UNILAG- Nord auto plant to assemble vehicles, drones
THE first auto assembly plant to be established in a university in Africa was inaugurated at the University of Lagos recently, when Nord Automobiles unveiled the facility.
Besides assembling new automobiles and giving students relevant hands- on or practical skills, the facility will also make drones for commercial purposes.
Former Vice- Chancellor of the university, Prof. Oluwatoyin Ogundipe, said the facility already had an agreement with the Nigerian Air Force.
“And I want us to know that our students will learn something new in this area of drones and other things that will come from this particular arrangement,” Ogundipe said.
He expressed optimism that the venture would soon gain international recognition being “the first time any university in Africa would be having an automobile assembling company in such a way that it will train students, expose staff to practical skills and also make staff to get new cars at affordable prices.”
Ogundipe said the university decided to sign a Memorandum of Understanding with Nord Automobiles having found out that it is one of the reputable auto assembling companies in Nigeria and the benefits of having such practical skill- oriented ventures within UNILAG.
“I know that the Minister of Education, Prof. Adamu Adamu, and the Tetfund head have been talking about Research and Development ( R& D) for the university. We felt this project is an opportunity for us to have our R& D in the university.
“With that, we entered into a MOU with Nord so that our students can get their training through this platform. The academic staff too can get their exposure through this platform. It is not only the staff in the Faculty of Engineering that will benefit from this, even those in the departments of architecture, finance, marketing and every other department that has relevance to this project.
“This is in line with what the President has been talking about – that there is a need to expose our engineering students to the industry so that they will be able to do well in their areas of interest.”
Speaking on the drone project, Chief Executive Officer of Nord, Oluwatobi Ajayi, said the plant would offer unique experience and expand the body of knowledge and exposure in a new area in high demand.
“We also have Nord Aerospace here. We designed the drones ourselves; nobody can shut us down; no country can shut us down because the software was designed here in Nigeria by young Nigerians,” he said.