If you look at what is happening today with the birth of the electric car and all the technology that has gone into the project, it just shows that whether we like it or not, in Nigeria, our revenues from the sale of crude oil will continue to dwindle, year in, year out.
“Last year, electric vehicles or EVs, as they are called, grew by 60 per cent. Japan has more electric car charge points than petrol stations. Both Japan and China are massively investing in the project and encouraging the use of electric cars. And both countries offer subsidies to buyers of electric cars.
“Fairly conservative projections indicate that electric cars will cost less than $20,000 by 2040 and also, by then, 35 per cent of new cars, worldwide will be electric cars. The more frightening implication for oil producing countries like Nigeria is the, far less oil consumption, especially, from the Asian countries that today are our major oil markets”.
The above were the words of the Vice-President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo. It was delivered at the just concluded e-Nigeria 2016 conference held in Abuja. The Vice-President, whether he admits he is a prophet or not, has clearly predicted the future of oil producing nations. Maybe he sees it, since it has been revealed to him, but I personally doubt if many others, who are supposed to be leaders see it. Let me put it succinctly; the future of Nigeria is bleak if we remain focused on oil alone and do not take full advantage of technology.
Let me use this opportunity to, once again, call on the Nigerian states to take technology much more seriously. It gladdens my heart that each year, the government organises an annual technology conference but, it should go beyond mere words to taking decisive and positive action, especially, creating jobs for our teeming unemployed youths. I am glad that the speech by the Director-General of National Information Technology Development Agency, Isa Ibrahim, touched on job creation, using technology. This is important because, when jobs are created, the poor masses, both literates and illiterates, will feel the impact of government.
Ibrahim said: “Job creation is also imperative to us at NITDA. According to the National Bureau of Statistics’ national youth survey report, there are nearly 70 million people in the 15 to 35 age bracket. Unfortunately, they also say that over half of these are unemployed, and much more are underemployed. We recognise that this challenge gives us an excellent opportunity to use ICT to empower our youth, create jobs and — Finish Reading on the Punch Website
