Earlier today, the Innoson group through their Twitter handle @innosonvehicles informed the general public of yet another doctoral award that was being given to the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the Innoson Vehicles and Motors (IVM) group, Dr. Innocent Chukwuma by the staff and management of Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka.
Recall that the IVM is the first Indigenous automobile manufacturing company in Nigeria which is owned by the 59 year old Nnewi born Nigerian by the name Dr. Innocent Chukwuma. And though he grew up with no spoon at all in his mouth, he desired to study mechanical engineering, but this dream was not achieved because he did not score up to the stipulated cut off mark.
However, though university denied him, he refused to give up on his dream and chose to pursue it in another way by beginning the business of selling and importation of spare parts. The rest is history.
And so after adding many other feathers to his cap, he has finally bagged one which most likely means more to him than every other awards- doctor of Industrial Engineering. This is the statement as released by them:
Press Release
UNIZIK To Confer Doctor of Industrial Engineering To Innoson
The Chairman/CEO of IVM Innoson group, Chief Dr. Innocent Chukwuma will on Thursday, March 12th, 2020 be conferred Doctor of Industrial Engineering, Honoris Causa by the Senate and Council of Nnamdi Azikiwe University during its 14th convocation ceremony.
In a letter personally addressed to the IVM Innoson Group Chairman by the Vice Chancellor of Nnamdi Azikiwe University Prof Charles Esimone, the Vice Chancellor stated that the “decision of Senate and Councilis predicated on your enviable track record in the manufacturing sector of the Nigerian economy. Senate and Council noted that after your secondary school education you had intended to study engineering in the University, however while waiting for admission you fortuitously found yourself in the trading business for which you seemed to have flair, but the urge for engineering production never died in you. This, combined with your innate business acumen, eventually led to your founding of Innoson Nigeria Ltd with Innoson Vehicle Manufacturing (IVM);Innoson Technical and Industrial Company Ltd; and General Tyres and Tubes Ltd; all four being manufacturing outfits, as subsidiaries, in furtherance of the Group’s vision of driving the Nigerian Economy Forward Through Industrialization.Today, the Innoson Vehicle Manufacturing is the only indigenous vehicle manufacturing company in Nigeria.
In the light of the foregoing, Nnamdi Azikiwe University is proud to confer on you its Honorary Doctor of Industrial Engineering degree”.It must be noted that Chief Dr. Innocent Chukwuma OFR who is the Chancellor of Imo State University is a recipient of more than seven (7) doctorate degrees which includes; Honorary Doctor of Management Science from Nigerian Defence Academy (NDA) Kaduna;Honorary Doctorate Degree in Business Administration (DBA) from Enugu State University of Science and Technology; Doctor of Business Administration (DBA) by University of Nigeria Nsukka (UNN) among others.
