Hi fellow steemians.
Today I want to write on why Nigeria and Africa needs to embrace indigenous official state car.
According to Wikipedia,
An official state car is a car used by a government to transport its head of state or head of government in an official capacity, which may also be used occasionally to transport other members of the government or visiting dignitaries from other countries.
Source
It is a common practice all over the world for countries (that have indigenous car manufacturers) to use such as official state car for the country.
This is done primarily for two reasons;
1- the cars serve as an automotive symbol representing the country, but most importantly,
2- to give maximum security to it's occupants.
Below are examples of some countries utilizing their indigenous brands as official state cars.
Over the years, the official state cars of USA are drawn from either of the brands from the "Big Three" indigenous car manufacturers- Cadillac, built by General Motors, Lincoln, which is produced by Ford Motor Company and Chrysler.
Source
In Germany, the "Big Three" car makers- Mercedes-Benz, Volkswagen Group and BMW all have their brands represented in the cars available for state use.
The Emperor of Japan makes use of Toyota Century.
The president of France chooses from the indigenous car makers- Renault or PSA Peugeot Citroën.
The president of Czech Republic rides on a Škoda Superb.
In China the official state car is Hongqi HQE, and the list goes on.
All the car brands listed above are indigenous to their specific countries.
However, in Nigeria, the case is different.
The official state car for Nigeria currently is Mercedes Benz S-Class- a German car. Other exotic cars such as Toyota Land Cruiser and the Range Rover, all armoured, in addition to the motorcade numbering up to 30 (all foreign cars) that escorts the president's car.
The question is, why is Nigerian and other African governments still using Foreign Cars as it's official state cars when we have indigenous car companies, e.g. Innoson Vehicle Manufacturing Co Ltd, IVM, a car manufacturing company based in Anambra state Nigeria.
Since the company rolled out it's first batch of cars in 2009, it has proven to be a car company to be reckoned with. Making a steady improvement In its quest to be among the top automotive brands in terms of reliability, quality, and long-term durability.
Nigerian government must take a bold step and do the needful by commissioning the indigenous automaker to provide it's official state car.
In so doing they will be leading by example in the campaign to patronize made in Nigeria products.
This will serve as an honour to the automaker and an encouragement to other indigenous entrepreneurs. It will also boost the confidence of other Nigerians in patronizing our own, and thereby improving our economy.
What do you think about this?
Kindly share your thoughts on the comment section.
Thanks for being here today and see you next time.
