Coscharis Motors Academy Graduates Technicians for Nigeria’s Automotive Industry

A new set of professional technicians that will drive the nation’s automotive industry graduated yesterday from the CG-EKO LLP Training Academy in Ikeja.

The Training Academy is a facility managed by the Coscharis Group through public private partnership with the Lagos State Government.

President/CEO, Coscharis Group, Dr. Cosmas Maduka described the occasion as another milestone in the historical development of the Nigerian automotive industry, “as we wheel out the human resources who will drive the industry to the next level.”  

Maduka, whose speech was read by the Deputy Group Managing Director, Coscharis Group, Mr. Okey Nwuke, said, “When Coscharis Motors Plc, one of our subsidiaries in the group was to venture into the business of selling brand new globally respected iconic vehicles, we were guided by our vision, ‘to build an institution that is timeless in its relevance’. “At that point we knew that in order to remain timeless in our relevance to the automotive industry, we needed to do more than selling new vehicles – we needed to also establish an after-sales support base which will help to keep our customers’ vehicles on the road, performing optimally at all times. Because of the dearth of qualified technicians in the industry at the time, we had to embark on hiring of expatriates from other countries to man our after-sales facilities.

“However, as the demand for our vehicles increased, so was the demand for after-sales services. Therefore, as a forward-looking organisation and in consonance with our mission statement to plough back to the society, we decided to embark on manpower training and development of our youths, to fill in the vacuum created by the dearth of qualified technicians, thereby empowering and creating employment opportunities for them.”

According to the CEO, “The main objective of the academy is to deliver value added human resources to fill the vacuum created by the dearth of professional technicians, who are supposed to drive the fast-growing automotive industry sector of our economy into a bright future. 

“Since admitting the first set of trainees in 2013, the academy has successfully wheeled out 41 graduates till date. Majority of the graduands here today have been absorbed into our organisation, some employed by other organisations, while some have become after-sales facility entrepreneurs.

“We are thankful that we were able to contribute meaningfully into your lives via the offering of this training platform and pray that God will grant you the will to put the acquired skills and training into meaningful practice for the advancement of the automotive industry in particular, Nigeria at large and humanity as a whole.”

He thanked the Lagos state government for identifying with the company’s vision and for tapping into it via a public private partnership, which eventually birthed the CG-Eko LLP Training Academy.

The Training Manager said the graduands passed through series of professional hands- on theoretical and practical training in the field of automobile engineering ranging from automobile repairs, service, maintenance, troubleshooting, automobile technology, workshop practice, digital electronics, leadership, management, CRM and product knowledge.   

He said, “The journey of today’s celebration however, started on Thursday 1st August, 2013 when the first batch of trainees (18 in number) was admitted into the Training Academy. The second and third batch resumed lectures in 2014 and 2015 respectively.”

Related Articles