Adebola Omotosho, MD/CEO of Tree of Life Autoworld Limited, is steering Nigeria’s automotive industry towards a sustainable future. With a background in History and Strategic Studies, and an MBA, Omotosho has built expertise in CNG conversion, maintenance, and distribution of motor oil and industrial oil. He’s passionate about empowering young Nigerians with automotive skills and driving innovation in the sector. In this interview with MARY NNAH, Omotosho shares his professional journey, the challenges and opportunities in Nigeria’s automotive industry, and his vision for the future
Could you please walk us through your professional background and current role?
My name is Adebola Omotosho, I’m MD/CEO of Tree of Life Autoworld Limited. I have a background in History and Strategic Studies, and a postgraduate degree in Business Administration. Over the years, I’ve acquired more knowledge in the automotive industry, including compressed natural gas (CNG) conversion and maintenance. We’ve also engaged in distributing motor oil and industrial oil for turbines, and done various training programs to build expertise in the industry. We’ve partnered with government agencies and private organisations, training over 500 youths in the automotive sector. Currently, we’re working with the Ministry of Education and the World Bank to train youths on CNG alternative fuel systems, and with PCNGI (Presidential CNG Initiative) to support the president’s goal of 1 million commercial vehicles running on CNG. CNG is an alternative to petrol, making vehicles hybrid, able to run on both CNG and petrol.
Have you implemented CNG as an alternative fuel system?
By the grace of God, we have been able to. Apart from this being a government initiative, By the grace of God, we’ve been able to implement CNG as an alternative fuel system. This isn’t new to us; we’ve been working on it since 2009 to 2019. It was first introduced by the late President Musa Yar’Adua, but didn’t gain traction beyond Benin. The current administration recognized the need to explore alternative fuel systems due to global market forces affecting PMS. We have CNG in abundance – about 1.3 million tons, more than drinkable water in Nigeria. We’re grateful for this administration’s initiative. The president aims to get 1 million commercial vehicles running on CNG; we’ve converted close to 200,000 vehicles across Nigeria, including over 500 private and government-assigned vehicles, since starting in October 2024
What sparked your passion for the automotive industry and how has it evolved over the years?
The transportation system is the lifeblood of any economy. When it fails, people suffer, and goods spoil due to lack of transport, locally and internationally. That’s what drove me to this sector. We’ve explored ways to improve traditional transport methods, like bicycles used in villages to carry farm goods. How can we add value to these? Make it easier to transport goods? And if we stick with conventional transport, how can we make it more affordable? That’s where CNG and electric vehicles come in. At Tree of Life, we’ve contributed by acquiring equipment to locally build vehicles for transporting goods. Our goal is to support Nigeria and make transportation a viable business for all.
So how has this evolved over the years?
Yes, drastically. The journey hasn’t been easy; convincing people to see things from our perspective takes a lot of effort. But it’s had a positive impact over the years. We’ve seen vehicles running on CNG, and drivers taking home more money, unlike before, when they spent most of their earnings on petrol. Companies are assembling CNG vehicles in Nigeria, and some are even coming with electric engines straight from the factory – a huge plus that didn’t happen overnight. Officially, this started gaining traction about two years ago; it’s become a widely accepted initiative. The results are tremendous, thanks to government support like free CNG kits for commercial vehicles. That’s really helped drive the initiative.
As a history major, how do you think your unconventional background has influenced your approach to innovation in the automotive sector?
Yes, drastically. The journey hasn’t been easy; convincing people to see things from our perspective takes a lot of effort. But it’s had a positive impact over the years. We’ve seen vehicles running on CNG, and drivers taking home more money, unlike before, when they spent most of their earnings on petrol. Companies are assembling CNG vehicles in Nigeria, and some are even coming with electric engines straight from the factory – a huge plus that didn’t happen overnight. Officially, this started gaining traction about two years ago; it’s become a widely accepted initiative. The results are tremendous, thanks to government support like free CNG kits for commercial vehicles. That has really helped drive the initiative.
Can you share a particular challenging experience you’ve faced in your experience as an entrepreneur and how do you overcome it?
The major challenge we started seeing at the initial stage of this business as an entrepreneur is the aspect of funding. The aspect of the fund became something that we were moving around with mentally because people were talking about the fund. So for a very long time, we were concentrating more on the fund. So when we started Tree of Life, we were planning to have it somewhere in Lekki, and we were desperately looking for funds to achieve it around Lekki. So for a very long time we were actually looking for fund and fund didn’t turn up as expected. So something dropped in our mind, why must we start from Lekki? If Lekki is demanding millions of dollars or millions of Naira, why not go to where you can start with 100 thousand? And that now gave birth to where we are today, at Ipaja, Lagos. Where we are today is no longer in thousands but in millions.
