Mr. Ubani Chigozie is Managing Director, Sharp Cars Limited, and general secretary, Association of Automobile Dealers, Ikeja, Lagos. In this interview with Oladunjoye Phillip, he bares his mind on issues affecting the auto industry in the country and other issues. Excerpts:

How long have you been in the car dealing industry?

Seventeen years. I actually joined car dealership sometime in 1991, while trying to market car insurance policy with Lagos State Assurance Corporation. I was trained to market car insurance and that granted me unlimited access to cars and car dealers.

In the last 17 years, how has the industry feared?

Automobile marketing have had its high and low moments. We have done well in marketing but have found it difficult to revive or kick-start our assembly and manufacturing plants. We were supposed to have taken the advantage of the Nigerian population. The Nigerian market is big and quite encouraging; we are growing but quite slowly.

What do you think is the problem of Nigerians not having auto plants?

Primarily electricit; auto plants don't function in darkness. You need electricity to power up the plant. You can't imagine what I go through running my small business with diesel powered generator. So, let us to try to put that on the larger scale. Powering a motor plant with generators sounds crazy. So, primarily, I know that is number one. Then there are a number of other issues but if we have steady electricity supply, then, I think other things would fall in place as mere challenges that need to be surmounted.

Considering the position of most major dealers on imported cars that used cars are not specified for Nigerian roads and they are trying to discourage buyers from patronising used cars, what is your opinion on this?

Everywhere in the world there is a huge market for fairly used vehicles. So, those who are trying to discourage people from buying used vehicles are dissipating energy. If things are in the way they should be; people should drive brand new cars. For God's sake, I yearn to buying and driving my brand new car. The issue is that the economy does not support everybody driving brand new cars. I don't even know of any part of the world not even in the United States or in Japan does everybody buy brand new cars. There is always a market for used vehicles. And that market will continue to remain there for as long as all hands are not equal.

But considering the influx of new vehicles from Korea and China, which compare reasonably well with used vehicles in terms of price, don't you think this would limit the chances of people patronising used vehicles?

They have not limited the chances of used vehicles. The issue about it is that even when you import brand new cars from China, the difference between Chinese brand new cars and Japanese brand new cars is not much. So, for a car to be brand new, the chassis is new, the engine is new, the tyres are new, and these things come at a price. So, whether it is Chinese made or Nigerian made, brand new car is a brand new car. What we are saying here is that the brand new car market is there for the individual elite and bodies corporate, and the used car market must remain to satisfy the middle and lower class. Even if I eventually graduate into selling all brand new cars, I cannot advocate for the ban of fairly used vehicles because I know that such advocacy cannot be sustained.

Considering the clamp down on the importation of vehicles that are over ten years; how many people do you think can afford the prices of relatively fairly new vehicles?

Yes, I commend some state governments, especially Lagos State and then the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) for thinking out a way of effectively managing the public transport system. If that has been in place, there won't be this mad influx of vehicles into the country. If the public transport system has been effective and people can move around without their vehicles, you will see that the mad rush for cars will reduce reasonably. Europe and America have gone through what we are going through today. In France, Holland, and the Scandinavia more people ride bicycles. In most parts of Europe, people now crave for budget vehicles. That is, small sized cars that can fit into any space.

The ban on 10 years old vehicles was Obasanjo's way of solving Nigerians problem over the importation of old vehicles. We do not support a blanket ban on these vehicles. We believe in standardisation. It is just that the governments' standardisation mechanisms failed them and they preferred to place a blanket ban on vehicles above eight years. Some 1920s, 1939 Bentley cars are more expensive than some 2007 and 2008 model cars today. So, if anyone chooses to drive an old car what you need to do is to put your standardisation machinery in place at the ports so that the vehicles can be properly evaluated, and if they pass the emission tests, why shouldn't they come into the country? The truth is that the Standards Organization, and Nigerian Automotive Council failed Nigeria and then the government had to place a blanket ban. Personally, I don't support the ban. There are better ways of going around it.

But then people still bring those vehicles through Cotonou.

Yes, of course.

How does that impact on the economy of the country?

We leave that to the customs and the federal ministry of finance to apply. The truth is that even after the ban, these cars still find their way into the country. Cars are not pieces of gold or diamond that one can put in ones pocket and walk across the border. I suspect that there is high level collaboration between the smugglers and some elements within the customs and the police because if you are not in their good books those vehicles won't come in.

