Chief Innocent Chukwuma, chairman of Innoson Group, manufacturers of Innoson vehicles, has said  the first made-in-Nigeria mass produced cars will make a debut on August 8 Chukwuma, who disclosed this yesterday at the Faculty of Law, University of Nigeria, Enugu campus during the opening ceremony of Empower Nigeria Roadshow for the South-East zone, said he would crash the prices of new cars in the country with his commencement of mass produced cars.
The Innoson chairman said the prices of the new cars would range from N1.5 million to N3 million, assuring that the Innoson new cars would compete favourably with others in the market.
Chukwuma recalled when he started business in 1981 with meagre resources, but grew his business from loans from the Bank of Industry (BoI), advising up- and-coming entrepreneurs to approach BoI for assistance so long as they would pay back the loan.
Also speaking on the occasion, the Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Chief Emeka Ihedioha, commended the initiators of Empower Nigeria, saying the flag-off of the South-East campaign in Enugu was a major effort by the private sector-led group to show that government alone could not deal with the problem of youth unemployment.
“I use this opportunity to congratulate the organisers of Empower Nigeria Initiative, Prince Nicholas Okoye and his Anabel Group for putting this event together. This is a clear demonstration of the positive role of the private sector in our national development,” he said.
For his part, the Founder of Empower Nigeria and President/CEO of Anabel Group, Nicholas Okoye, said the roadshow gave them an opportunity to hear from successful entrepreneurs like Chief Chukwuma.
“We are excited that we are in a position to fulfill our promise to the Nigerian people that we will be taking our message of empowerment, entrepreneurship, leadership and support for micro, small and medium businesses to the heartland of Nigeria.
“We are encouraged that we have a solution for Nigeria, which, in our opinion, can reduce the unemployment in our society by considerable measures and set the stage for a new Nigeria that guarantees equal access to opportunities for all its citizens,” Okoye said.
Several UNN students attended the flag-off of the roadshow, which would later reach Nnewi, Umuahia, Owerri and some cities in the South-South.