Nigeria should not only pioneer but have a monopoly of the tropical facemask market on which we manufacture products with inbuilt air conditioning systems

By Ayo Akinfe

(1) Historically, periods of crisis are times when man is at his innovative best. This coronavirus pandemic is no different and shame on 200m Nigerians if they do not use it as an opportunity to introduce new products to humanity

(2) During World War One, the British gave is the battle tank by building an armoured shield around a tractor. Since then, the battle tank has gone on to become the main feature of offensive warfare

(3) During World War Two, man just went crazy. The innovations we saw with the manufacture of assault rifles, fighter jets, bombers, submarines, aircraft carriers, missiles, etc just blew one’s head away. Eventually, this culminated in the production of the atomic bomb and the launch of the nuclear era

(4) With Covid-19 raging, there are certain countries you just know will come out of it with a raft of inventions to cash in on the changes the virus brought about. I trust Germany, Japan, The US, China, France and India in particular to use this crisis to show off their creativity

(5) We will see new medical equipment, new apps that allow to do more online, a new range of vaccines, instant testing kits, innovative protective equipment, etc. Human beings simply do not fall asleep at times like this

(6) Now, my challenge to the world’s largest black nation is what will be your contribution to humanity during this crisis? Why have we not cornered any tropical angle on this virus and made it our forte?

(7) Nigeria should be the centre for the manufacturing of tropical facemasks that cone with inbuilt air conditioning systems which make them comfortable to wear in the heat. Several Nigerian manufacturers should have patented the product by now and be selling it all over the tropics. In Africa alone we could sell about 500m a year

(8) By now, we should also be examining the prospect of manufacturing tropical PPE, mobile air conditioned ICU units, solar-powered ventilators, etc. This is not the time for the Nigerian brain to freeze

(9) I can now see what Obasanjo was trying to achieve with Transcorp. He wanted a Nigerian industrial conglomerate that would be able to cash in on situations like this and manufacture products as demanded. Unfortunately, his initiative came before its time. Spoilt by decades of crude oil-fuelled imports, intellectually lazy and pampered Nigerians were not prepared to engage in manufacturing anything, so just ignored Transcorp

(10) Going forward, Nigeria either revives Transcorp, privatises the NNPC and turns it into an industrial conglomerate, our rich general overseer clergymen form a Man of God Plc, Dangote/Otedola/Adenugba/Alakija dramatically expand their industrial concerns or Innoson Motors enters into a major partnership with a global industrial giant. Something needs to give as this comatose state of affairs is totally unacceptable. We are once again snoring while the rest of humanity is accelerating ahead