A maritime lawyer, Emmanuel Nwagbara, has called for the development and promotion of the nation’s automobile industry.
Nwagbara who made the call in a chat with Shipping Position Daily in Lagos last week, also explained that one of the strategies towards ensuring promotion and development in the sector is through the reduction of duty payable on the imported vehicles.
He reiterated his commitment in advocating for the right environment which will boost the development of the automobile industry.
“I don’t think the auto policy should be scrapped; on the contrary we need the auto policy to be promoted and by extension to have automotive industry promoted and developed in Nigeria. Like I said, we will continue to advocate for the right environment which includes power and the development of the iron and steel industry in addition to the reduction on the tariff payable on the imported vehicles.
He however said that with over 60% of the Nigerian population who are in the production group, the automobile company in Nigeria will be a good market.
Nwagbara, also said that having a good automobile company in Nigeria will create a lot of jobs for the nation’s teaming unemployed youths.
“The automobile policy should not be scrapped, because development is a continuous one, Nigeria cannot depend perpetually on the importation of vehicles into the country. We are looking at a country of more than 200million people. With more than 60% of the population in the production group, so you need a lot of automobile in Nigeria and an automobile company in Nigeria to produces good cars is a sort of a good market”
“Auto industry will create employment and of course promote other artillery industry. For instance, if you have auto industry in Nigeria, it will promote the iron and steel industry and it will also create employment. If we have a thriving auto industry in Nigeria it will also empower Nigerians and grow the economy because we are going to make a lot of exports.
