Innocent Chukwuma is an entrepreneur and innovator. He is one of the richest businessmen in Nigeria. He is the Chief Executive Officer of Innoson Motors.
Innocent built his brand in Anambra State. Innocent rise to fame as an entrepreneur has seen him progress from being a marketer to an innovator.
As an entrepreneur, Innocent Chukwuma’s life has not been free from challenges. He has faced different legal battles.
Thanks to his supportive family and team, he can scale from the challenges. In this article, we will be looking at Innoson – Life, Age, Biography, Net Worth, Career & Influence
Innocent Chukwuma Life
Innocent Chukwuma also known as Innoson was born on October 1st, 1961. He was raised in a family of six I. Anambra State.
His father and mother did a good job raising him. The innocent mother was a housewife. Mrs Chukwuma’s role entails taking care of the children.
Additionally, she also cared for some of the household chores. On the other hand, Innoson’s father was a junior civil servant in the public sector.
Innocent was the last born of six children. He tried to maintain a healthy relationship with every one of his older siblings. The family consisted of four boys and six girls.
As a boy child, Innocent was closer to his immediate older brother. In the course of the article, we will see the reasons for his closeness to his older brother.
Innocent Chukwuma Education
The Chukwuma’s encouraged their children to pursue education. They made sure to give the best education to Innocent and his siblings.
Regardless of their humble background, Innocent father catered for the school fees of the children. Before sending them to school, he made sure they were trained in the household first.
To start with, Innocent Chukwuma attended the prestigious Uru-Umudim in Anambra State. He attended both his primary and secondary education at the school.
He finished his basic education in his hometown, Anambra State in 1978. It is important to note that Innoson was a science student while in secondary school.
Just like other kids, Innoson wanted to further his education at the University. He made sure to write the popular UTME examination. He later applied for admission to a renowned University in Nigeria.
Innoson found out that he wasn’t admitted to the University. This was because his JAMB score was very low.
As a means of pastime, he helped his elder brother at their pharmacy shop. Innoson sold all sorts of medicine and medication to consumers at the shop.
Later on, he discovered he had a knack for trading with customers. This was a sign that the field of marketing was for him! How did he progress from then on?
Innocent Chukwuma Career & Influence
After his unsuccessful attempt at gaining admission, Innoson felt discouraged to pursue his dream course – Engineering.
His brother sought to make things easier for him. Innoson’s brother, Gabriel, made sure to take him to a motor Engineering shop. This shop dealt with the sales of spare parts dealers.
Aside from selling spare parts, the owner of the shop, Chief Romanus Eze Onwuka, is popular for developing the first private stadium in Nigeria.
As the newest intake to Chief Romanus Eze Onwuka’s engineering shop, Innoson learned the business of trading spare parts. It is important to note that at the time, Chief Romanus Eze Onwuka owned the biggest sales shop in Nigeria.
His first assignment was to learn and master the prices of the items in the shop. Customers would flock in day and night to order and purchase motorcycle parts.
Innoson was diligent in the sales of the spare parts. He would arrive early and leave late in the night. Many times, he would be the one to close the shop.
Regardless of his activities, he leads a humble life during his time there. After 6 months of learning the ropes of the industry, Innoson finally called it quits.
Coincidentally, his brother, Gabriel Chukwuma, promptly saw it fit to open a spare parts shop, too. Gabros International Limited. Your guess is as good as mine to know who the manager was! It was no other than Innoson Chukwuma!
Additionally, Innoson was given the sum of N3,000 to run operations. Innoson ran the shop as though he was his own. He made sure every sale was accounted for and reported to his brother.
The first few months of the operation saw Innoson generate 10x more profit than the pharmacy business. Innocent and his brother came to a consensus to close the pharmacy and focus on the sales of spare parts.
In 1981, Innoson left his brother and focused on starting his business. Recall, he has spent over 2 to 3 years in the business of selling spare parts.
He has learned how to manage the business there. Innoson started the business after receiving the blessings of his senior brother, Gabriel. Innoson began selling Honda Motorcycle parts prevalent at that time. The money he received from his brother was used as capital to start.
He also used some money for the promotion of his services. The business was known as “Innoson Nigerian Limited”.
As time passed by, he started importing his products. Usually, this was a means to get quality products at that time. Recall that Japan-owned companies were beginning to export their produce to Africa for the first time in the 80s.
