A Middle East war will certainly lead to a rise in oil prices which will in turn accelerate the global move towards electric cars. Nigeria needs to view this conflict as a last chance to join the train

Ayo Akinfe

[1] We appear not to have got the message in Nigeria yet but fossil fuels is old school. As we proceed into the 21st century, man is weaning himself of fossil fuels like crude oil and coal

[2] With a full scale Middle East war looming, global crude oil prices will spike. Europe and America will respond to this rise with an aggressive electric vehicle manufacturing programme so they do not have to pay this increase

[3] With a population of 200m, Nigeria actually has an inbuilt advantage when it comes to producing renewable energy. With waste-to-power for instance, 200m people generate a lot of waste and offer a massive head start

[4] We also have an 853km Atlantic coastline, which offers openings for a windmill farm. I would like us to make a statement by opening the world’s latest wind farm

[5] In the far northern fringes of Nigeria, we are encroaching on the Sahel, with its abundant sunlight that makes solar farms a delight

[6] We should aim to make Nigeria the biggest manufacturer of electric cars globally by say 2035. Our approach should be to woo every single automobile manufacturer on the planet to come and open a plant in Nigeria

[7] Electric cars have one drawback though, which we need to address. Filling them up takes about two hours compared with the 10 minutes at the petrol pump

[8] This is where Nigeria needs to steal a march and fill the vacuum. If we come up with a device to enable motorists charge their cars in 10 minutes as they can do at the petrol pumps, we have come up with a licence to print money

[9] Globally, presidential elections are rallying points where debates like this are thrashed out but sadly in Nigeria, our campaign is bereft of ideas. No one is even debating the issues. I look forward to electric cars becoming a central issue in Nigeria’s 2027 election campaign

[10] Just imagine if a company like Innoson Motors manufactures and patents a device that enables you to fill up your electric car within 10 minutes. If Nigeria sold this all around the world, it would end our lazy dependence on crude oil. I challenge every Nigerian to come up with a solution. Maybe we should organise a national device contest

ayoakinfe@gmail.com