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Innoson Motors: Most Innovative Entrepreneur 2013 by Kingspin(m): 8:32am On Jan 01, 2014 |
Innocent Chukwuma: Most Innovative entrepreneur 2013 on january 01, 2014 at 8:16 am in special report By Judith Ufford Dr. Innocent Chukwuma, Chairman of Innoson Vehicles Manufacturing Co. Ltd, the first indigenous vehicle manufacturing plant in Nigeria was born in 1961 in Umudim, Nnewi, Anambra. He is the last of six children born to Mr. and Mrs. Chukwuma Mojekwu of Uru-Umudim Nnewi, Anambra State. After his education, he started trading in spare parts under the name Innoson Nigeria Ltd in 1981. His company is third after Leventis and Boulos Enterprises in assembling branded motorcycles in the country. His business has metamorphosed into four manufacturing companies namely: Innoson Nigeria Limited Nnewi, manufacturers of motorcycles, tri-cycles, spare parts and accessories; Innoson Tech. & Industries Co. Ltd Enugu, manufacturers of Household and Industrial Plastics, Health & Safety accessories, Storage containers, Fixtures & Fittings, Electrical components & accessories; Innoson Vehicle Manufacturing (IVM) Nnewi, manufacturers of Capacity City bus, Mini & Midi buses, Pick-Up trucks and Garbage Collecting vehicles; General Tyres & Tubes Co. Ltd Enugu, manufacturers of Tyres and Tubes. The vehicles in IVM fleet range from cars, trucks, SUVs, compactors, etc . Presently, the company has made in-road into some African countries such as Ghana, Sierra Leone, Chad, Niger, Togo. As the first indigenous motor manufacturing company in Nigeria, he says he wanted to prove that Nigerians can do it. This he says has been proved. According to him, the inspiration to go into vehicle manufacturing was drawn from a desire to see Nigerians drive new cars. “Nigeria has become a dumping ground for second hand cars. I know it was the high price of new vehicles that made Nigerians resort to patronising old vehicles, but since we decided to manufacture the vehicles here, the price is affordable, and our people can drive new vehicles again,” he told Vanguard in a recent interview. When the company began, no one gave him a chance. He recalled that not so many believe it will work, but today, ” they can attest to the fact that it’s working. People from other countries are coming to copy what I did to replicate it in their own country”. This story success has ensured employment for about 7,400 Nigerians who work in the company’s factory. For his efforts, he has been made Deputy Chairman, Board of Trustees, National Coalition for Jonathan/Sambo Presidency, November 2013; The honorary Life Vice President of Nigerian Association of Chambers of Commerce, Industry, Mines & Agriculture (NACCIMA) on November 23, 2013; Ambassador for Peace by St. Andrews Anglican Church, Trans Ekulu, Enugu, April, 2012; Entrepreneur of the Year by Wesley University of Science and Technology, Akure, Ondo State, March 2012. He is also Most Outstanding Indigenous Entrepreneur in the Manufacturing Sector by Enugu Chamber of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture (ECCIMA) in January 2012; National Council Member, Manufacturers Association of Nigeria. Conferred the National Honour of the Officer of the Federal Republic (OFR) on November 2011 by His Excellency, President Goodluck Jonathan; Awarded Doctorate Degree in Business Administration (DBA) by Enugu State University of Science and Technology, Enugu in November 2011 amongst several other awards. Dr. Chukwuma who loves playing tennis is married to Ebele and they are blessed with children. www.vanguardngr.com 3 Likes |
Re: Innoson Motors: Most Innovative Entrepreneur 2013 by Kingspin(m): 8:36am On Jan 01, 2014 |
Part B. During an earlier interview with him, he recalls that : “I started as a small business man dealing on spare parts at Nnewi. At that time, people were bringing only second hand motorcycles to Nigeria, and I felt there should be a way to reduce the price of the new ones, so that people will be interested enough to buy new ones, rather than the second hand motorcycles. “I travelled overseas and found out that there were four companies importing motorcycles into Nigeria. First was Leventis that was bringing the Honda brand, the second company was Yamaco that was bringing Yamaha, the other company was Bolus that was bringing Suzuki and the fourth was CFAO that was bringing moblet. “These were the companies that were dealing on motorcycle in Nigeria, and my company was the next one. So when I