As an experienced individual in the business, he observed people that people were not patronizing him. Innoson began asking motorcycle riders what the problem could have been.
He was made to understand that imported goods are more expensive. As a result, people opt for cheaper yet less quality products.
To solve this problem, Innoson began to think of ways to solve this problem. First, he met the people in charge of importing. He told them to make sure the goods were broken down into smaller pieces so that more goods could enter the container.
As more goods began entering the container, the prices then became cheaper.
It is worth noting that Innoson was the first to import the popular Jincheng Motorcycle. If you recall, this vehicle was bought by several motorcycle lovers all around Nigeria.
Additionally, it was known for its ability to save fuel. Innoson began selling parts of the vehicle instead of the whole. He did this with other brands of motor vehicles like the Boulous and Levintis Motor Vehicles. Little by little, they became the largest importers of motorcycles all around Nigeria.
Innoson is a very innovative seller. He looks for opportunities to stand out as the market leader. As time passed by, he now ventured into the business of plastic production.
He observed that a motorcycle has several plastic parts. As an innovator, he set up a plastic production factory to produce these goods.
Production of this plastic body in a motor vehicle makes it easier to import more goods. As he continued this, he increased the number of spare parts that came into the country. On the other hand, he exports plastic spare parts for motorcycles. Thereby, balancing his payment & receipt books.
In 1995, there was a motorcycle assembly plant, the first of its kind in Anambra. This company became the first registered motorcycle assembly plant in the whole of Nigeria.
Seven years later, Innoson Limited opened a plastic industry in Nigeria. Another record was broken when Innoson Limited brought down the price of motorcycles from N150,000 to N60,000. This reduction in price made fake products reduce in Nigeria.
Innoson Limited Kiara Academy by Innocent Chukwuma
The innovation of producing a car takes a lot of processes. Most times, it demands the employment of foreign experts. This was the same case as the Innoson motors. Innoson Vehicle Manufacturing.
They imported a lot of expatriates to carry out the production of some motorcycles. Observing that this was hampering the cost of production, he adopted another means.
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Innoson then came up with an idea that would be of benefit to Nigerians. He implemented an idea where the foreigner would train indigenous people to carry out their services.
The role of the foreigners was to teach Nigerians how to assemble a motorcycle. After teaching, the foreigner would then return to their countries. To empower his idea, he established the renowned Innoson Kiara Academy.
This academy was to implement the idea outlined above. The organization was in two locations in Nigeria – Enugu and Nnewi.
The Innoson Kiara Program runs a 9 months program for courses that are involved in building the productive minds of students and trainees. In addition, the students are taught in modern ways to create automobiles and technologies in general.
It offers a good program for developing the apprenticeship spirit of trainees.
However, there was a challenge to this. The Innoson motors had a problem recruiting students who didn’t know about engineering.
It was difficult for them to apply this knowledge because they didn’t have the technical expertise to carry out this job. Then, it was pivotal to employ graduates who have backgrounds in engineering and science. Once they fit in, they should get in.
Innocent Chukwuma Legal Battles
Innoson Chukwuma and his organization have been engaged in different legal Battles over the years. One of them was against Guarantee Trust Bank (Gtbank).
In 2011, it was recalled that the bank was mandated by a Federal Court Order to pay N2 Billion to Innoson Motors. However, Gtbank appealed the court ruling twice.
They claimed the judgment was not fair, and it cited fraud as the main reason. Despite their appeal, the court dismissed their case. Thereby, affirming the ruling of the trial court.
Later on, the Supreme Court also made the same ruling. In May 2017, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of Innoson Chukwuma organization, Innoson Motors. It affirmed that Gtbank engaged in double speaking when applying.
According to Innoson Nigeria Ltd. and Chief Innocent Chukwuma, the statement made by GTBank that it obtained the Court of Appeal Judgement through fraud and fraudulent suppression of the knowledge that Innoson Nig. Ltd. was paid over N1 billion in the final liquidation of the judgment debt implied many things.
It implied that Innocent Chukwuma and Innoson Nigeria Ltd. are suspicious and dishonest among many other things.
Innocent Chukwuma Family
Innocent Chukwuma was raised in a Christian home. He was raised in a family of eight.
Innocent Chukwuma’s father was a civil servant earning a decent salary with the government. However, his mother was at him taking care of the children. Additionally, Innocent had three brothers and two sisters.
