 2006.

South Africa is set to acquire the rights from an automobile engineer to mass produce Nigeria's first car, the Z600, in that country.
South African president Thabo Mbeki has instructed his deputy-president to finalize details of the agreement with the car manufacturer with a view to producing the vehicle in South Africa...
full story on
http://www.businessdayonline.com/?c=45&a=4456

after reading this, i felt disappointed, outrage, shock, confused etc all at once. what kind of a country is this? why cant we encourage our own? why cant we do something right for once? these are a few of the questions running through my mind.

so nairalanders, what do we have to say about this? please lets hear your comments....

I think this is the most important thing:

This project remains my contribution to the development of Africa," he said.

So can't Nigeria be at the fore front of contributing to the development of Africa?

Yes, that would be nice but this guy tried and to be honest he sounds like the type who will try again...


Also, it's a Nigerian who is at the forefront of this project, which is important for others who aspire to do great things...

@ exu,
i think this also is a very important part which you seem to have overlooked.

"However, they said I must take the car to South Africa to let it be manufactured in their country. If they are putting up the money it is only fair that the car is made in their country".

He added that the board of directors at Izogu Motors was in the process of taking the car to South Africa, but he stressed that the Z600 would "lose its Nigerian identity".

dont you think so?

To be honest it doesn't matter where the car is built (as long as its in Africa ). The guy obviously tried to do it in Nigeria and it didn't work out. Look at Dyson, its still a British product even though it is now assembled in the far east.

That this car will be mass produce in South Africa is a shame to our leaders , banking institution and the country as a whole.

Why can't we learn to support our initiative in this country?So what is all the noise about the Proudly Nigerian concept?

What is important now is not empty talk. What is important is to put things in place so that such a car can be manufactured in Nigeria next time. Another possibility is to sponsor the venture so that the car can be manufactured in Nigeria afterall. It is not yet too late for Nigerians to take over the project.

However, the Nigerian identity for this particular project is not all that important. There are more basic things - like power supply and local petroleum refineries - that are of much higher priority. We do not need to build our own cars or computers yet.

Am sorry to say, but how many Nigerian will be wiliing to buy and use this car.

The project can only survive if govt can mandate that all ministries and her paratatals buy that car else i don't see any market for it here.

They are just putting the cart before the horse.

good for dem

I say, let the South African have it. The most important thing that has come out of this situation is that, it's been proven, and proven well... that the Nigeria people have what it take to make their own high performance vehicles. Now it's time for the people to prove that they can develop an Industrial, financial and transportation base robust enough to begin financing, mass producing and mass distributing not only the cars but all of the fruits of their labor to not just the Nigerian people but the world at large.

What's the use in attempting to develop cars, when your steel plants aren't in full operation yet?? What's the use in attempting to develop cars, when your rail network and roads... that these vehicles need to be transport from the factory to the distribution point on, are still in shambles. What's the point, when your electric in the nation is still sporadic?? These things need to be fixed before a viable auto manufacturing industry can be developed in the nation.

Let the S.A's have there fun in the sun now, and let Nigeria continue to rapidly improve its internal means to lay darken their skies, lay rain upon their party, and flood their Ass out of dominance... a few years down the road. Remember folks; all good things come to those who wait.

exu:

I think this is the most important thing:
This project remains my contribution to the development of Africa," he said.

Sorry bro, the MOST IMPORTANT thig u over look is the fact that south africa now becomes the FIRST african country to produce Africa's firt indigenous car and NOT nigeria!
For the so called "giant of africa", that is a slap in the face!

davidylan:

Sorry bro, the MOST IMPORTANT thig u over look is the fact that south africa now becomes the FIRST african country to produce Africa's firt indigenous car and NOT nigeria!
For the so called "giant of africa", that is a slap in the face!

Hello, is there supposed to be competition between 9ja & S.A? I thot we were all one big happy family of Africans?

Hello, is there supposed to be competition between Nigeria & S.A? I thot we were all one big happy family of Africans?

@fabian

sorry to puncture your bubble, we are absolutely far from being "one big happy family of africans"! put on your thinking cap, if that was so why did the southafricans insist the car must be produced in their country and not that of the owner?
Why do you need a visa (with stringent conditions) to travel to other "family" of african nations including SA?
Why is cameroun deporting nigerians?
Why are we fighting over bakaassi? can't we just share it as "brothers"?

Sorry, pride is at stake here that is why even EU members protect the rights of their individual nations!

david, you are damn right pride is at stake here.
we call ourselves giant of africa, we delude ourselves. the correct tag should be sleeping giant of africa.
south africa appears to be miles ahead of us in almost all spheres and this is unpallatable to me to say the least. they are ahead technologically, infracstructure wise, even politically.
how would the govt have time to develop our technology (this time talking about the production of our own indigeneous car) when all they want to talk about, all they want to dwell is third term; to be or not to be.

when will the giant wake up?

when will the giant wake up?

At this rate? probably never!