But I consider it hypocritical for the men of the Nigerian customs and the Police to stand on the Lagos-Benin-Onitsha expressway to harass motorists whereas from our borders they couldn't stop those vehicles from entering the country. Those vehicles must have passed through a road. It must be a road for a car with four tyres to access while coming into Lagos. Why can't we close those roads? The smugglers did not construct the roads. The road has been there and people pass through them. People bring in or takeout other things through those roads. So, if the federal government wants to stop smuggling of vehicles into the country they seamlessly can. They shouldn't blame anybody for smuggling of cars into the country. They are the ones who put a blanket ban on the importation of cars through the land border and they are the ones who also open the border for the cars to come in. Government is the same and government is a continuum. Nobody should blame car dealers for their inefficiencies. There is high level collaboration between some bad eggs in the customs, the police and the smugglers.

What is the association doing to curtail the activities of its members who are into the smuggling business?

The association cannot do anything else but to pass information and sensitize its members. The association was not formed to defend criminality. The association was not formed to aid and abet smuggling. We formed the association to pass information among ourselves and to defend our members from the actions of overzealous government agencies. So, if for instance, car shop A decides to trade on stolen vehicles; Good luck: but if we get the information we will pass it to the relevant authorities to deal with them according to the law. But the onus is not on us to go and fish out those who are dealing on smuggled vehicles. That cannot be our job.

What we are saying is that the Customs should rise up to their responsibilities-close those entrances, publicly deal with their men who aid and abet smuggling. By so doing, these smugglers would find it unattractive to deal on such vehicles. But because the attraction is there, money passes under, and sometimes above the table to facilitate smuggling of banned vehicles.

So, it's not the job of the association to go into car shops to know which cars are being smuggled. But we pass information that buyers should beware when they are buying vehicles. They should make sure they ask necessary questions that will at least guide them. That is at what level the association can operate.

You must have gone through the recent law that the Lagos State Government said it would want to implement to the letter. How do you think the law will impact on your members?

Like I have said, our association believes in standardisation. We believe, accept and support all government efforts to standardize the practice of car dealership. But what we do not like are discriminatory laws. Laws that would tend to make us look different from the society. The laws guiding trade is there. The requirements to register a car dealership are clearly stated in the CAC act. And many of us who have gone through that have registered our businesses. Now, if Lagos State Government says we should get a dealership license; that is an international norm. We agree with that and many of our members have been licensed. But the truth is nothing has happened to those who have refused to get licensed. At the end of every year, we look at it like it is a wasted effort, wasted resources to have gone through the rigours of getting licensed. Those who are not licensed are doing more businesses the licensed dealers. We have seen the law and we have made our opinion known to them. But there are certain issues we must put straight. When the law was enacted and brought to our notice on Punch publication of march 7, 2004, we made a presentation to the then Governor Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, who after consideration halved the cost of getting licensed from N100, 000 to N50, 000 and such was communicated to us and our members got licensed. Now, Asiwaju's administration has handed over to that of Babatunde Raji Fashola, and they say they have to implement the law to the letter. I wonder what the law is and what Asiwaju's pronouncement should have meant. If the law says that people should pay N100, 000 and after making representations, the executive governor takes a decision to halve it, isn't an executive concession be reflected in the execution of trade law? Shouldn't they have gone back through the process of amending the law to have this pronouncement effected?

Now, somebody is saying that the governor's pronouncement is different from the law. Well, we look at it and we say the whole thing here should be to standardize and not to run car dealership out of business. That is the way we look at it and we hope they see same.

Considering that most of the auto shops are located in residential areas and the law stipulates that such locations contravene the law, would the association be advising its members to relocate to another area that the State Government might want to provide?

