With it estimated that by 2050 one quarter of all carbon emissions will come from jet fuel the world is now moving towards electric aeroplanes

By Ayo Akinfe

(1) Taking time to reflect on the recent debacle of Boris Johnson being elected prime minister with Brexit as the issue, it is clear that the UK and the US have the same problem. They are fast being left behind by new world powers like China and India, so want to recreate their pasts, hence this crazy obsession with xenophobia, right wing nationalism and isolationism

(2) When a nation says it wants “to be great again” it is an admission that its best days are behind it. Rather than look for innovative ways to catch up, nostalgia sets in. In the UK they think they can return to the Rule Britannia era, while in the US, Trumpists are under the illusion that we can go back to World War Two when American truck, aircraft, ship, tank, etc production dwarfed that of the rest of the globe put together

(3) Nobody symbolises this nostalgia for history more than Benito Mussolini, the former fascist prime minister of Italy. Mussolini died a broken and bitter man as he just wanted to recreate the old Roman Empire. As a result, he dragged an unwilling and reluctant nation into war with disastrous consequences. Italians had no stomach for World War Two but alas, they lost 200,000 souls due to one man’s megalomania. Mussolini was shot for treason by Italian partisans and his body hung upside down for public display and ridicule. He achieved none of his dreams

(4) I can see Donald Trump and Boris Johnson dragging the world and their nations into that kind of madness as they have no answer to the incessant growth of new economic giants. They really kind of believe that they can bring back the era of coal, steel, ship building and the steam engine. Sadly, their nationalistic, isolationist and xenophobic rhetoric finds fertile ground in their industrial rust belts where people long for a return to the era of full employment

(5) In life, the only thing that is constant is change. Historically, empires have always risen and fallen, with new kids on the block emerging to replace the old titans, Ancient Egypt, the Roman Empire, the Mongolian Empire, etc all had their day. They are now history and the US and UK simply have to come to terms with the reality that their time is up

(6) Germany and Japan appear to have both conceded that the status they enjoyed after World War Two was temporary. They admit that now, they are playing catch up. China’s economy of $15trn is about three times the size of that of Germany or Japan and by 2030 the Chinese will overtake the US as the world’s largest economy

(7) India’s GDP of $3.16trn is already bigger than that of the UK, France, Canada or Italy as it is clear that the old order is changing. To join the bandwagon, new nations like Brazil, Malaysia, Indonesia, Mexico, etc are fast coming up with new innovations that will propel them into the top 10. This is where Nigeria simply needs to be. Looking back with nostalgia at the First Republic is not the way forward. We need to face the future

(8) Do you know that China alone currently has more patents than the European Union put together? When I look at the way people are coming up with ideas that will blow your head away, I ask when will my people wake up from their self-induced slumber? We are now moving towards an era of electronic automobiles and aircraft globally, so have to ask ourselves if we want to be part of that journey or if all we are interested in is personal material wealth, Owambes and going to heaven

(9) At this year’s Paris Airshow, Israeli firm Eviation unveiled an electronic plane which is setting the tone for the aircraft of the future. This electric plane named Alice can carry nine passengers for up to 1,040km at 10,000ft at 440km an hour and is expected to enter service in 2022. By 2050, who knows, electric aircraft may have become the norm. I trust the Chinese, Indians, Malaysians, Indonesians, Brazilians, etc will be working round the clock on this

(10) Right, here is my challenge to 200m Nigerians. Can one of you come up with a unique electric aircraft engine that can fly at 20,000 feet over 10,000km at a speed of 2,000km an hour. If we can patent such an engine, just imagine the way it will radically alter the Nigerian economy. If Nigeria were the aerospace capital of the world, rather than the poverty capital of the world, we would not have widespread corruption, Boko Haram, Fulani herdsmen, non-stop vigils, faith houses on every street corner, child marriages, Almajiris, etc. Imagination is what will lift Nigeria out of poverty, not relying on Aso Rock for redemption or expecting redemption from above