IZUOGU Z-600. THEY KILLED THE DREAM, BUT THEY COULDN’T KILL THE IGBO INGENUITY.
IZUOGU Z-600. THEY KILLED THE DREAM, BUT THEY COULDN’T KILL THE IGBO INGENUITY.
They killed nigeria’s first car before It could breathe and he was an igbo man
Most of you think Innoson is the first Nigerian to make a car. You are wrong.
In 1997, 13 years BEFORE Innoson, an Igbo man from Ideato in Imo State built the FIRST AFRICAN indigenous car with 90% local content.
His name: Dr. Ezekiel Izuogu
The car: Izuogu Z-600
It had a self-made 1.8L engine, locally made crankshaft, pistons, engine block all fabricated in his factory in Naze, Owerri, Imo State.
Top speed: 140km/h
Price: $2000. It would have been the cheapest car in the WORLD.
When General Abacha saw it, he set up 12 professors to test it. They certified it.
20 Ambassadors came to the launch. Federal Government promised N235 Million grant.
They never paid him one naira.
In 2006, South Africa called him: “Come and build this car in South Africa, we will give you everything.”
He refused. He said: “I want my people in Naze to get the jobs.”
One week after he refused South Africa…
SATURDAY, MARCH 11, 2006, 2:00 AM
12 heavily armed men broke into Izuogu Motors, Naze.
They did not steal money.
They did not steal TVs.
They stole his brain:
The design notebook for Z-600
The Z-MASS file for mass production
All the moulds Engine block, camshaft, crankshaft, fly wheel, mudguards
Over N1 Billion worth of tools and parts
Izuogu cried out: “The target of this robbery is to stop us from mass-producing the first ever locally made car in Africa.”
Since that day, the project died. Nigeria lost its chance to become a car-producing nation like Japan.
The import cabals won.
Dr. Izuogu died frustrated in July 2020. Nigeria never honoured him.
Igbos are great people, inventors and innovators, the efforts of Igbo greatness has always been sabotaged both from inside and outside.
But the great Igbo race will always progress. Rest in peace Izuogu, your vision will always remain in our hearts.
