A Lagos-based car dealer; Ikechukwu Darry Ogbonna has identified incomplete payment of customs duty and issuance of fake documents to him by one of his agents as his most challenging moment in the car selling business for the past 14 years since he has been in the business.
Ikechukwu, who said this in a chat with newsmen in Lagos last week, also said that the act alone destroyed the trust he had for clearing agents to handle any of his businesses, adding that he can no longer trust any clearing agent to handle his transactions at the ports.
He narrated how his vehicle was once impounded by Customs officers because his clearing agent failed to pay the right import duty.
Explaining further he said, “I’ve had challenges with the Nigeria Customs Service. There was a day they came for their routine search and there was a car they found that wasn’t properly cleared and didn’t have genuine papers and so, it was taken away”
“I never knew that one of my clearing agents didn’t complete the duties and used fake papers, so I was forced to pay additional charges on the vehicle in order to get it back,” he said.
Ikechukwu who said that the encounter was one of the most challenging moments of his life as an automobile dealer of over 14 years’ experience, also encouraged young Nigerian who have the passion to do the business to come in as the business is a very lucrative one.
“I have learnt not to trust any agent to do my clearing for me. Whenever my cars arrive at the port and goes through the clearing process, I still confirm the process to be sure it has been done so that similar mistakes don’t repeat themselves,” he added.
“Very lucrative business, I’ve made a lot of money from it. I’ll advise anyone to invest in the automobile business, so long as they have passion for it. If you don’t have passion for it, don’t start it because if it flops or doesn’t turn out the way you want, you might end up with regrets,” he concluded.
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