‘Nigerians Spend N10bn Yearly On Armoured Vehicles’

MR. ADETOKUNBO OGUNDEYIN

The increasing level of insecurity in the land has resulted in the whopping sum of N10 billion being spent annually on the procurement and maintenance of armoured vehicles, an expert has said.

Mr. Adetokunbo Ogundeyin, Group Managing Director, Proforce Defence Limited, Ode Remo, Ogun State, foremost makers of armoured vehicles in Nigeria, said that many high networth individuals, including military formations, among others, are currently owners of state-of-the art bullet-proof cars.

“When you talk about armoured vehicles in Nigeria, we’re not only taking about the individual, we’re talking about the military, about the police, and paramilitary”, he said.

“You are talking about a business that is worth close to, I would say, about $50m to $60m (N9, 720, 000, 000) in Nigeria alone. Don’t forget that all these vehicles need to be maintained. We’re not just talking about importing of armoured vehicles, we’re talking of after-sales.

“Even when you look at the number of individuals that import armoured vehicles into Nigeria in a year, it would go up to 1, 000”.

This, he said, does not take into account those being imported by quasi-government parastatals.

Ogundeyin, who was speaking with The Nation, decried the unregulated importation of vehicles, saying it was inimical to the growth of the economy.

He said: “By importing all these cars into Nigeria a lot of foreign exchange is being wasted, job opportunities that should have been created for Nigerians are not being created because job opportunities are now being exported”.

Ogundeyin, who set up Proforce Defence Limited in 2008 to produce armoured vehicles, supported the New Automotive Policy of the Federal Government, which imposed huge importation duties of up to 70 percent on some automobiles.

“I agree with the auto policy entirely,” he said, adding that “A situation whereby we are not developing the country and we’re developing another man’s country does not make sense for us in the long run”.

He likened unbridled importation to destroying the future of younger Nigerians. “If you think long-term, you’ll know that you’re damaging the future of your children”, he said.

“Research is the only way our country can grow. Why do you import finished products when you can easily create employment here? That is why you have Boko Haram all over the place.

“Look at the amount of foreign exchange we spend importing vehicles into Nigeria. It is mindboggling”.

According to Aminu Jalal, the Director-General, National Automotive Council, NAC, before the latest policy review on cars’ importation, Nigerians imported 200,000 used-vehicles and 80,000 new-vehicles at an annual cost of N400bn.

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