I was at Ikeja City Mall just yesterday when on my way out I noticed 2 sleek and shiny black vehicles parked towards one of the exits of the mall. Needless to say I decided to take a look and I was not disappointed.

To my left was the sleek looking Honda Accord Sedan. I figured what the model year was but just to be sure I went ahead to peek at that little space between the bonnet and the windscreen on the drivers side. I know I could have checked the booklet just in front of the display area to see the full specs and especially the model year, but after scanning the pages and not finding what I needed I decided to put my knowledge of Autos into practice.

I found what I was looking for, the 17 digit long VIN (Vehicle Identification Number). I instantly recalled when I had my 6 month industrial training in an auto-workshop and on my first day, my Indian manager told me I had to memorize the name/brand of every car I worked on (ok, that was not too hard), then he mentioned the Plate number and then the impossible; he told me I need to know the VIN as well. Sadly, I had never been good with memorizing numbers but that's a story for another day.

Back to the present.

VINs are a combination of numbers and alphabets so I counted from the left to the 10th character which identifies the Model Year of the vehicle. This particular one read 'F' and I did a quick mental calculation.... ok that's a lie.
I actually counted off on my fingers, A - B - C - D - E - F, and confirmed that the Honda Accord sedan was a 2016 Model year. No big surprise but it was still the first time I had one up close.

The man on duty at the exhibit quickly gave me a download of the specs and then I entered into the front seat to experience the feel myself. Of-course, driving it is the true experience but no one was going to allow me do that.

Everything looked as good as promised, from the touch screen which would have measured a full 7-inches with smart gestures just like on a smartphone: the zooming, swiping and what more to the standard blue tooth and finally to the android & apple enabled car play.

I had to take a look at the boot and it was quite roomy with the option of folding the rear seat forward to accommodate longer items.

There was a lot more to look at and if you are looking for a review here is not the best place to find one.

The major reason for including this story here for Nairalanders is in this concluding piece.

Once I was about to take my leave of the exhibition area, the man on duty mentioned one important thing that really excited me and thus inspired this story.
He mentioned that these vehicles, indicating both the Accord and CR-V SUV on the other side were both assembled in Nigeria.

Yes!! Assembled in Nigeria!!

I did a double check on the car exterior and interior looking out for the bad finishing quality that has been said to go with Nigerian workmanship, but I was happy to find none. It looked as good as any other car assembled abroad, Japanese or American spec.
I know the driving, engine and life of the vehicles is another thing entirely but what I saw was cause to be happy.

Clearly, the Made in Nigerian dream is becoming a reality and it was right there before my eyes. I was told these vehicles were assembled in Ogun state by a major car dealer. I smiled to my friend who was with me and took my leave.

I knew I had to share this with Nairalanders. See what the 2016 accord looks like (Sadly I dint take these photos myself, but I will be sure to take photos of the next Nigerian Assembled vehicles I come across)

Cheers!!

Now that's refreshing

Proudly Nigerian

Proudly Nigerian, we go reach dere

I swear this one no go get k-leg. It was made for Nigerian roads.

I'm curious as to why you would expect a Honda vehicle that was merely assembled in Nigeria to be subpar.

It would have made your write up fully complete if you had included the pictures of the exact car at the stand and not internet downloaded copies.

Good write up...

Denn:
It would have made your write up fully complete if you had included the pictures of the exact car at the stand and not internet downloaded copies.

Good write up...

a cold bottle of star for u!

mejai:
a cold bottle of star for u!

Make it two and I will buy you correct nkwobi

Where are those folks that were peddling the pic of one cart-like car called 'Smart' as the made in Nigeria car that GEJ wanted Nigerians to drive?

Where are those peeps that said we need 24 hours electricity supply just to assemble cars?

Where are those evil people that complained that we don't have good roads so there is no need to assemble cars in Nigeria?

Where are those e-diots that think its rocket science to carry out a car assembly operation?

Where are those nonsense peeps that said Nigeria must be as developed as USA, Germany or Japan just to assemble a car?

Where are they now? Make dem come see say them no know wetin them dey talk about.

I keep saying it that you don't need 24hours electricity to assemble cars, neither do you need well constructed and properly developed roads to assemble a car. If we can buy brand new cars from wherever and drive in all our bad conditions, so why can't we do ordinary assembling?

Kudos to Honda, I guess Toyota, Mercedes, Volvo, Mazda, Mitsubishi, etc are next. No more car imports from South Africa...

If this is true (Op, no offence meant) then it deserves Front page