General Motors (GM) designer and Sokoto State-born Jelani Aliyu has been blazing the trail as a designer of state-of-the-art cars, contributing to the success of the American car-brand. In this interview with PEMBI DAVID-STEPHEN, he talks about the positives he has drawn from his Nigerian roots to create his unique designs and his innate desire to create an indigenous technology and the need for the nation to solve her problems through collective effort.
As a Nigerian with a lot of challenges, how did you achieve success?
My background as a Nigerian, with a lot of challenges, helped me a lot. I used what many prefer to call ‘challenges’ to my advantage. I saw that as an advantage and that is what is helping me in my career. It has helped me to be unique, and these are the things that give me ideas of unique designs. As a student, my designs were unique because of my background. As a professional, it is no difference.
We don’t need to place emphasis on the problems or challenges we have; we can change our situations and inspire ourselves to solve our problems. It is not about what we don’t have, it is about finding solutions. Being a Nigerian is never a disadvantage, it is an advantage. This understanding makes us unique.
To this end, I can say that my Nigerian background has contributed, to a large extent, the nature of my designs. Generally speaking, we are creative people. All you need do is listen to our kind of music, watch our movies and speak to a swath of our young people and that conclusion will not be difficult to arrive at.
It is believed that the North is a bit disadvantaged in a number of ways. As a northerner who is celebrated in your field, what is your thought about technological development in the North?
The interesting thing about technology in the North and, actually, all over the country, is that as Africans we have had our technologies for hundreds of years; technologies which suit our way of life and environment. The thing is that, over the last couple of decades, we have forgotten our own technologies and we haven’t been really able to achieve the Western-styled technological applications. We have a lot of work to do in terms of bringing back our own technologies, the ones which suit us. For example, I keep saying that hundreds of years or even 50 years ago, a lot of the homes were made of mud. If you go to some villages now, the mud-homes have been re-made to keep the heat out with thatched roofs and this is perfect for Northern Nigeria. Also, we now have homes made of bricks and tin roofs which get so hot that you can only be comfortable with the use of air conditioners (which many people cannot afford). So, howdo we bring back our old technology to merge it with new technology to create affordable solutions that we can use every day?
How much are you using your knowledge to deal with the situation?
Personally, I’ll inspire people to know and help them understand all the new opportunities out there, so that they can venture into new careers like ICT and renewable energy. Once we begin to get our people and youths into these crucial careers, then we will begin to come up with solutions that will help the region and the nation in general. The important thing is effective education into the most advanced technologies and we have people who are talented; people who can easily go into these fields.
The North is behind in terms of education and there is a huge disconnect as a result of the insurgency. What do you see in this?
I always see opportunity in the North, try to picture what can be and what cannot. What I see is greatness. We have so much talent within, everyone is talented.
You see, everyone is born with a talent, but some know what the talent is while others don’t. What we need to do is identify each and every person’s talent and then work on developing those talents. The bottom-line remains that there is so much potential and, with a little bit of support, we can achieve tremendous results.
So much is being left undone in the country; infrastructural decay, technological and educational backwardness. Do you see Nigeria competing with the rest of the world in terms of science and technology?
Actually, I do. The important thing that is happening is the advent of information communication technology (ICT) as a level playing field. Someone once said that “if you take an individual in New York and another individual in a remote village in Nigeria, give them the same type of connectivity, the same strength computer, they will perform the same.” What I am saying by this is that ICT is leveling the playing field and, in a way, has made it much more affordable than the deployment of technology, say 50 years ago. We can do that more easily now and connect to any village. With just the right commitment, we can educate students wherever they may be, using the internet and satellite.
We have the opportunity now to turn the tables and really begin to move Nigeria forward. We can empower each and every young Nigerian to achieve our best. This is the time for us to do that, so we should take this opportunity by working with Nigerians in Nigeria, Nigerians outside of Nigeria and the international community, as well as countries willing and ready to work with us to move our nation forward.
Have you come up with any scheme to include these indigenous ideas which you promote?
Personally, what I am already doing is working with a number of young people who have shown talents in design, which is primarily my field. So, I am working with them to identify schools that they can go to study.
The next step is getting the support of the various state governments in helping these individuals get sponsorship to study in these foreign universities. More importantly, I am ready and committed to work with any group within Nigeria to help set up industrial design curriculum in tertiary institutions, to begin to get our youths into this field which deals with understanding the problems people face every day and proffering solutions to them.
With my background in industrial design, I am willing and ready to work with all committed bodies in seeing that we translate that knowledge to Nigerians.
Where do you want to see Nigeria in the next 5 or 10 years, technologically?
At the apex, most definitely. I would like Nigeria to be seen as one of the most advanced civilisations on earth; not just any advanced civilization, but an advanced economy that also takes environmentalconsciousness into account.
As Africans, we have lived close to nature for millennia, so we need to preserve what Africa is in terms of living in harmony with nature and bringing in modern technology at the same time. We can achieve thisfine balance, because of our identity, our history and our heritage of being close to the environment.
There is a global move for everything that is green now, some sort of environmental consciousness. But we are already environmentally conscious, sustainable and have learnt to reside and work without wasting too much energy. As the world is now turning back to live in harmony with nature, we never lost that. Africa is in a good position to take advantage of this global movement and be the pioneer of environmental initiatives.
How do you think this can be achieved?
The most important thing is education, to make sure that every child, boy or girl has access to quality education. If we can’t build physical schools in every little cottage, village and hamlet, how do we take that education to them? We may take advantage of the wireless option or use the Internet.
We also have to start looking at creating solutions that will empower us to educate each and every child. Also, we need to inculcate the philosophy and psyche of success, so that, irrespective of orientation, identity, region or country, achieving success will be a common denominator. We need to help people navigate through success by finding out what schools people can go to study the appropriate course and what immediate family members can do to support boarding students.
We need to identify people’s talents and help them grow. Like I said earlier, everybody is talented. All we need to do is understand what those talents are and work on them.
Our schools in the North, particularly, seem to be unsafe at the moment, given the attacks here and there. What measures do you think we can use to secure our schools?
Like I said, it is our collective responsibility as Nigerians to find solutions to the challenges we have at present. We have to come together as a people, irrespective of our tribe or region, to understand that we have a challenge in whatever sector it may be, before deciding that we need solutions. Only then can we come together to make any sense.
Any society or country that has developed did so, because the individuals took responsibility. So the individual Nigerian must take responsibility towards the development and enhancement of this nation. The responsibility doesn’t lie in the hands of just a few people, any one group or authority. The solutions to the nation’s challenges have to begin individually and then collectively.
What message do you have for Nigerians?
We have come from great cultures, we have a great history and we have had great empires and kingdoms. We need to bring that magic of old back into the modern world. We are a great people with a lot of wisdom, virtues and prowess and we cannot forget our identity.
I think, sometimes, we forget who we are. Let us remember what a great people we are and then work collectively, from the Atlantic shorelines in the South through the grasslands of the Middle Belt, all the way to the rolling hills and blue skies of the North.
Yes, we have crude oil, natural gas, raw materials and fertile soil that can be cultivated into hundreds of millions, but the most important that we have is our humanity – that magical inner spirit that glows from within; the spirit which makes us an integral and crucial part of the human civilisation.
We must see ourselves, not just as Nigerians but as members of a global community sharing constructive ideas, inspirations and, together, come up with solutions for the betterment of Nigeria and humanity in general. We are a great people and we can do it.
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