NAJA opens nomination for Nigeria’s car of the year

As business activities get reactivated after the devastating effects of COVID-19, the race for Nigeria’s car-of-the-year event has commenced, the Nigeria Auto Journalists Association has said.

NAJA has announced that this year’s edition of the NAJA Awards will hold on Thursday December 9, 2021 at the Eko Hotels and Towers, Victoria Island, Lagos.

According to a statement by the Chairman, 2021 NAJA Awards Planning Committee, Theodore Opara, like the previous editions, the 2021 edition will celebrate and reward excellence in the Nigerian automotive industry in the outgoing year.

He said like the previous editions, the highpoints of the 2021 awards ceremony would be the car-of-the-year category.

Apart from the car of the year, he said, “Other segments of the awards are luxury car of the year, heavy duty truck of the year, auto plant of the year, CEO of the year, auto personality of the year, CSR company of the year, pick-up of the year, showroom of the year and many others.”

Opara said his committee comprising highly respected individuals in the motoring journalism had drawn out all the categories in the awards, and presently compiling nominations in the various categories.

“Industry experts are expected to decide the nominees based through a scoring system that will test vehicles’ strength, weaknesses and popularity against other contenders in same category,” he said.

Opara also said members of the committee would pay close attention to worldwide competition trends and take advice from industry experts in arriving at nominations and decoding eventual winners.

He said, “In this year’s edition, there’ll also be a special honour for Chief Michael Ade-Ojo, Chairman of Toyota Nigeria Limited and some other industry giants for their immense contributions to the development of Nigeria’s auto industry.”

Chairman of NAJA, Mike Ochonma, said the 2021 edition would provide an avenue to recognise corporate stakeholder organisations and other automotive products and ancillary products such as tyre brands and individuals that had made exceptional contributions to the country’s auto industry within the year.

According to him, NAJA uses its members’ combined influence to inform the automotive public of new products, market developments, and technology and road safety.

“We’re committed to remaining a valued, professional body for the motor content creators of today and the future of mobility multi-media tomorrow,” he stated.