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Z-600: Buried Dreams: Engr Ezekiel Izuogu is dead

A very known, respected and renowned Scientist and Inventor, Engr.Dr.Ezekiel Izuogu, from Ideato North LGA of Imo State is dead.

According to family sources, African foremost Car inventor and manufacturer died early July 18th, 2020.

In 1997, a brilliant Igbo Electrical Engineer and Lecturer at the Federal polytechnic Nekede, Dr. Ezekiel Izuogu designed and developed the Izuogu Z-600, the first African indigenous manufactured car.

The car was described by the BBC as ‘ the African dream machine as 90% of its parts were sourced locally. At a projected sales cost of 2000 dollars, it would have taken the world by storm and become the cheapest and most affordable car on earth. With mass production planned under Izogu Motors plant in Naze owerri, the prospects of an industrial revolution in Igbo land and Nigeria, was in the making.

The car was equipped with a self made 1.8L four cylinder engine that got 18mpg and allowed the car to achieve a top speed of 140 km/h. Front Wheel Drive (FWD) was chosen over Rear Wheel Drive (RWD) because a transmission tunnel, which RWD would require, would be more expensive to fabricate.

So 90% of the car’s components were made locally. General Sani Abacha set up a 12 man panel of inquiry made up of professionals to ascertain the road worthiness and authenticity of the car and after several days of probing, the committee gave Dr. Izuogu’s car a clean bill of health, recommending that some of the bumps on the body of the car be smoothened. It is worthy to note that this was five years before India built their first car known as the Indi.

At a well organized unveiling ceremony which had General Abacha represented by Oladipo Diya, over 20 foreign ambassadors and thousands of people in attendance, the federal government promised a grant of 235 million naira to Dr. Izuogu.

An excited Dr. Izuogu is still waiting for that grant till today. No dime was released to him. In 2006, the government of South Africa invited Dr. Izuogu to do a presentation about the car in the presence of several world class engineers. Being impressed with his presentation, they invited him to come and set up a plant in South Africa and begin the production of the car.

Dr. Izuogu reluctantly agreed, though he wasn’t happy that the benefits of employment generation will be lost on the locals of Naze and the Nigerian human resources environment. On Saturday, the 11th of March 2006, at about 2.00 a.m, a total of about 12 heavily armed men broke into Dr. Izogu’s factory in Naze and carted away various machines and tools including the design history notebook of Z-600, the design file Z-MASS, containing the design history for mass production of Z-600 car, and the moulds for various parts of the car.

According to Dr. Izuogu:

“It seems that the target of this robbery is to stop the efforts we are making to mass-produce the first ever locally made car in Africa. Other items stolen included locally produced timing wheel, locally produced camshaft, locally produced crankshaft, locally produced engine tappets, all 20 pieces each

Also stolen were ten pieces of locally produced Z-600 engine blocks, ten pieces of locally produced pistons, four pieces of engine block mounds, four pieces of top engine block moulds, ten pieces of engine fly wheel and two pieces each of rear car and front mudguard moulds.”The inventor regretted that not only did they lose over one N1 billion in monetary terms, but also time (about 10 years) and the energy it took to design and produce the moulds. “To worsen the matter, our design notebook was also stolen,” he stated.

He regarded the incident as a national economic disaster because the nation had lost a technological and intellectual property. This Press was quiet about this story. The set back and governments attitude frustrated Izuogu and his dream died.

IfeanyiCy Njoku reports

overdrive:
This is the kind of man we need as a president of this nation.

President of the land of the rising sun

Even if this is allowed to happen, a lot of Idriss Musa will still get employment to work in Warri and Keyamo won't still talk.

I just want to ask a harmless question.

The very high IGR we have been declaring for Ogun state, are they using it to multiply brown roofs ?

How can sane people be walking cows into people's lands in this 2020?

Seerade029:
....

Even Enugu / Abia / and IMO with bigger landmass fell below tiny Osun

Enugu below which Osun? You have eye problems o

IspitonCowards:
South southerners I hope you are seeing the Envy and jealousy we 've been screaming about?, Yoruba people will hate you simply for your success,.... just cause Akwa ibom and rivers were leading in the latest NBS data they went to dig up ewedu statistics of phantom IGR that hasn't managed to transform the lives of their people

It's a lie! The IGR has been feeding the masses in those states.

