I saw this on my way to Isolo on Sunday and so this ingenious creation done by a Nigerian. This Amphibian Jet Car was made by Durojaiye Kehinde Obasanjo, a native of Ijaye in
Abeokuta, Ogun State, an entrepreneur and inventor
READ HIS INTERVIEW WITH PM NEWS BELOW
What actually motivated you into the Amphibian Jet Project?
I
was inspired by creative integrity because right from my childhood I
always take any toy, unscrew and then assembled them back gracefully. I
will just say it is that love for creativity that inspired me and hence
the idea.
For how long have you been on the project?
I
have been doing this right from my childhood, my parents are witness to
that, even before I started my primary education, I had produced moving
objects with used Bournvita, milk cans.
Why did you decide to build this amphibian jet that is different from the normal ones?
I
will not definitely call it a different project, but just to exceed the
normal buildings. The concept of the amphibian jet is to move on land,
sea and air, and we have achieved moving on land and sea. The parts used
for this project is locally fabricated by me here in Nigeria and most
of the materials used for the project are the materials that you can
source in Nigeria.
What are the materials used for the project?
They
are the normal materials that can be easily sourced in here, especially
in Ajaokuta. We have the plastics, woods, all fabricated here in
Nigeria. I will tell you that the project is 70 per cent locally made in
terms of the materials used.
How long will it take you to complete this project?
If
not for financial difficulties, it would have taken me three months to
build but because of the constraint, let me put it at six months.
What was your budget when you were designing this?
Precisely,
I will not say I budgeted a certain amount, but I made up my mind that
money would not really stop me, so I was picking materials from the
junkyard and some were bought. If I had the raw materials and funds for
this project, you would have seen something perfect and I am using this
opportunity to tell Nigerians that my aim is to make sure that Nigeria
is the first country in the world to start mass production of this
project. No country has ever mass produced this type of project. We have
the potential and the finance.
How much will it take you to build one?
With
regards to producing a prototype that moves on land, sea and air, which
will cost N10 million. If it is just for the land and sea alone, that
would cost N2.5 million. But the mass production of this prototype is
just N250,000.
Have you made any effort to seek government assistance?
Yes.
I had made several moves. The Lagos State Commissioner for
Transportation, Kayode Opeifa, promised to see me after using this jet
during the re-election bid for Governor Fashola. I am still hanging on
to his promise. I did inform the Governor of Ogun State, Ibikunle
Amosun, but he is yet to respond to my proposal.
In 1990, General
Ibrahim Babangida visited the project, later in 1995, the Federal
Government sent a letter of commendation and promised to get in touch,
but till now, I am yet to get any backing from any government.
My
only mission now is to make sure the project is finalised and then an
official display will follow where government parastatals and foreigners
would be invited, but what I need is funds to actualise this project.
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Thanks for blogging this. I took some pictures of the car too and mean to blog something at www.UpNaira.blogspot.com about the same. Met the guy. Like the talent. By the way, anybody tested the thing? Video?
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