I dont blame him. matter of fact when the first car is made contact me. I'll one of the first to buy one. if u being beaten in your house hold, you'll run out and go to where u treated like a King. Nigeria would realise what they missing after the Car is in Production. It could save the Gorvernment Millions Of Dollars. but the Idiots are all for their own mouth. I Actually wanted to do that but I guess he beat me to it. Besides Studyin Mechanical Engineering (Automotive Option) in Canada, I run a lil Record Company and I got enuf Cash to buy them cars. If he needs ma Help he can Contact me. I dey kampe. I see him as a fellow man Not as an Igbo man. tell am make ihn carry on. I stand for ihn back.

Hahaha to all of you screaming that they like Transnational Corp, I would have liked TNC if they invested in projects like this, instead they want to buy Nitel. NEPA, Ports and Airports. Don't you see that they are the same clowns that continue to steal the national wealth for personal benefits. Until we can look ourselves in the face and tell ourselves the the truth, we as a society are doomed.

Maybe some of you are too young to remember when Nigeria's Maitama Sule was transversing the global, raking at the U.N to end apartheid. I recall because I was a kid but know him personally. Today we are the lumbering giant that sleeps all the day while yesterday's Lilliputians (I hope we still read in school), eat and grow bigger than us, certainly at our expense.

That is nothing significant. It will take at least five years before a full working prototype can be developed. I saw his car and alot more needs to be done. He has to optimize the components and workings of his car, and also design the process to manufacture his car. After the five years, he will need atleast 15 years to break into the African market, talk less of the global market. It took Japan decades, and China is just beginning to break in.

A side note. I am developing a Humanoid Robot. What are the chances that I will be taken seriously in Nigeria or should I go to the Japanese?

ayanfe, you miss the point, so it will take him 20 years. Will that be 20 years from now or twenty years from when we realize that we have lost track? For the hungry, we cannot afford to throw away food or nitpick.

@sbucareer and pendelite. I hear you both. Tribalism is one of the greatest ills of the African society. But how about the business men in Nigeria. Surely they are in the position to fund such a venture. Or did they look at the 20 year timeline of the product and called it quits.
Withing 20 years, Nigeria would have done something better. We are a very resourcefull nation. I will be going to the Nigerian government and businessmen for my robotics product.

Obviously you are not reading before posting,

I started with Transnational Corp, a mega Nigerian company that was established to make Nigeria the likes of Japan, Malaysia, Korea. Instead of investing in opportunities like this they are after buying NEPA, NITEL at stripped down prices. What do you think they will do with such companies? Strip and Sell, that is the Nigerian trader mentality.. do you actyually think that your robotics or any other idea stands a chance in Nigeria?

We are doomed becaue of people like them leading us and hopefully, now that ayanfe has realised the (delicately put) the errors of his ways we can all join in saying NO to such wasteful enterprises at the expense of society and No to third terms etc. and YES to vision, opportunity, challenge and a better tomorrow

However, you overlook the fact that there are Nigerian high tech companies who were allowed to prosper in Nigeria. Take for example the Nigerian Computer Manufacturing companies, which recently unveiled a plasma TV. Yes we are short sighted and narrow minded as a nation. However, sometimes the feasibility of some products just scares potential investors away. Robotics is the way of the future. Japan is pumping billions to monopolise an industry that is being likened to the PC revolution of the 80s. I still believe that there is a future for robotics in Nigeria, and robotics rather car manufacturing will bring us more prestige.

hmmmn, this is just one of the many reasons i love nairaland.
i feel u, pendelite, sbucarreer etc,

He claimed that "ethnic politics killed this product in Nigeria". "After the car's launch the Federal Government formed a high-powered team of scientists to probe my work. This team was led by the then Science and Technology Minister, Sam Momoh.

First I cannot recollect whether Obasanjo ever appointed anybody with name Sam Momoh as Science and Technology minister. But I stand corrected.

Second why is South Africa bankrolling this particular project? Does its design make it cost effective? As we all know SA by comparison is more technologically advanced than Nigeria so I don't think its should be difficult for them to design a car. So whats so special about that car?

Nigerians

So whats so special about that car?

The fact that south Africa is interested in this car means that Nigerians should not let it go. That we do shows how shortsighted we are. Consider this, it is not until late last year that China was considered a player in the global automotive manufacturing industry. It was less than 15 years ago that Korea launched cars. No-one wanted a Honda 20 years ago. Today Toyota is positioned as the leading automotive manufacturer.

The fact is that if a Nigerian developed a car that Nigerian deserves a national honor. It is not just a dream but a proven scientific endeavor. He needs the support of both the private and public sectors. I wrote here how we Nigerians like everything foreign and never support anything local. It will be a crying shame if he goes to South Africa and succeeds. It will also be a crying shame if our robotics friends also go to South Africa and succeeds, the smallest consequence will be the loss of Nigeria's regional position. In short others will benefit from our lack of vision.

As to the knowledge economy, that is too much for Nigeria at the moment unfortunately, we simply cannot compete, not with the half illiterates we graduate from our Universities nor the potential risk to data by fraudsters and 419ers that will man call centers or manage information. Nigeria is f@&.%ed.

The law of comparative advantage puts us in competion with countries at our level of development and resources; to the global marketplace we offer potentially good low cost labor but not if we are destroying the educational system or creating negative images about ourselves.