went there, I discovered that when they brought the motorcycles in crate and each crate contained one motorcycle which took a lot of space and you can put about 40 units in one 40ft container. In one container with 40 units of motorcycles in a 40ft container, the motorcycle will become expensive. So after evaluating it, I went to overseas and packed 200 units in one 40ft container and my price came down by 40%. Of course, this was cheaper.” How was he able to pack 20 units into one container? His response was simply ingenious: “Because of my experience in spare parts, I knocked it down and brought them here, and arranged mechanics to assemble them, to couple them manually. The first five containers I brought in took me about three months to sell. I went back and brought another ten containers which took me about one month. I went and brought twenty containers and it took one week, and when I brought fifty containers, people were now paying in advance before they landed. “There was a time I was bringing 200 containers of motorcycles every month and spread them across Nigeria. Because of that idea, my own price was cheaper by 40%, before other people saw what I was doing and followed suit. That is why today, motorcycle price crashed to N60, 000 from a high price of N150, 000 in the past. “It was in the course of doing this that I discovered that there are a lot of plastics in a motorcycle, and that is one of the reasons I set up a plastic plant to produce the plastics components locally. These are some of the things I did to bring down the cost of motorcycle to about N60,000. Today, nobody thinks of buying second hand motorcycle anymore in Nigeria. Everybody wants to buy new one because new one is cheap, and I am going to do the same thing with motor vehicles. “In the near future, you find out that all these “Tokunbo” vehicles in Nigeria will not work out as people will prefer the new ones. With the support of Nigerians, we will see that we will be there. “Today, we are importing engines; we are importing certain components for motor manufacturing, but after sometimes, we will make them here. With the support of Nigerians and the government we will make everything here, then Nigeria will be the first in Africa to manufacture full made in Nigeria vehicles. According to Dr. Chukwuma, the vehicle factory was set up for the entire African continent and not Nigeria alone. Said he said: “In the near future, I’m sure we will take over the motor business in Africa. This of course is with the support of Nigerians.” To this end, the federal government has directed all MDAs to patronise locally made vehicles and other goods. Inspite of this good intention and directive of the federal government, Dr. Chukwuma observed that “sometimes some ministries would prefer Toyota or other brands that they have used for 50 years. They don’t want to try our made-in-Nigeria brand. But the ministries that have taken the bold step of using our products, are happy they did”. The Innoson boss would boast beating his chest that the Innoson brand is comparable to any in the world and that spare parts are no problem. “Presently, our manufacturing plant at Nnewi is built to service the entire African continent, and good enough we have been meeting up with market demands. Our strategy is to plan futuristically, knowing that huge orders will come, and as it stands today, we are able to meet up with the huge demands. We have the manpower and modern technology to cope with expected challenges.” Recently, at the Federal Executive Council meeting, the Minister of Trade and Investment revealed that the multinational Nissan company has written that they want to partner with Innoson in vehicle manufacturing in Nigeria. While Dr. Chukwuma, acknowledged this development, he was not so willing to let the cat out of the bag. According to him, I’m aware that they have made such move, and on our part, we are ready to go into any cooperation that will boost the nation’s economy, and lead to increased productivity and provision of jobs for our youths. 2 Likes |
Re: Innoson Motors: Most Innovative Entrepreneur 2013 by Chamackh(m): 8:54am On Jan 01, 2014 |
Man of vision. Keep it up. 2 Likes |
Re: Innoson Motors: Most Innovative Entrepreneur 2013 by revolt(m): 9:09am On Jan 01, 2014 |
plssssssssssssssssssssssss God let this work, atleast to prove to the west we create, plus it's the patriotic duty for all Nigerians, to support this. we must be onerous to this. 1 Like |
Re: Innoson Motors: Most Innovative Entrepreneur 2013 by asha80(m): 9:14am On Jan 01, 2014 |
