Meet Jelani Aliyu (MFR), a top American automotive designer who is from Sokoto State. He designed Chevrolet Volt, 2014 Chevrolet Camaro, as well as Bumblebee, a car featured in the popular movie ‘Transformer 4’, an American movie that made more than a billion dollars profit within few weeks of its release. Our New York correspondent Adeola Oladele-Fayehun met with Aliyu for tips on how to revamp Nigeria’s transportation system.
What do we need to revamp our transportation system in Nigeria?
We need vehicles designed specifically for Africa, for Nigeria, because the conditions are different. We have extreme heat, we have extreme dust, and there are places with a lot of humidity. So we need to identify that this is our locality and conditions we face everyday, and design vehicles for that. For example, if you go to Alaska, you won’t drive a BMW, you would drive a snowmobile. It’s designed for a lot of snow. So we need to design vehicles for extreme conditions of Africa, and the economic structure of Africa, something people can afford.
The vehicles made in the US, England, or Japan, are primarily for those markets. A lot of the vehicles that are in Africa, happen to be transplanted into that part of the world. I always say a lot of the reasons that systems fail in Africa is not because Africans inherently don’t want to maintain products or technology, but a lot of those are not specifically for those parts of the world. So we need vehicles, products, architecture that is done specifically for those climatic condition, so that they’re effective and enable people to live comfortable lives, and enable them to prosper.
What about foreigners assembling cars in Nigeria? The government describes them as made in Nigeria cars
It’s a start. I see more commitment from our government to move our nation forward; I see a lot of initiatives. However, I don’t think the cars for Nigerians by Nigerians have yet been made, and that’s what we need to do.
In addition to having international players in Nigeria, we need to also cultivate the local talents to produce cars that would be affordable. Foreign made cars have their merit, but the common man on the farm, or the person using a bicycle who has a family of seven, or someone riding a motorcycle with a family of 15, those vehicles are not there for them. And those people must be given priority, to enable the production of safe, modern, and affordable vehicles that almost each and every Nigerian can afford as long as you have a job, so that vehicle does not yet exist.
As Nigerians we need to enable that vehicle, not just Nigerians, but other African countries. With the way technology works, we need to collaborate with other countries.
Before we can design cars in Nigeria, what has to be in place?
Having an automobile design school is an important factor in the development of any nation. Not just to assemble vehicles, or to produce them in the country, but to create them, design them in that country, by the citizens of that country who really understand the culture and the needs of that country. So let the government identify individuals who are talented to lead us in the transportation design and set up institutions within the country that would help them establish and go through the courses, so that when they’re done, they can be effective in creating and developing vehicles for Nigeria.
Also, our infrastructures need to be updated. I know a lot of roads are being constructed and trains, but we need to do more and make sure the roads are perfect, safe, and right, every square, every mile must be perfect. Our roads have to be the best. There are new technologies making roads safer, that help you to see the road markings better at night due to the materials used. So if there are no street lights, or your head lambs go bad, you can still see the road markings.
Also, there needs to be very intensive drivers education in Nigeria. Before anyone can be given a license, we have to make sure they are the best drivers they could be, they have to know all the rules and defensive driving, so they can also know what the other driver is doing in advance. We have to make sure people are excellent drivers.
Trains have the ability to move large number of people all at once, and it can easily connect cities and states, and I know they’re working on it, that is a very good start. But we need to pump more funds into that, and also look into newer technologies, not just the same old diesel locomotives, but also electromagnetic Maglev trains. There are some newer technologies that are unbelievably inexpensive that can be applied in Nigeria to move people fast.
However, we need to have stable electricity first.
Are there advantages to the abundance of sun in Nigeria that can help revamp our transportation system?
Solar energy is a crucial part of Nigeria’s development. A clean source of energy that could help the country move forward at a much faster pace. Whenever I call home, people complain that it’s very hot, but the heat is actually a blessing. We need to leverage this for the development of our country in setting up solar power plants to feed whole communities, and also in developing solar powered systems that you can take anywhere without worrying about access to electricity. Such as how a Canadian company came up with a solar laptop in collaboration with Eco Sahel company.
