Jonathan commissions Zeetin Technologies tricycle plant in Abuja, calls for a production economy

ABUJA, Nigeria — Former President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan on Wednesday commissioned a cargo-tricycle assembly plant built by Zeetin Technologies in the Idu Industrial District of the Federal Capital Territory, and used the occasion to press Nigeria to shift from importing finished goods to producing them.

Speaking as chairman of the ceremony, Dr Jonathan commended the Federal Government for the import-duty waivers that supported the project. "That is how it should be, and it is quite commendable," he said, according to reports of the event by Vanguard and AIT.

The plant assembles the VIAR KARYA 150 RLn and 200 Ln cargo tricycles — marketed locally as the VZ150 and VZ200 — under a technical partnership with VIAR Motor Indonesia (PT. Triangle Motorindo), a Semarang-based manufacturer with more than three decades of three-wheeler production. The first units built on the Idu line were handed to their owners during the ceremony.

A local case

Zeetin's chairman, Azibaola Robert, told guests the plant's purpose is Nigerian value as much as Nigerian vehicles. "Every unit built at our factory carries Nigerian labour and Nigerian value," he said — technicians trained at VIAR's works in Semarang and now working in Abuja, alongside quality, planning, sales and after-sales staff, and a growing network of dealers, service workshops and parts traders. The name Zeetin, he added, means "for you".

Dignitaries at the commissioning included Mrs Nenadi Usman, national chairperson of the Labour Party, and representatives of the company's banking and finance partners, among them Ecobank and DMB Finance.

What is being built

Units arrive from Indonesia as semi-knocked-down kits with factory-built engines and are assembled, finished and road-tested at Idu. The KARYA 150 RLn carries 449 kg on a 1.80-metre bed; the 200 Ln carries 700 kg on a 2.01-metre bed. Both are water-cooled with leaf-spring suspension, reverse gear and electric and kick start, and come in black, red and blue.

Launch prices of ₦2,650,000 for the 150 RLn and ₦2,850,000 for the 200 Ln apply until 30 November, after which the standard prices of ₦3,200,000 and ₦3,500,000 return.

What comes next

The company says the next phase is deeper local content — locally sourced components, and in time compressed-natural-gas and electric versions — with the aim of turning an assembly plant in Abuja into a production industry for Nigeria.

Reporting drawn from coverage by Vanguard, AIT, ThisDay, The Sun, allAfrica and Blueprint.