TWO great Nigerians, Aghogho Ajiyen and Ayoola Olaolu, who invented aeroplane and drone that remained afloat for almost 10 minutes in Abuja, on Thursday, said confidently that Nigeria could invent her own aircrafts, even without importing both mechanism and engines. The duo, who displayed them before the Minister of Science and Technology, Dr Ogbonnaya Onu, at the front of the ministry in Abuja, therefore, sought for the Federal Government`s assistance in that directive, believing that Nigeria could invent aircraft perfectly. According to Aghogho, “I`ve really packaged everything, but one of the major supports I needed now is finance because I have put everything in place. In advanced countries, they have a way of creating a lot of activities for the younger ones, but here in Nigeria, we have limited activities.”
Aghogho explained that his plane could go within the ratio of six kilometres and 4,000 feet, as efforts to achieve that took him about 24 years. He stressed further that he started the innovation in 1992 but was discouraged in both the 1994 and 1997 after destroying the prototype for more than 3,000 times. He said he summoned courage by rebuilding another one in 1999 and since then, he has been redefining it until it was able to get appropriate one with some mechanisms inside and control surfaces deflecting it to various angles. “As far as I am concerned, an aircraft engine is not something that will be difficult for our people to do, especially our Igbo brothers, if I explain how the engine. If I give them specification, they can package it perfectly and work well,” he added.
In his own, Olaolu, an inventor of drone said he started it during his vocational period just for fun, but as time progressed, he discovered that it might be of good help to the country, hence, the reasons he developed serious interest in it. Olaolu, who was of the view that technology was the backbone of any nation, then added that if Nigeria continued to depend on foreign goods or products, it was like mortgaging the future of young generation. Responding, the minister, Dr Onu promised that the ministry was ready to assist and work with any Nigerian with spirit of innovation, assuring the inventors that the ministry would direct its agencies to work with them so as to accelerate the work.
Source: tribuneonlineng.com
