25-year-old Nigerian engineer, Jerry Mallo, has successfully designed and assembled Nigerian first carbon fibre car which he named ‘Bennie Purrie.’
The new car was unveiled at Transcorp Hilton in Abuja on Thursday, 28th November where the governor of Plateau state, Simon Lalung, chaired the occasion.
Speaking with newsmen on Friday after the unveiling of the car, the plateau born engineer said the car is not available yet adding that the first batch was only for testing and to notify the general public that such cars can be produced in Nigeria.
Mallo said he was inspired to create the sports car because Nigeria and Africa is a very big market for luxury vehicles.
“In Europe, we learnt that making the car is just half of the challenge, and selling it is the other half; Africa is usually is the target place to sell these vehicles, so I feel there’s a big market for it here,” Mallo stated.
He also noted that the continent has all the required resources and raw materials used in manufacturing the products, sadly, the vehicles are rarely made in Africa, hence, the reason he thought to fill the void.
Speaking further on the reason he delved into creating such a luxurious vehicle, Mallo said there are a lot of hand-skilled individuals in Nigeria who are wasting away because the nation tends to favours the theoretical more than the practical.
He said he was challenged and had to do something “practically inclined” which would serve as a platform for other skilled persons to put their hands together and come up with beautiful products.
Mallo said Plateau State government under Simon Lalong has been very supportive, stressing that the governor was the chief unveiler of his newest invention.
He also stated that the government has been key to his success, stressing that the state has helped with publicity for his engineering firm.
According to him, it was the Plateau State government that organised the unveiling of Bennie Purrie.
He then added that in 2 years time, the car would be available at a cheap rate.
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