Date Published: 06/29/10

Go For The Impossible

By Jelani Aliyu 

We must never underestimate the amazing power of human imagination, the ability to envision that which does not yet exist. Every great city, every monument, every historic feat, as it stands for all the world to see, was once pure thought, pure imagination acted upon and brought into reality. 
To imagine is to dream, to dream is to believe in the yet unreal. And when we do dream, it must be big, because to dream small is to totally underestimate the amazing capabilities that lie within each and every one of us.  
 
I was born and grew up in Nigeria, 
Land of the Niger crocodile, 
The Baobab tree, 
And the midday sun, 
Nigeria, 
Where smiles are free 
Like the bright blue sky  
And the beautiful stars of the night. 
 
I grew up in Sokoto, in the northern part of the country, about an hour from the northern border. My parents came from Dogondaji, which is a town about an hour southwest of Sokoto. Growing up was a fascinating experience, the wide open spaces, the bright blue sky and the very closely knit family. Growing up was a lot of fun, very exciting times.  
I have always wanted to be a car designer for as far back as I can remember. I studied Architecture, the closest thing to it in Nigeria, at the Birnin Kebbi Polytechnic. After that I attended the College for creative Studies in Detroit where I studied Transportation Design. When I graduated I got a job with general Motors, I worked at the GM tech Center for about three years and then went on international assignment to Germany for about two years at Opel. Then I came back to the Tech Center and most recently I designed the Chevrolet Volt Electric Car, a vehicle that is crucial not just to GM but to the whole industry and world in general.  
When ever I am in Nigeria, I am fascinated by the people, culture and environment. Nigeria is truly a country endowed with a lot of resources, we have oil, natural gas, cocoa, minerals and fertile soil that could cultivated to feed hundreds of millions, but above all, at our very core, what we have is our humanity, that magical inner spirit that glows from within, that magical inner spirit that makes us an integral and crucial part of the human civilization. This is now more important than ever before, because humanity as a group, (Africans and Europeans, Asians and Americans, humanity in its totality) is on the verge of a major philosophical evolution, an evolution that will dramatically and forever change the very pattern of the human experience. This will be brought about by exponential advances in the sciences, arts and technology, leading to a better and deeper understanding of the human mind and how it works, and also leading to the scientific connection between the human thought process and the man made reality that surrounds us. 
Two significant results of this new way of thinking will be enhanced relationships within humanity and between humanity and the environment. Although pockets of misunderstanding will continue, this being inevitable if not natural, overall and fundamentally, people will learn to live with one another better, we will define ourselves more and more by what brings us together as opposed to what sets us apart. We shall see ourselves as all connected, as all coming from one fundamental source and sharing a common space. 
In respect to the environment, nature will no longer be seen as a force to conquer, but rather, it will be seen as a medium from which to learn, efficiently draw energy from and live in harmony with.  
And when we do observe nature, we see that we live on a truly magical planet, a gigantic orb of life hurtling through space, every where we look around us, we are surrounded by wonders of our natural world, from the tiny leaf only fractions of a millimetre thick and yet a highly efficient factory to the amazing sea rays that glide within the deep waters of the Atlantic, planet earth is a perfect balance of beauty and practicality. That is what I use as inspiration for my designs, and that is what we as Nigerians must use as inspiration to move our country forward. In these days of environmental consciousness, sustainability and renewability, who more environmental than the African, who more sustainable than the Nigerian? 
We must remember our historic roots of closeness to nature and continue to pull our inspiration from it, nature: a magnificent bowl of life full of awe and wonder. As we build our cities, let they be the magnificent manifestations of a people that have inherited and are  
fully endowed with a great respect for the environment. Let those cities bewilder with a dynamic synergy of modernity and conservation of nature. Imagine our cities being the pride and jewel of modernity while upholding the very core of our heritage and our respect for the magnificent natural world around us.  
Taking into account the latest world challenges, developments and intellectual awareness, a deep reflection on where our country stands on the path to development allows us to think alternatively and to see how we can actually use our current position as an advantage. 
It can be intelligently argued that although some of the reasons our nation is still underdeveloped are less than gallant, there is no doubt that being at the stage we find ourselves gives us the opportunity to be at an exciting beginning with no carry over disruptive technologies, this makes us free to adopt the most applicable and efficient new technology for our unique purposes. 
   
That technology that we adopt must be one that is in tune with our culture and environment. A major reason for the failure of a lot of infrastructure and systems in our nation is because they were not fundamentally designed for our applications. It is no surprise that our physical environment is absolutely different from the conceptual birth place of a lot of the technology that finds itself transplanted into our lands. A lot of systems fail in Africa simply because they do not fall within the critical physical and mental patterns that are natural in that environment, not because of an inherent lack of local human support. So, as we progress, it must be with technology that best suits our terrain, climate, psyche and histories. And what better technology than one that builds on that which has been in application for centuries. From time immemorial, Africans have had tools, systems and technologies that have assisted them in their daily lives. These technologies had been developed and evolved over time to be most conducive to our people and environment. For example most of Africa is hot, and historically homes have been built to be comfortable with passive cooling technologies without the need for added energy. In the last couple of decades we have equated progress with completely disregarding and forgetting a lot of our local and very effective technologies. This is not right, we must not dismiss them, but rather, we must take and merge them with applicable new technology to create a contemporary and yet authentic Nigerian solution.  
It is an exciting new world, and we must be strong valuable members of it, we must go for the seemingly impossible and make it reality. We must brave new paths with no fear, we must all come together and courageously strive towards the achievement of all that which will positively and most dynamically impact multiple facets of the Nigerian human experience.  
 
Being text of speech delivered by Jelani Aliyu a US-Based Automobile/Industrial Designer and Developer and Architectural Conceptualist in Ottawa at the NIDO Canada conference.  Jelani designed the famous, world acclaimed Chevvy Volt