Investment on skills to develop auto industry crucial, LSM executive director

TAIWO SHITTU, EX ECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF LANRE SHITTU MOTORS (LSM) has called on the Nigerian government at various levels to invest and utilize the abundant, but untapped local skills, especially the youths to develop the automotive assembly industry in the country.

Speaking in a chat with Business AM in his office recently, Taiwo Shittu stated, that LSM is currently using many of the trained skilled youths trained by the company in-house internally in the local assembly of some of its vehicles right inside the assembly plant.

According to him, Nigerians have the skills. They just need the support of the government; this is what will make the industry to develop. The current generation of leaders must invest and make sacrifice for the development of the next generation just like the Chinese did.

‘’In those days, many people looked down on the Chinese and derided them for looking haggard and wretched. What they did not know was that, they were making sacrifice for the current generation. Today, the China’s story has changed. Nigeria also needs to do the same’. The executive director said.

Looking back on what has been the contribution of LSM to Nigeria after 40 years of its establishment, Taiwo said the company has contributed a lot to the Nigerian economy especially when it comes to manpower, training and empowerment of young Nigerians.

He disclosed that in terms of skills development, LSM have an empowerment scheme for school leavers who have passion for automotive development. They are trained for a period of four years and get paid even while on training.

‘’After the training, we send them to our customers across the country to service them. We ask them to be employed, accommodated and paid well. In some cases, they are given a car and placed on a good salary that we dictate. We are getting good testimonies from those we sent to Kano, Bauchi, Ondo and Cross River states, among others’’.

These are people that would have been bus conductors, touts or motor boys, now heading a facility of 300 to 500 trucks. Those who own these trucks know that these guys taking care of the valuable vehicles are as important as their expensive trucks. LSM has done miraculously well to young Nigerians in the engineering sector, making them to actualize their dreams in life.

LSM have the graduate empowerment scheme too, with a different package. Some of the graduates from different institutions of high learnings and other schools drop outs are also trained for a period before they are sent to organisations who need their services for employment.

On the other hand, there are also people sending interested young graduates and school leavers to LSM for training. For instance, Desmond Elliot, a member of the Lagos State House of Assembly, sent 10 people from his Surulere constituency to us for the scheme.