MAIK
MOMAH - The Magic Man in Auto Care Products
Maik Madu Momah, managing
director/chief executive officer of Micmoson Ltd., is one man who
could be said to be a self-made man.
Momah who lost his father early in life, started business
in auto parts trading early in life in his native Nnewi town in
Anambra State.
The Nigerian Civil war
also worsened his problem of not having an early education in
life. Immediately,
after the civil war, he started business again in auto spare parts
with some of his friends. After
few years of apprenticeship, he started his own business in auto
spare parts trading until he ventured into the manufacturing of
the auto spare parts that his company sells in the Nigerian market
and the sub-region of West Africa.
Momah is a workaholic
who believes that the only way
Nigeria
can get out of its present economic problem is
by majority of Nigerians engaging themselves in the production of
goods which can be exported to earn foreign exchange for the
country.
Micmoson Limited
manufactures and markets the following range of auto care products
and electrical products: Micmoson brake fluid, Micmoson Radiator
Coolant, Micmoson Engine oil, Micmoson electrical starters, and
Micmoson 60 Watts electric bulb among others.
The products are well
accepted in the Nigerian and West African Sub-Region market.
Momah said that a lot of emphasis is placed on the quality
of the company's products as they are subjected to various stages
of quality test and control before they are rolled out from the
production line.
Momah further observed
that despite the harsh operating environment in
Nigeria
, the company has managed to break-even in its
yearly operations. He
advised that the federal government of
Nigeria
should try as much as possible to provide the
enabling environment for indigenous manufacturing to thrive.
He condemned the epileptic nature of some of the
infrastructures needed by manufacturers in
Nigeria
to do their business.
He also advised that the
federal government should hasten its
privatisation exercise, but added that
its should also try to be more transparent so that
Nigerians would have a firm belief that the whole exercise is
going to be credible at the end of it all.
He is also not happy
about the way and manner banks have treated the manufacturing
sector in the Nigerian economy.
He said that instead of alleviating the problems of the
manufacturing sector by charging low interest rate for loans given
to the sector, the opposite has been the case. He urged the
government to ensure that banks make good their promise of
disbursing 10% of their Pre-tax profit to the manufacturing
companies. He said
that the economy cannot have the desired growth rate unless
adequate attention is paid to the manufacturing sector.
Momah remarked that his
vision of
Nigeria
is to be like the Asian Tigers that are
currently doing wonderfully well in the manufacturing and export
sector of their economy.
Momah advised Nigerian youths
to imbibe the qualities of patience, hardwork and fear of God as
these are attributes that will enable youths remain focused and
not get involved in crimes. He
also advised the federal government to endeavour to establish
technology centres in major cities and towns in
Nigeria
where the Nigerian youths should be taught a
lot of skills that would help them use their hands to produce a
lot of things. He said
that this is one sure way of helping to reduce the unemployment
rate in
Nigeria
.
Momah combined his
business management with academic pursuit.
He has earned Diploma from National School of Salesmanship,
London
,
England
, and has also attended the prestigious
Lagos
Business
School
for a course on “Managing People for
Strategic Advancement”.
Momah, a devout
Christian is married and has children.
Newswatch Special Feature, Friday, 15 November 2002
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