So I do say to all my learners not to look at funds as a problem. I should say to them, look at the product itself. How valuable is the product, the idea? Can an investor come in and be willing to buy out your idea? If it’s not up to that level, then you still need to refine that idea itself. You must be able to develop. For instance, if you are an auto technician and you know how to repair a Japanese vehicle and another auto technician who also knows how to repair a Japanese vehicle, but over the years, technician B has been able to add how to repair a Range Rover, a German vehicle, and other types of vehicles to his work. Definitely, this person has added value and is going to get more traffic than you, who have stuck to your customers.
So the financial challenges came, and we were able to see through that it’s not supposed to be a problem. We worked with what we had, and gradually it became what we have today. Another challenge is the human factor, which has to do with staffing and all that.
At the initial stage, it was a bit tough. Over the years, we started carrying out a periodic training for the staff so they can be better at seeing things the way you, the visionary, are seeing things. So I can practically say that that has been a challenge.
Also electricity is one of the challenges that can be attended to, if it can be attended to, which has affected us in the past. But with the innovation of solar panels and other means of generating power, that has really become a thing of the past.
What drives your commitment to empowering young Nigerians with automotive skills and how would you measure your impact on their lives and their outputs?
So I’ve always wanted to have a community full of young people between the ages of 15 and 35, where we can show them what the future holds when they have a skill. I’ve always said that a nation with skilled youth tends to have a creative mind, and a creative mind tends to have a better nation. This has always driven me because of how I was brought up. Even though my parents gave me the best education, my father, in particular, ensured I had skills. I think he gave my brother and me more than 10 different skills. Looking back, I think I’ve independently built and constructed at least 10 buildings without formal engineering training. All these buildings are still standing today, 10 years later, and I don’t see anything happening to them because I was taught at an early age, when I was 10, how to read maps, assess columns, size pyl8ons, metals, and the amount of cement needed for mixing concrete. All those things that don’t require advanced math, just hands-on experience. And that knowledge has stuck with me. I see that many parents didn’t give their children the same opportunities, and graduates struggle because they lack skills.
Their focus was on education, and their parents were often wealthy, but when the parents passed away, they were left with nothing. Now, they’re trying to acquire the skills I learned at 10. That’s an inspiration. We’ve done some free training, but we’ve monetized it because some people don’t value free things. We’re collaborating with sponsors and NGOs to upskill youths.
I’m not sure if you’ve noticed, but since 2004, young people have been saying investors are leaving the country, but they’ve not realized that the number of investors coming in is 10 times the number leaving. Companies are sprouting up on the Lagos-Baden and Lagos-Shagamu Expressways, and the automotive sector is a key part of this growth. If we don’t train people, who will work in these industries when they’re established? We’ll have industries everywhere, but no skilled workers. That’s what drives us.
I commend the Ministry of Education, which is partnering with the World Bank. The training we’re providing leads to an NSQF certification, recognized globally. I give kudos to the president for that initiative.
What advice would you give to young people looking to build a career in the automotive sector, and how can they prepare for the challenges and opportunities that come with it?
Whenever I’m privileged to stand before my learners in class, I always start with three words: Must, readiness, and willingness. There’s no industry, no business, no educational qualification that you want that’s without challenges. It is your readiness and willingness. We tend to focus on our present stage, but what drives you is the destination. Seeing yourself trekking from work to home, from home to work every day – if that’s what you’re focused on, your destination will be far away. But if you focus on your destination, capitalizing on where you want to be rather than the challenges, then the future is bright.
Initially, it wasn’t easy. We did what we had to do – picked bottles, collected cartons, did menial jobs to gather funds. I always tell my learners the future is bright if you’re focused, ready, and willing to be who you want to be. People pay for value, and if you don’t offer value, growth is limited.
As a leader in the industry, what do you believe is the most pressing issue facing the Nigeria automotive sector , and how do you think this can be tackled?
If I go through the data, you’ll see that the amount of money we spend on importing parts alone is in the billions of dollars. We’re not helping our nation; we’re developing the countries producing these parts. In the old days, with companies like Peugeot and Volkswagen assembling vehicles here, vehicles were more affordable and created jobs. Today, we only have assembly plants, not manufacturers. That’s an issue affecting us; we need to revive local manufacturing.
I don’t expect one company to manufacture a whole car. Even in the West, brands collaborate – company A produces part A, company B produces part B, and they come together. Kudos to NADDC for identifying parts on tricycles and motorcycles that we can manufacture locally. This will create jobs and lower costs. With this, we can attract more manufacturing companies, addressing poor transportation in Nigeria.
Reflecting on your journey, what stands out as your proudest achievements, and what are the key things you’re eager to accomplish in the future?
My greatest achievement so far is the number of lives I’ve impacted, and it gives me joy every day. There’s a young man in Benin, trained by Tree of Life, who now has a center bigger than ours. Each time he calls and says, “Sir, this business is going,” that’s what drives me. There are others too, not as successful, but seeing them manage and transform their skills into wealth is a plus.
As a quality assurance and IQA professional, that’s a big plus. I also envision setting up a manufacturing company. At Tree of Life, we have equipment to build vehicles, not on a large scale, but manually. We source parts locally and have the equipment. That’s another plus, and I’m looking forward to making it happen.
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