Most foreign investors and Nigerian manufacturers may have fled from Borno State, but manufacturers in Nnewi, especially Chicason Group, still see Maiduguri as an attractive business route. This is as A-Z Oil Company says they now offload over 20 trucks everyday in their factory in Nnewi, Anambra State.
BusinessDay gathered in Nnewi, the emerging Japan of Africa, that most of the manufacturers in the industrial town in Anambra State have continued to ply their trade in Maiduguri despite the daily massacre of innocent citizens in the wake of intensified Boko Haram campaigns in the North-east.
Our team of reporters witnessed many chief executives discussing with their branch managers and depot managers working in Maiduguri, and some other hotspots in the North-east confirming new orders and fresh supplies. Security was not part of their discussions or concerns.
Cyril Uche Mzom, head, sales and marketing of Chicason Group, who has direct charge over marketing of A-Z Oil brands, said it was wrong to isolate Borno State on account of activities of Boko Haram.
Mzom, a seasoned marketer who has traversed all over Nigeria in various previous capacities, said there was insecurity in all parts of Nigeria, saying “what about kidnapping in most parts of Eastern and Southern Nigeria, what about robberies, what about daily killings through assassination, what about loss of goods in the East? In the East, some youths would just double-cross your car on the streets and attack you, what about that? Most persons hardly move about in the East without heavy security, has that stopped businesses from carrying on?”
A-Z Oil is produced in cartons and drums, the drums targeted at roadside sellers, Mzom said,saying any Nigerian manufacturer who ignored the needs of the roadside users and sellers was a non-starter. This could explain the instant successes of products such as Cowbell Milk, which produced micro-packs for small consumers and snatched the table milk market in Nigeria.
A-Z Oil specialises in what Mzom called oil-based lubricants, semi-liquids, full liquids (engine oil, brake fluid, etc). The company has 23 depots around Nigeria including the one in Maiduguri, which demands for supplies like any other one.
A-Z Oil ranks equal with the most respected oils in the Nigerian market and is preferred for personal use even by sellers of other products, the head of sales said, as a recent test in Ghana proved that A-Z ranked far above their stipulated national standards and this has made the brand a household name in even Sierra Leone.
Chicason, he hinted, employs over 4000 workers in its various manufacturing and trading companies including A-Z, Rimco, and Afro-Asia. Rimco produces vegetable oils while Afro-Asia makes all types of plastics.
Mzom said quality was of essence for A-Z and Chicason, as the company has a mobile unit fighting fake products. The manufacturing sector has turned Nnewi into a melting pot as experts from the North, South and West continue to head to the New Japan, he said.
Ignatius Chukwu & Regis Anukwuji