He was close to his brother, Chief Gabriel. Gabriel was his first employer before setting up his business. Innocent Chukwuma had a love for his family. Now, he tries to pass the same training to his children too.
Innocent Chukwuma Net Worth
Innocent Chukwuma is one of the richest businessmen in Nigeria. He has assets scattered in different parts of Nigeria. When he started, he was based in Anambra.
As of today, his merchandise is being exported to different parts of the world. Nevertheless, Innocent has always had the mindset of an innovator. So, he tries to look for opportunities in the market to take advantage of.
Moreover, Innocent contribution to Nigeria’s economy cannot be overestimated. He has opened the path for more Nigerians to explore international trade.
His net worth is estimated to be $1 billion. He makes a majority of his income from the sales and exports of automobiles. Innoson has contributed to the rise of Nigeria’s economy in the last 10 years.
Innocent Chukwuma Wife
Innocent Chukwuma is married to Ebele Chukwuma She is one of the people that has supported Innocent in his dream.
Before marriage, she has been friends with Innocent for a long time. She also takes care of the kids in various aspects. Innocent and Ebele have children together.
Innocent Chukwuma Recognition
- “Justice of Peace by Enugu State Government 2006”.
- “Industrialist of the Year by Nigerian Union of Journalists, Enugu State 2006”.
- “Meritorious Awards by Nigerian Society of Engineers (NSE) 2008”.
- “Award of Excellence, Manufacturers Association of Nigerian (MAN) 2008”.
- “Officer of the Order of the Niger (OON) 2008”.
- “Honorary Doctorate Degree in Business Administration by Enugu State University of Science and Technology 2011”.
- “Officer of the Federal Republic 2011”.
- “Best Customer by Bank of Industry, 2011”.
- “Business Person of the Year by the Sun Publishing Limited 2011”.
- “Entrepreneur of the Year by Wesley University of Science and Technology, Akure 2012”.
- “Auto Personality of the Year by Guild Motoring Correspondence 2013”.
- “Most Innovative Entrepreneur by Vanguard Newspaper 2013”.
- “Honorary Doctorate Degree in Business Administration by University of Nigeria 2014”.
- “Entrepreneurial Ambassador by Nigeria Arise 2014”.
- “Accomplished Contemporary Entrepreneurs’ Award by Federal Government 2014”.
- “Professor Barth Nnaji Prize for Technology at Igbo Awards 2017”.
Innocent Chukwuma Age
Innocent Chukwuma was born on the 1st of October 1961. He is currently 63 years of age. He was raised by his parents in Anambra State. His zodiac sign is Libra.
Innoson Motors Ambassador
Mercy Eke is the brand ambassador for Innoson Motors. She was awarded with the car in 2019. She was awarded the car in the Big Brother Nigeria Show. Recall, while in the show she was called the “Queen of Highlights”.
Innoson Motors Logo
Innoson Motors Logo was designed by Osuolale Farouq. He was invited to Innoson Vehicle Manufacturing HQ.
Innoson Motors Subsidiaries
Here are some of the businesses owned by Innoson Chukwuma:
Innoson Nigeria Limited Nigeria
In 1994, the company, which was formed in July 1987, partnered with a Chinese motorbike manufacturer to assemble motorcycles in Nigeria.
They specialize in producing tricycles, motorcycles, accessories, and replacement parts. It is situated in Anambra State’s Nnewi.
Innoson Technical and Industrial Company Limited
With its headquarters and plant located at Plot W/L Enugu State, the company started operations in October 2002. High-quality industrial and domestic plastics, electrical components and accessories, storage containers, fixtures and fittings, and health and safety accessories are all produced by them.
Innoson Vehicle Manufacturing (IVM) Nigeria Limited
President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan officially opened the corporation at Nnewi on October 15, 2010. Its product line comprises garbage collection vehicles, pick-up trucks, safe and affordable small and midi buses, and high-capacity city buses.
Additionally, the business offers quality repair and parts supply services.
The business manufactures tires, tubes, and motorcycle tires. Every day, they make over 13,000 tubes and 8,000 motorbike tires. The South-East Nigerian state of Enugu is home to the company’s facility.
Conclusion
In conclusion, Innocent Chukwuma has been in the business of selling all his life. He knows the ropes of the industry. He has also been one of the first motors to export their craft outside the local market.