One funny point to note, is that Oyo with a landmass bigger than the whole northern Nigeria fell below tiny Anambra

Who has the number of bulldozer drivers, they need to work in Ibadan

kingzizzy:
Where those who said that Nnamdi Kanu is brainwashing people into exting the zoo?

Please come and remind us about the beauty of "one Nigeria" with herdsmen killers

Arrewa can help us preach One Nigeria here.

eagleu:
Where's Burutai?

Somewhere reading this news and laughing at all your comments.

The most high ranking Christian in this government will read this news and go to bed in aso villa with a smile on his face, tomorrow he will wake up and go to work in his beautiful office and wait for his salary. No conscience, no pity and of course no comment.

This doesn't concern him at all.

Before you cry too much about this your obvious pain, remember that your people never got any better because of the presidency after 8 years. The current president has lost over 30 000 of his brothers to avoidable deaths even as he is the man on top, so who presidency epp?

Opening 10 threads about Igbo affairs daily can only contribute to your remaining in your low position.

Maybe you should first chew on that and cry for you own people first. Charity begins at home.

mrvitalis:
Which people wanted him out before ?


Is it not u yorubas ? Claiming igbos dominate his government

Now u are projecting your image on igbos like u people always do

He couldn't control his sifia pains

Our inlaw is making waves

The zom*ie above will not sleep well this night if he remembers that an IPOB lady is going to enjoy the victory in far away Ondo

We all support Amotekun.

Hmmmm

Wait, what about Ibadan?

Fight to finish.

The government has been running on virtual ever since 2015.

Civid is just their excuse to remain incommunicado.

Blame the poor people on the ground that has come to hate APC for all their lies and deceit which is embodied in the ugliness of the man hoping to remain as godfather to continue his ugly hobby of impoverishing Edo people.

PDP is not to be blamed.

GboyegaD:
Hardship because they did not plan for the kids.

No, hardship because the government knows next to nothing about societal development and economic growth that can keep those families buoyant.

Do you think your government even knows how many people are Nigerians ?

An amalgamation that has produced over 4 million human deaths is clearly a mistake of monumental proportions.

GboyegaD:
Not necessarily true. Some never had plans for the children from the beginning.

You are right, but the number of people who gave out their wards because of hardship is more.

Edo is not Lagos.

We don't care what the final outcome is, but the struggle to free Edo of godfather politics is a good step.

sarrki:
Remove the clog in your eyes and reason properly for once

We haven't lost all hopes of your deliverance from acute zombeism

GboyegaD:
This is so true however, many would not admit.

So many instances and one that beats my imagination is the way some treat their house helps.

The house helps can only leave their parents house to slave their lives away in those places because the government refused to pay pensions to their fathers in their real homes. The roads to their communities where the poor man should have been passing to take farm produce to the cities is so bad that he is stuck with his rotting crops.

Painful as it will be, he can only give away his wards to slave away somewhere so he can have less mouths to feed.

The government is still to blame.

All the thing you complained about happened only because you have no government in the first place.

Thousands of lecturers gets away with sexual harassment to the extent that it's now an unwritten law for girls to pass. The government is careless about the girls.

The pastor is paying the driver N20k only because your government chose policies that impoverished the people and killed industrialization by killing infrastructure development. The driver can only accept the N20k or starve.

The trader who removes two bowls does so because SON died a long time ago. Nobody is afraid of punishment because even the police takes bribes openly in front of the rice seller and the government never frowns against it. What goes around comes around.

The civil servant who comes to work only once in the week is doing so because his boss the commissioner or the minister is in a hotel in Abuja or London sampling babes all week long with government money. No fears of anything because they are all guilty.

The students can spend the whole week partying because he can settle the lecturer and pass while the government is completely careless as they are deep in sleaze on their own.

How can the motor owner join a simple queue when he can settle police , road safety, VIO, and even if buharri comes out to stand on the road, you can settle him with N50 naira only and nothing happens

Wetin concern doctor who are poorly paid, his hospital equipment in government hospital is routinely looted, salaries of nurses seized and zero job security.

The stream got soiled from the source.

A very intelligent man who would have saved Nigeria if not that we chose illiteracy over smartness.

It's all about Edo people's federal allocations. Osho will never want to lose out .