If town planning laws prohibit the sale of vehicles within certain areas, I mean, we have nothing against that provided we are talking about the town planning. We didn't form the association to break the law. If somebody for instance, cites a car dealership where he is not supposed to be, he should discuss with the authorities on the possibility to convert the use of that premises, fine, if it is not possible, then let him look for another place. That is the way we look at life. No town planning laws in any part of the world prohibits car dealerships from the city. There are car dealerships in Paris, London, Tokyo and even in Washinton. So let nobody under any guise try to hoard car dealerships to a particular location. And when you apply such laws about street compliance and rules for the purpose of allocation of land, let us also spread that across every sector of the economy. Today, car dealers are being called bad names. We don't constitute more menace in the society than Banks. Most commercial banks in this city today have forced themselves in every neighbourhood of Lagos State including residential areas. Some of them are licensed to operate without adequate considerations for car park. Their car park is not even enough for their management staff not to talk about their teeming customers. We all know what happens. Nobody is talking about the Banks and nobody is relocating them to one part of city. Nobody is relocating churches as we have them competing for space and membership. We are not talking about eateries. So, when we are talking about car dealers and the menace to the environment, let us apply the law and let everybody move. We don't believe in discriminatory actions. Those who do business in residential areas has to move them immediately; once that is done car dealerships will not complain but we don't want out government to apply the laws as if car dealers are non-Nigerians.

What will the association do if by January Lagos State Government refuses to bend the rules?

We live in a civilized society. Lagos is a mini-Nigeria. Luckily for us the Governor himself is a lawyer, he knows what it means. But the thing is that they think some car dealers are docile; some are money-miss-roads, some are illiterates that they wouldn't know what to do. But we will surprise them. They will be surprised at the steps that we will take. But we welcome every civilized action from Lagos State Government. Once it is well-intended, we will comply and we will assist them in achieving success.

What is the association doing to improve the level of automobile business in the country?

Automobile business has moved up, albeit slowly. We can't move faster than the society itself. When you look at the society, you will see that Nigeria should have gone beyond where it is today but lack of purposeful leadership has kept us achieving one step forward and twenty backwards. The truth is that car dealership is moving with the pace of our economic development. I wonder why anybody should move a two to three million naira vehicle and drop it in an unsecured environment or park it in a very dirty environment. When you go to our car dealers today, you will see that our environment has improved. Our men keep their environment clean because they need to impress their clients. They know the value of the cars they park in their lots. So, the quality of service is improving but we cannot move faster than the society itself. Nigeria is slow, very slow, and it is affecting everything anybody else wants to do. Some of our members will be attending a conference in South Africa, this October on modern dealership of automobile. A number of our members have shown interest to attend this conference. And the thing is that we are going to learn and when we come back, we will try to put some of the things we have learnt into practice but how well can the society accommodate such practices.

It is not that we don't see the things when we travel to other societies of the world, but the truth remains that things are very difficult to implement in Nigeria and I put the blame on the doors of our leaders who cannot welcome civilisation. So, we are working hard. The association is passing information and it is organizing lectures and conferences for its members to see how we can better the practice and the trade of car dealership. So, in answer to your question, we are moving forward though slowly.

Does the association support its members becoming major dealers to vehicle manufacturers?

Of course, if a group of dealers can come together and say they want to site a plant; that is a welcome idea. We will support them. But the truth is that nobody wants to go into that because of the huge investment required in an environment where there is no electricity supply. By the time you think of citing such a huge business you have to look at electricity supply and if it is not there, the auto plant cannot run on diesel powered generators. Nobody can do that kind of business. So, until certain things are put in place, then, you begin to look at manufacturing plants. We had Volkswagen of Nigeria. Why did they go down? They were not meeting up with their cost and standards were dropping. The foreign partners had to pull out of it. We had Peugeot Automobile Nigeria, where is that today? Some of these plants are cited in South Africa because electricity supply is there. The economy, security, the polity is stable. You don't force investment, you attract investment. So, it is business policies and infrastructure if put in place that will attract investment.

When the environment is safe, it attracts positive investment. So, the environment right now cannot attract such huge, hi-tech investment. So, we don't blame car dealers for not collaborating or coming together to cite a plant. The environment does not encourage that for now.

What advice do you have for the younger ones that might want to take a cue from your achievements so far?

Determination. First of all engage in what you like (legitimate). You have to do what you believe in. don't do a job because there are no jobs. See how you can do the job you find happiness in. the moment you can find something you like to do, you will excel in it. Most of the problems we have are people just fitting into what is possible and not making effort to move into what they should do. So, first of all, do what you like to do and with determination you will excel in it. That has always been my advice to younger people.