October 19, 2017
The Nigeria Automobile Technicians Association (NATA), on Thursday appealed to the Lagos government to allocate land for its members to build workshops across the state.
Mr Jacob Fayehun, the newly elected state chairman of the association, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) that inadequate space for workshops have posed a great challenge to the auto technicians in Lagos.
Fayehun said that the challenge which had lingered for so long has constituted a major setback to the growth of the association.
“We are begging the Lagos State Government to come to our rescue by providing adequate mechanic villages for our members similar to the one in Ogun and other states in the country.
“Lagos state should not be exceptional in terms of giving empowerment to artisans.
“We have the highest number of artisans in the state which consist of over two million members.
“We are tired of being push around, chase here and there, we need our permanent site across the geo-political zones in the state.
“We need to be established and also improve our work to meet up with the international standard,’’ he said.
Fayehun alleged that some members have turned to road side mechanics contrary to the policy of transforming the state to a mega city by the present administration.
“If government had provided a befitting site for artisans it would not have been so,’’ he said.
Fayehun added that the state government recently mandated the NATA members to desist from working at the road side and under the bridges across the state.
The chairman appealed to the state government to provide alternative site as mechanic villages to allow them function and work effectively in the state.
“Since the government of Alhaji Lateef Jakande, no other subsequent administrations have provided mechanic villages to the artisans.
“Jakande was the governor who introduced mechanic villages in Lagos, since 1983, no other government has continued from where he stopped,’’ the chairman said.
According to him, NATA members were being chased away from some of the allocated mechanic sites especially at Ojota, Agidingbi, Surulere and Ikorodu which have been accredited to the members since 1980 to 1981.
Fayehun said that the growth in the number of artisans in the state has been affected as a result of inadequate site for workshops.
“We urge the government to consider the number of artisans involve in the association like mechanics, rewire, battery chargers, panel beaters and other automobile artisans by providing mechanic village for us to advance our work,’’ he said.
