12 November 2009
editorial
Lagos — Last week, the Director General, National Automotive Council (NAC), Aminu Jalal, said in Abuja that over two million Nigerian auto mechanics may be rendered unemployed by the influx of new cars into the county.
He explained that it is because the type of vehicles the over two million mechanics are trained to fix are getting extinct, and in their place are a wide range of fanciful vehicles, imported into the country by individuals, firms and various governments, which their members are not conversant with.
With technology growing at the speed of day and night, new model of cars are popping up around the world like mushrooms, and because the Nigerian auto market is open to all manner of vehicles, the types of vehicles in Nigeria have increased.
We are also aware of the high ostentatious lifestyle of some corporate executives and politicians for latest models of cars, such that places like Lagos and Abuja are flooded with recently released sophisticated cars.
In a country, where auto mechanics are illiterates or semi-literates, the highly sophisticated combination of mechanical and electronics parts puts them at a disadvantage.
"Their knowledge of most new systems in modern vehicles are generally low, while their inability to read and interpret electronic circuit diagrams is also a big problem," Jalal said, adding bluntly that "our mechanics cannot repair many of the vehicles plying the Nigerian roads today."
We believe the threat is real, and it is the reason we commend the collaboration of the National Automotive Council (NAC), Federal Ministry of Labour and Productivity and the German Technical Automobile Corporation (GTZ) in the organisation of workshops on Curriculum for Automotive Mechatronics.
NAC's decision to develop a training programme for mechanics to remedy these deficiencies is a right first step. However, we acknowledge the speed of development in the automotive industry and the need for the body to try to keep pace with the developments.
There is also need for auto dealers to set up standardised workshops in strategic parts of the country, and with facilities to train other mechanics. The inadequacy of workshops to repair new generation vehicles is the reason that even for minor faults vehicle owners are forced to tow their vehicles over long distances to workshops to get them repaired.
In this connection, we commend Peugeot Automobile of Nigeria, for setting up workshops across the country and for its training programme for mechanics. Reports that it is also trying to simplify some of its products to enable Nigerian roadside mechanics repair them easily is a step in the right direction. We recommend these initiatives to other automobile companies in the country.
While Nigeria operates market economy and a democratic system of government, we are still concerned about the affluence flaunted by the few rich people in latest sophisticated cars in a country where about 70 per cent of the population is poor. Such resources could be better used in the larger interest of society.
Without advocating for undue protectionism, we see the need for the country to adopt a standardised automobile brand for at least government officials across the country to reflect our socio-economic circumstances. Undue ostentation should be discouraged by an effective tax administration system.
Apart from the economic gains, this will go a long way in addressing the social imbalance in the society and reduce the tendency for the frustrated poor to resort to such crimes as kidnapping and car theft.
In conclusion, aside from the alarm on job losses by the auto mechanics, we believe they have also drawn attention to some key national issues that should be taken seriously by policy makers.
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