hmmmm...so nissan wants to partner innoson....i wonder in what capacity. |
Re: Innoson Motors: Most Innovative Entrepreneur 2013 by Nobody: 9:18am On Jan 01, 2014 |
asha 80: hmmmm...so nissan wants to partner innoson....i wonder in what capacity. I bet it was the federal govt that insisted Nissan works with INNOSON, if they wish to set up a plant in Nigeria. |
Re: Innoson Motors: Most Innovative Entrepreneur 2013 by asha80(m): 9:25am On Jan 01, 2014 |
ROSSIKE:can the fg do that?i thought that this sort of partnership is strictly btw parties involved(nissan and innoson in question here)? |
Re: Innoson Motors: Most Innovative Entrepreneur 2013 by Nobody: 9:26am On Jan 01, 2014 |
asha 80: can the fg do that?i thought that this sort of partnership is strictly btw parties involved(nissan and innoson in question here)? Of course the FG can do that. The FG runs the national economy. Why would the FG that has been supporting INNOSON suddenly allow Nissan to come in and take over without receiving guarantees that INNOSON would partner them? |
Re: Innoson Motors: Most Innovative Entrepreneur 2013 by ojubi(m): 9:46am On Jan 01, 2014 |
Am so inspired by this man's story. Mind you many of his mates here on NL are blaming GEJ for their inability to pay their house rent. Show me a man who blame government for all his life failures and I ll show u a shameless looser who was sleeping when his mates were hustling. 9 Likes |
Re: Innoson Motors: Most Innovative Entrepreneur 2013 by Tolexander: 10:02am On Jan 01, 2014 |
ojubi: Am so inspired by this man's story.mr man, the boldened doesn't really follow abeg! What if the government hasn't provided policies that will promote the developement of development of indigenous production? Where was innoson before last year, Or you wanna tell me he just started the car plant last year? Very obvious the company just started thriving due to the help and some policies to be implemented by the government. |
Re: Innoson Motors: Most Innovative Entrepreneur 2013 by revolt(m): 10:08am On Jan 01, 2014 |
Tolexander: mr man, the boldened doesn't really follow abeg!before last year he was a multi millionaire. it'd shock you, he started that plant with bulk of his personal funds. even subsidy thieves like otedola still take loans to import fuel, which they end up not importing in approved quantity. |
Re: Innoson Motors: Most Innovative Entrepreneur 2013 by Tolexander: 10:26am On Jan 01, 2014 |
revolt: [s]before last year he was a multi millionaire. it'd shock you, he started that plant with bulk of his personal funds. What is he saying? |
Re: Innoson Motors: Most Innovative Entrepreneur 2013 by revolt(m): 10:29am On Jan 01, 2014 |
Tolexander:typo read it again |
Re: Innoson Motors: Most Innovative Entrepreneur 2013 by aljharem(m): 10:33am On Jan 01, 2014 |
revolt: plssssssssssssssssssssssss God let this work, atleast to prove to the west we create, plus it's the patriotic duty for all Nigerians, to support this. we must be onerous to this. |
Re: Innoson Motors: Most Innovative Entrepreneur 2013 by Tolexander: 10:40am On Jan 01, 2014 |
revolt: typo read it againthat isn't the point bro! Below lies the quote am particular about; ojubi: Show me a man who blamebefore a man can be successful with a production of such magnitude in the developing world, there must be policies and interventions from the goverment. Total absent of the policies and interventions will nearly cripple the production. Just to tackle the quote that there are many hustlers that aren't sleeping but aren't given the chance to thrive due to the unfriendly policies. |
Re: Innoson Motors: Most Innovative Entrepreneur 2013 by revolt(m): 10:42am On Jan 01, 2014 |
alj harem:by west I mean west ie Europeans and whites in general not Yoruba o. abeg o this is 2014.... lool what were you thinking sef? |
Re: Innoson Motors: Most Innovative Entrepreneur 2013 by Nobody: 10:47am On Jan 01, 2014 |
ojubi: Am so inspired by this man's story. Well spoken. |
Re: Innoson Motors: Most Innovative Entrepreneur 2013 by Nobody: 10:48am On Jan 01, 2014 |
Tolexander: mr man, the boldened doesn't really follow abeg! Stop talking nonsense. ''Govt provided policies''. So there is nothing you can create now or manufacture now without ''govt providing policies'' for you? Do you know you can go online right now and learn how to manufacture hundreds of different items in your HOUSE and start selling today? Nah..... much easier to blame government. |
