Do we really have the right to demand that we be treated as equals with the rest of humanity when about 80 years after World War Two we are unable to even manufacture basic British and German aircraft?

Ayo Akinfe

[1] If you ask me, there is something fundamentally missing with us Africans as human beings that fails to explain our intellectual laziness

[2] Faced with the constant threat of terrorist attacks, Nigerian munitions manufacturing should be thriving in an unprecedented manner at the moment.

[3] It is a given that during conflicts, countries exceed themselves with engineering and productive ingenuity. During World War Two for instance, all leading edge technology aircraft were mass produced

[4] Can someone please explain to me why some 60 years on, Nigeria is unable to manufacture World War Two aircraft like Spitfires (Britain), Hellcats (US), Hurricanes (Britain), Wildcats (US), Zero (Japan), Messerschmitt 109 (Germany), Mustang (US), Focke-Gulf (Germany), Curtiss P-40 Warhawk (US) or the Mosquito (British)

[5] What should be happening now is that we should be churning out prototypes of bombers, helicopter gun-ships, drones, etc for the Nigerian Air Force, who should then approve the best ones

[6] Then the likes of Innoson Motors and Dangote Industries should be asked to mass-produce these aircraft.

[7] Now, this is how a normal country operates during conflicts. It is standard procedure, which leads me to ask if there is something missing in our human DNA.

[8] As we speak, Ukraine is expanding its military capability. We have been fighting Boko Haram since 2009 and have not managed to manufacture one helicopter gun-ship. This is simply not normal human behaviour

[9] World War Two ended in 1945 and some 79 later, Nigeria cannot even manufacture a basic aircraft like the Spitfire or Messerschmitt 109. Surely that cannot be right

[10] Do we have the moral right to demand that other humans treat us as equals when we are this lacking in initiative?