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Just as Adiele is building a dredger for N8 million in his little corner on the street, thousands of technicians like him in Aba are also into the fabrication of all kinds of industrial machines.
Godson Emeka, a 31-year-old graduate of Electrical Engineering from the Rivers State University of Science and Technology is challenging any investor to drop N800, 000 and he will come up with an innovation that will solve the country’s persistent electricity problem.
Emeka specialises in the construction of power factor systems and industrial controls but he has also constructed industrial food driers and other industrial machines for clients.The money he is asking for, is to develop a prototype for a generator that will run on improvised hydro system.
The 100 percent renewable energy technology will work by water pressure that turns an improved turbine, not the usual ones in the market. This particular turbine will have much more accelerated speed. The turbine will turn as water falls on it through a water jet from an overhead tank. As the water rotates the turbine, it will turn the alternator to generate electricity. The water from the overhead tank will quickly deplete but a pump coupled to the turbine will take the water back to the overhead tank from the underground tank. The water loss during this movement will be compensated through an interval refill from the underground water system. According to Emeka, this technology can run nonstop for over 50 years.
“The 800k is just to develop a prototype to demonstrate that this will work but the project itself will cost a lot of money,” Emeka says. Askedwhat is the guarantee that this will work, he says “If I see an investor who is willing to take a risk, for him it is a risk but for me it is not really a risk. I will guarantee 100 percent on this and if there is something like one million percent I will guarantee.”
Emeka is currently working on industrial fish drier for a local company in Aba. Machine fabrication in Aba is so vast that most businesses in the town use the machines fabricated by the local technicians. Emeka is suggesting that if there is a database that showcases the machines that can be manufactured in Aba and the contacts of the manufacturers, it will help to increase the visibility of thousands of technicians in the town who are looking for clients.
“That we still patronise foreign-made products is a deliberate choice, not that we can’t do it here,” he says. He argues that the machines designed and produced in Aba are simpler and more durable than the foreign machines which may be complex and their parts may not be readily available.
He explains that the most important thing about any technology is to understand how it works and then produce local technology that will get the job done. He adds that if Nigeria continues to depend on existing technologies without producing its own, it will never
***Part of a post published in icirnigeria.org the website of the International Centre for Investigative Reporting (ICIR)
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