Re: Innoson Motors: Most Innovative Entrepreneur 2013 by revolt(m): 10:51am On Jan 01, 2014 |
Tolexander:if it was total as you claim, how come people still make relative successes here. truth is anybody blaming govt is lazy, Nigeria has a rising inflow of fdi. the average youth is simply looking for employment or the ones that venture into sme are too avarice driven, as compared to quality and customer service. glorified 419ers. pastor Sam adeyemi said something which I'll always hold on to for lifeless ' in starting a biz, your primary motive shouldn't be profit, it should be about solving a problem'" how many people cobsider that here, all they do is focus on hyping and conning you to believe their services which are esatz. |
Re: Innoson Motors: Most Innovative Entrepreneur 2013 by Brimmie(m): 10:52am On Jan 01, 2014 |
Re: Innoson Motors: Most Innovative Entrepreneur 2013 by aljharem(m): 10:53am On Jan 01, 2014 |
revolt: by west I mean west ie Europeans and whites in general not Yoruba o. abeg o this is 2014.... lool what were you thinking sef? I know, you meant the western nations Haba na how I bad reach Happy new year brother |
Re: Innoson Motors: Most Innovative Entrepreneur 2013 by Tolexander: 10:56am On Jan 01, 2014 |
ROSSIKE:stop being unreasonable though i know it is your congenital culture! If you can't read to understand, call on the most literate in your state to explain to you. The policies and help from government last year helped innoson. And how is that different from what you said? Imbecilic id1ot! |
Re: Innoson Motors: Most Innovative Entrepreneur 2013 by revolt(m): 10:57am On Jan 01, 2014 |
alj harem:happy newyear too, looool. you may not know but there are some chronic bigots that'll rain napalms on me, so i gast clear the air o |
Re: Innoson Motors: Most Innovative Entrepreneur 2013 by Nobody: 10:59am On Jan 01, 2014 |
revolt: before last year he was a multi millionaire. it'd shock you, he started that plant with bulk of his personal funds.No doubt Innoson is a great guy but he also had support from govt, particularly from the Bank of Industry and in terms of patronage. |
Re: Innoson Motors: Most Innovative Entrepreneur 2013 by Tolexander: 11:01am On Jan 01, 2014 |
revolt: if it was total as you claim, how come people still make relative successes here.the guy was total, not me! |
Re: Innoson Motors: Most Innovative Entrepreneur 2013 by Nobody: 11:10am On Jan 01, 2014 |
I see another Nigerian joining other Nigerians amongst the richest blacks in the world |
Re: Innoson Motors: Most Innovative Entrepreneur 2013 by Dannylux: 11:16am On Jan 01, 2014 |
Hustlers anthem.. never give up. |
Re: Innoson Motors: Most Innovative Entrepreneur 2013 by IGBOSON1: 11:18am On Jan 01, 2014 |
This is one of the results of having 'a level playing field for all'; where the clandestine actions of vindictive hateful bigoted peeps operating behind the scenes to thwart the progress of others are neutralised! I remember some years back, another industrious individual wanted to develop a 'made in Nigeria' car and manufacturing plant, but his actions were frustrated and sabotaged at every step by individuals in the federal gov't of the time, and the dream was eventually stillborn! Positive stories like the one of Innoson are the reason i support GEJ! 3 Likes |
Re: Innoson Motors: Most Innovative Entrepreneur 2013 by 9jagirl4re(f): 11:27am On Jan 01, 2014 |
God bless you brother for bringing business to Igboland over 7 thousand jobs created, this is a great news, please make sure you are trating your employee's well. Make sure they are paid on time and fairly. We are do proud of Innoson Motors, and many more in 2014. |
Re: Innoson Motors: Most Innovative Entrepreneur 2013 by tomakint: 11:28am On Jan 01, 2014 |
The Same Here |
Re: Innoson Motors: Most Innovative Entrepreneur 2013 by tomakint: 11:29am On Jan 01, 2014 |
ojubi: Am so inspired by this man's story.You can say that again! You have said it all, I wish you the best in this promising YEAR! |
Re: Innoson Motors: Most Innovative Entrepreneur 2013 by UyiIredia(m): 11:41am On Jan 01, 2014 |
The blessings of his ancestors rest well on his head. I have heard that his vehicles are expensive as newly-made cars abroad (I have not vetted this). Inspite of that I couldn't condemn him for the obvious ingeniuty involved in building a car assembly plant here. That's innovation and in all honesty, I hope to walk in his footsteps. Simple solutions like that of pure water is what I have in mind. |
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