We can apply the same principle to designing cars, and it would take time, it’s not a one day thing. It could be applied to a lot of other products as well, including trains and aeroplanes. Industrial design needs to be given a lot of importance for the development of Nigeria. Which means we won’t have to depend so much on fuel either.
How can young Nigerians also harness their talents like you?
The most important thing is to first recognize your talent. Everybody is gifted, usually it’s things you love doing without being pushed to do it. Once you identify your talent, I would suggest you concentrate on them. If it’s drawing, keep drawing. Identify what you’re really good at, and work with people that will support you.
Unfortunately we don’t have automotive school in Nigeria. I had to leave Nigeria to pursue my dream. There are many youths with similar talent in Nigeria that can even take it farther than I have, I searched for schools around the world. So students have to look beyond Nigeria to develop their talents.
What about parents who want their children to be doctors or lawyers?
It’s good to be doctors or lawyers, but there are many other exciting careers out there that they need to explore. Now the youth of Nigeria have access to the Internet, and they should use it as a tool to grow and be exposed to other materials out there. So I urge parents to really help their children, give the access to the Internet and make sure they use it as a tool to open their mind to other possibilities.
My immediate family and some family friends were very supportive, but a lot of other people thought I was only wasting my time drawing cars because we don’t make cars in Nigeria. But I never gave up. I kept drawing and drawing, that helped me to develop my talent. Whenever my dad and my older brother travel, they would bring me magazines with different car designs. I’ll give the same advice to a lot of young people in Nigeria, if a lot of people say what you’re doing is wrong, you’ll never get anywhere with that, keep trying, never give up. And parents should not push their children to be what they wanted to be when they were young.
What would it take for you to come home to do what you’re doing?
Not much. The important thing to understand is that, you can affect any society from anywhere. I left Nigeria to become a designer, and Nigeria has always been on my heart. Whenever I go home, it’s very difficult to come back. I can go back to Nigeria right away and make a difference when given an opportunity to do so.
What I am is an industrial designer. My passion goes beyond cars; it’s about making a difference to any society.
After the interview, Aliyu asked to deliver a three-minute inspirational message he prepared for Nigerians. Below is the transcript:
Never be afraid of success – by Jelani Aliyu
We must never underestimate the significance of human imagination, the ability to envision a dramatically positive and dynamic future. Every great city, every monument, every historic feat, as it stands for all the world to see was once sphere of thought, pure imagination acted upon and brought into reality.
To imagine is to dream, to dream is to tune into the ever-amazing possibilities of the future. And when we do dream, it must be big. Because to dream small, is to totally underestimate the amazing capabilities that lie within each and every one of us.
Our own country Nigeria, from the Atlantic shoreline in the south through the grasslands of the middle belt, all the way to the rolling hills and the bright blue skies of the North, Nigeria is truly a magnificent and blessed country.
Yes we have crude oil, yes we have natural gas and a wide variety of raw materials, and yes we have fertile soil that can be cultivated to feed hundreds of millions, but above all, at our very core, what we have is our humanity, that magical inner spirit that glows from within, that magical inner spirit that makes us an integral, and crucial part of the human civilization.
So we must see ourselves not just as Nigerians, but as members of a global community, sharing constructive ideas, sharing inspirations and together coming up with solutions for the betterment of humanity worldwide. We as Nigerians must not be afraid of success, no one must be afraid to succeed but we must all individually and collectively focus on progressive opportunities and solutions.
Those powerful capabilities that reside within each and every one of us must be reawakened; it all starts in the mind. If you can imagine it and clearly see it in your mind, then you’re half way there. We must not be defined by current problems, they’re not who we are. We must be defined by our dreams and aspirations. We must be defined by what we can achieve; we must be defined by a better tomorrow. Nothing is impossible, there are no impossibilities, there is only a better Nigeria to build.
