Is Nigeria Slowly Becoming A Classic Car Museum like Cuba?

Definition of terms;

1. What is a Classic Car?: A classic car is typically an automobile that is 25 years or older. For some parties, a car that is 20 year old is already a classic car. This means that cars produced in the year 2000 such as the Nissan Micra of Ibadan, Toyota Camry (Pencil Light), Honda Accord (Baby Boy), among others which are still very common on our roads will officially become classic cars by next year (2025).

Top: Honda Accord (Baby Boy); Middle: Nissan Micra of Ibadan; Bottom: Toyota Camry (Pencil Light)

2. Where is Cuba?: Cuba, officially the Republic of Cuba, is an island country, located where the northern Caribbean Sea, Gulf of Mexico, and Atlantic Ocean meet. This is not a geography class, so I will not go further trying to explain Cuba's longitudes and latitudes. All you need to know is that Cuba is a small island country that is located just beside the United States of America (USA). This close proximity between Cuba and USA, made it a perfect position for America's enemies to strategically attack them during the Cold War. This particular situation changed the automotive outlook of Cuba until date, a little of this story in a bit.

The Beautiful Streets of Havana, Cuba

The history of Cuba and America's disagreement is a very interesting, as well as lengthy topic. Hence, I will only give the necessary history pertaining to todays topic. I will advice you do your own research, I promise that it will be an interesting read. The Cuban government basically refused to join forces with USA despite all their efforts. Cuba took sides with the Soviet Union and maintained nuclear missiles for the Soviet Union during the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis. With the close proximity of the U.S. to Cuba, it meant that the Soviet Union could easily launch attacks on American soil. This led the U.S. to impose full-scale economic and military sanctions, including a military blockade, against the Island nation.

As a result, an embargo was placed on Cuba. This embargo still stands today, after more than 50 years since President John F. Kennedy proclaimed it. As a form of retaliation, the then President of Cuba, Fidel Castro, banned the importation of American cars and mechanical parts. This meant American models like Ford, Chevrolet and co. could no longer be imported into the country. More so, European and Japanese cars which could be imported were expensive and out of reach. Automobile importation became near impossible. As a result of this, the Cuban car scene in 2024 looks like a 90's movie scene because there are very few new and recent model cars in the country. The Cuban's simply practice the act of "hand me down" when it comes to vehicles. Hence, the classic car scenery in Cuba.

Cuba's Typical Classic Car Scene

Nigeria is neither at war, nor do we have an embargo placed on us and yet, car importation is becoming outrageously expensive like it is in Cuba. To put things in perspective, my Dad got a tokunbo (foreign used) 2015 Toyota Corolla in 2019 for about 6 million naira. That same 2015 Toyota Corolla as a Nigerian used vehicle is being sold today (5 years later) for 11 million naira. This means that my Dad would make a profit of 5 million naira if he was to sell that same car today. More so, if a Nigerian used costs 11 million naira, it means that a foreign used would cost significantly more. How is a car that is 9 years old priced at double digit in millions? This story serves as a preamble to the first reason for my comparison of Nigeria with Cuba.

2015 Toyota Corolla

1. NIGERIA'S EXCHANGE RATE IS IN SHAMBLES

The Nigerian exchange rate is absolutely nothing to write home about. The only people enjoying the exchange rate are those earning in dollars. As a result of an exchange rate that is rising everyday like fever, everything is expensive, especially cars and car parts. See ehn, if any of your friend buys a car in 2024, bill them!, do not let them deceive you at all, they have money!!! You can't get a good and recent model car for anything less than 10 million naira today, even if it is a Nigerian used. I remember when celebrities used to buy brand new exotic cars for less than a 100 million naira. With todays exchange rate, a 100 million naira can only get you a tokunbo (foreign used) vehicle of some brands. Even the so called cheap Toyota now cost more than a 100 million naira for some 2024 models.

A quick glance at car prices on jiji.com

With car prices so high and getting even higher, we will soon have to adopt the "hand me down" culture of Cuba, where a father passes on his car(s) to his kids and they in turn pass on the same car(s) down to their own kids (big wahala for who no be first born son). Jokes aside, if things should continue they way they are in the country, most average earning Nigerians will no longer be able to import new or foreign used cars into the country. This will bring about a cycle of buying used Nigerian cars and thus, Nigeria becomes the new Cuba with decades old cars filling up our streets.

2. ELECTRIC VEHICLES (EVs) TAKING OVER

Electric Vehicles (EVs) are the future of the automotive world and there is nothing anyone can do about it. With the pursuit of green energy, so many of our favourite car companies have begun to shift to production of hybrid and full on electric vehicles. As a result, so many combustion engine vehicles are either being discontinued or replaced with new EV models. I remember citing in a previous episode that the fire breathing, ear deafening G-Wagon will soon be going electric, meaning no more V8 Bi-Turbo for rich Abuja kids to flex. What does this mean for us average earning Nigerians?

Electric G? Ewwwwwwww

First off, electric vehicles are expensive. You have to buy most electric vehicles as brand new, because there is really no established second hand market for them yet. Besides, you don't want to buy an electric vehicle that has exceeded it's warranty, that's just buying future problem. Second off, we lack the infrastructure for these electric vehicles in Nigeria. By infrastructure, I mean charging spots to fill up car batteries and lack of technical knowhow to manage these vehicles by our local mechanics. Even if we were to overcome all these hurdles, the cost of owning an electric vehicle compared to buying a Nigerian used car, is significant and most Nigerians will opt for the later. Once again, recycling Nigerian used vehicles wins the debate.

The bottom line of this article is that the economic situation of Nigeria is terrible and if things do not change, we are going to be left behind by the automotive world, with old classic cars filling up our roads. "Hand me down cars" will then become the order of the day, thereby depriving future generations of the automotive excellence seen in more modern car models. Will Nigeria become a museum of dinosaur cars like Cuba? Only time will tell. Thank you for reading and always remember to Turbo that engine!