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Vanguard, FRIDAY, MARCH 22, 2019 — 45
By Theodore Opara
Lagos Motor Fair organiser seeks
bailout for auto sector
•Announces date for 2019 Lagos Motor Show
BKG Exhibitions, organisers
of the annual Lagos
International Motor Fair & Autoparts
Expo Nigeria has
called on the Federal Government
to urgently bail out the
nation's automotive sector because
of the role it plays in the
life of the people.
Managing Director of BKG,
Mr. Ifeanyichukwu Agwu, who
made the call in his office while
announcing the date for the
2019 Lagos Motor Fair and
Autopart Expo said,
"Government should bailout the
automobile companies operating
in the country. It is a sector
that affects virtually everything.
It occupies prime position
in the economy. If this is
not done now, it will, in the very
near future affect a whole lot
in the lives of the people and
economy."
Mr. Agwu explained that the
2019 edition which is scheduled
to hold at Federal Palace
Hotel, Vitoria Island from April
24 to 29 is the twelfth edition
of the fair, while the Autopart
Expo is the sixth edition. With
the theme: 'One Expo: Continental
Spread' the BKG boss
said that they are championing
the development and thriving
of autoparts sub-sector as leeway
to fast-tracking the development
of Nigeria’s automotive
industry.
Realisable
auto policy
He said, “In this edition as
we have been doing for
sometime now, we will
champion the autoparts section
with the aim of making Nigeria
the hub of the business in
Africa. We want to make it a
strong point of real take off of a
realisable auto policy.”
The BKG boss, however,
called on the Federal
Government to focus more on
spare parts manufacturing in
place of complete vehicle
assembling, stressing,.“spare
parts is where the real technology
transfer will take place. It
involves precision and proper
planning more than the coupling
that takes place in assembling.
This will give rise to establishment
of more genuine
parts by Original Equipment
Manufacturers and increase
employment.”
He noted that there should be
a review of the ongoing auto
policy to make it achieve the
desired goals.
On the motor fair, he said the
challenges of hosting the event
were becoming higher but
•Mr. Ifeanyichukwu Agwu, MD, BKG Exhibitions
added that the drive in continuing
it was that the sector must
not be allowed to die.
Agwu added, “The sector is
very important as it shows
physically the state of the
economy, generates much
revenue and creates enormous
employment. No serious
government toys with a sector
that is as important as the auto
sector."
He recalled that the auto
sector was one of the key
sectors that received bailout
from the American government
during the last global economic
meltdown and stressed that
it helped to revamp the
economy. “It is a sector that
drives the economy; if it is
badly affected, other sectors
suffers. It is the artery of the
economy. Government should
parley seriously with the sector
stakeholders to see how it could
be made better,”Mr. Agwu
advised.
On how he has been able to
carry on under the harsh times,
he said: “Organising the event
has been very challenging, we
are only trying to find a way to
push it as a key event in the
sector. We cannot but use the
event to draw the necessary
attention to the sector.”
Urging every stakeholder to
endeavour to show up at the
event, Mr. Agwu stated that
doing so will provide an opportunity
for all to show the
strength and ruggedness of the
players in the sector - the policy
inconsistencies notwithstanding.
He explained that the Autoparts
Expo segment of the
event was doing well and "we
Toyota, JAXA join forces to develop Lunar Rover for
space exploration
THE Japan Aerospace Exploration
Agency, JAXA,
and Toyota Motor Corporation
have agreed to consider the possibility
of collaborating on international
space exploration. As a
first step, JAXA and Toyota have
reached agreement to further cooperate
on and accelerate their
ongoing joint study of a manned,
pressurised rover that employs
fuel cell electric vehicle technologies.
Such a form of mobility is
deemed necessary for human exploration
activities on the lunar
surface. Even with the limited
amount of energy that can be
transported to the moon, the pressurised
rover would have a total
lunar-surface cruising range of
more than 10,000 km.
International space exploration,
aiming to achieve sustainable
prosperity for all of humankind
by expanding the domain of human
activity and giving rise to
intellectual properties, has its
sights set on the moon and Mars.
To achieve the goals of such exploration,
coordination between
robotic missions, such as the recent
successful touchdown by the
asteroid probe, Hayabusa-2 on
the asteroid, Ryugu, and human
missions such as those involving
humans using pressurised rovers
to conduct activities on the
Moon, is essential. When it comes
to challenging missions such as
lunar or Martian exploration,
various countries are competing
in advancing their technologies,
while also advancing their cooperative
efforts.
JAXA President, Hiroshi Yamakawa
said about the agreement
between JAXA and Toyota:
“At JAXA, we are pursuing international
coordination and technological
studies toward Japan’s
participation in international
space exploration. We aim to contribute
through leading Japanese
technologies that can potentially
generate spin-off benefits. Having
Toyota join us in the challenge
of international space exploration
greatly strengthens our confidence.
Manned rovers with pressurised
cabins are an element that
will play an important role in fullfledged
exploration and use of
are looking at involving a lot
countries in west and central
Africa in the edition. This, we
have kick-started by extending
invitations to players in the autoparts
business in those
countries to visit the fair. We are
aiming at using the Nigerian
Autoparts markets as the hub
of the sector's business in
Africa.
"The intention is to make
them (players from the other
countries) to be buying from
the Nigerian market. In no distant
time, it will become a big
event spreading to other
countries in the continent.
Nigeria has the resources and
capacity to play such a role and
it will be a very big disservice
to Nigeria and its people if
another African country does
this ahead of Nigeria."
Agwu added that in
conjunction with foreign
partners, "we have reached
out to many of such companies
and happily, the response has
been tremendous and we are
expecting a lot of them. Our
intention in bringing them is
to enable Nigerians and neighbouring
West Africans
engaged in auto spare parts
business work out rewarding
and lasting business relationships
with the main companies
engaged in the manufacture of
auto spare parts."
the lunar surface. For this, we
would like to concentrate our country’s
technological abilities and
conduct technological studies.
Through our joint studies going
forward, we would like to put to
use Toyota’s excellent technological
abilities related to mobility, and
we look forward to the acceleration
of our technological studies
for the realization of a manned,
pressurised rover.”