By Moses Akaigwe
From a small beginning as an apprentice motorcycle and auto spare parts trader, to today’s IVM Innoson Group, Dr. Innocent Ifediaso Chukwuma’s life as an entrepreneur is one that offers itself as a case study in the celebrated Igbo apprenticeship scheme.
Born on Nigeria’s Independence Day, October 1, 1960 in Uru-Umudim, Nnewi in Anambra State, Chukwuma is ever grateful to his elder brother, Chief Gabriel ‘Gabros’ Chukwuma, for the guidance that paved the way for his success. His journey to the multi-sectoral group started in 1981. He dazzled the motorcycle industry at a time Leventis, Bolous Enterprises, and CFAO were importing fully assembled motorcycles for the local market.
He observed that the big companies were bringing in 36 fully built units of motorcycles in one 40-feet container with a lot of expenses that increased the prices of new bikes. Now a motorcycle dealer, Chukwuma calculated the prices of the component parts that make up one motorcycle and found out that the total cost was not up to N150, 000, which was the market price at the time. Subsequently, he decided to go and import the motorcycles in Completely Knocked Down (CKD) components, and used local technicians to assemble them in Nnewi. This way, the same 40-feet container carried CKD parts for 220 units in one, instead of 36 units those companies were importing as fully built.
Chukwuma’s ingenuity made it possible for Innoson to sell new motorcycles at N60, 000 against competing brands’ N150,000 price tag, leading to a general crash in the prices of new motorcycles.
More recently, he anticipated a major shift in the petroleum industry. In 2021, his Nnewi based Innoson Vehicle Manufacturing Company (IVM) invested in manufacturing vehicles that run on compressed natural gas (CNG); and Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG).
His business instincts were right. On May 29, 2023, President Bola Tinubu, in his inaugural speech, revoked fuel subsidy programme. By the time the search began for alternatives to the now exorbitant petrol, IVM CNG/LNG vehicles were already on the roads in some parts of the country, earning Innoson the alias ‘The Man Who Saw Tomorrow.’
As part of its expansion programme, a multi-billion naira IVM plant annex covering about 300 plots of land is being constructed in Nnewi, and is expected to be commissioned this year to concentrate on manufacturing of autogas vehicles.
For his exploits in deepening automobile technology in Nigeria, Chukwuma is a recipient of many awards and honours from all parts of the country and outside Nigeria, including Okpu Uzu Ndigbo (The Great Technologist of Igbo Land). No fewer than 10 institutions of higher learning have found him worthy of honorary doctorate degrees, among which are University of Nigeria, Nsukka; Nigerian Defence Academy; Enugu State University of Science and Technology; and Nnamdi Azikiwe University, among others.
Also, the Innoson Group Chairman has, at different times, been conferred with national honours, namely Commander of the Order of the Niger (CON); Officer of the Order of the Niger (OFR); Officer of the Order of the Niger (OON); and the National Productivity Order of Merit (NPOM).
For his outstanding ingenuity, he is The Sun Man of the Year, 2023.