Recently, the director-general, National Automotive Council, Alhaji Aminu Jalal, said that last year, the country spent about N1.2trillion on the importation of various brands of vehicles. These vehicles ranged from fairly used cars, otherwise known as Tokunbo, to brand new cars. Jalal added that this is exclusive of the amount spent on tractors and military vehicles imported during the year under review. The breakdown shows that N550bn worth of vehicles, N500bn spare parts and N150bn worth of tyres were brought into the country, by the three tiers of government, private corporate organisations, as well as individuals.
This is unacceptable in any market-driven economy. A nation desirous of freeing itself from dependency would have insisted on the manufacturers siting their companies here. A few years ago, assembly plants in the country were doing well and employing thousands of artisans, engineers and administrators.
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