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LAGOS electronics and computer engineering graduate Durojaiye Obasanjo has completed work on his amphibious jet invention which he hopes will be mass-produced and catapult Nigeria into the league of manufacturing nations.
Estimating that his autocraft will cost a couple of million naira to produce, Mr Obasanjo, a Lagos State University graduate, believes that among other things, it will help solve Nigeria's internal transportation crisis. Most of Nigeria's roads are in a terrible state of disrepair due to poor maintenance, leading to a high number of accidents and chronic traffic jams across the country.
Mr Obasanjo said: "Now that we have achieved the one that can move on the land and sea, I will suggest that we use that one to develop our economy first. To mass produce it globally, it will cost Nigeria between N2.5bn (£9.28m) to N2.8bn (£10.39m) to put us on the track of mass production but if I want to build a standard one, that will cost only a few million naira.
According to Mr Obasanjo, former military leader General Ibrahim Babangida visited his Ibadan workshop in 1995 when he was still working on the project. He added that although the federal government has sent a letter of commendation and promised to get in touch with him, he has not received any support so far.
Mr Obasanjo added: “Everything I do today is borne out of my creative dexterity. I looked at how developed countries have moved up in technology and I was sad that my country is still crawling when others are flying.
“I have all the pictures that I took with the former military president, General Ibrahim Babangida, when he visited my workshop in 1995. As of that time, I had built a device that could move on land and fly at the same time and right now, this project is called an amphibian jet, designed to move on land, fly in the air and move on the sea."
Although also from Abeokuta, Mr Obasanjo is not related to the former president who bears the same name as him and has had no contact with his namesake on the project. Only the Cherry Noodles Company has supported him so far after some of their representatives saw him driving his autocraft in Lagos.
He added: "Right now, it can only move on land and on the sea and I personally drove it on the sea towards the Third Mainland Bridge in Lagos. It moves by the means of aerodynamics, which is the flying engine that I built locally.”
Mr Obasanjo added that the device is being driven by very simple engineering and could be operated by everyone. He has driven the jet from Lagos to Ibadan where other road users were amazed and paved way for him.
Mr Obasanjo added that the device is being driven by very simple engineering and could be operated by everyone. He has driven the jet from Lagos to Ibadan where other road users were amazed and paved way for him.
In addition, about 70% of the materials used in its construction are locally made, including the aluminium, plastic and wood. It is both solar and petrol powered and when using solar energy, it can moves at 40km an hour, while when using petrol it travels at a speed of 120km on land and 140km an hour on sea.
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