While Nigeria is still busy self-destructing itself with ethnic and religious bigotry and the government unaware of what to do with the huge human and material resources in the country, Dubai has moved to the next level with the launch of the world’s first self-flying taxi at the Jumeirah Beach Park in Dubai, United Arab Emirates on Tuesday September 26, 2017.
The Autonomous Air Taxi (AAT) of Dubai was the brainchild of Dubai’s Road and Transport Authority (RTA). According to Dubai Media Office, the two-seater AAT, capable of transporting people without human intervention or a pilot, has been supplied by Volocopter, a Germany-based specialist manufacturer of automated air vehicles. The AAT, expected to be put into use in the fourth quarter, is powered by electricity and is highly safe. Its design comprises 18 rotors to ensure secure cruising and landing in case of any rotor failure, said RTA.
“It is environment-friendly as it is powered by clean electricity, and it has very little noise. It has a maximum flight time of approximately 30 minutes at a speed of 50 km per hour, and a maximum air speed of 100 km per hour,” according to RTA. “After the remarkable success of the first driverless metro in the region, we are glad to witness today the test flight of the Autonomous Air Taxi,” said Crown Prince of Dubai Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed Bin Rashid Al-Maktoum. “This is another proof of our commitment to positive change. We are constantly exploring opportunities to serve the community and advance the prosperity and happiness of society,” he added.
A public analyst who spoke to our reporter on the development said, “It is sad that Nigeria is fast moving backwards when the rest of the world is moving in the opposite direction. I am impressed with the broad-minded leaders Dubai is blessed with. Not the sort we have in Nigeria that are not nationalist by nature.
How can a country this blessed be using ethnicity and religion to judge determine who gets into what position over and above competence? Look at the massive achievements in Dubai…most of the infrastructure are built by non-UAE indigenes. Now look at the latest self-driving taxi, it is built by the Germans. Here we are busy saying Igbo, Yoruba and Hausa as if these are the only ethnic groups in Nigeria. It is a sad story because with every government that comes to power in Nigeria, the people will hope for a better improvement but at the end they end up worse than the previous.
“Infrastructure development in any progressive-minded country is not distributed based on tribal sentiments, it is not distributed by religious linen. But look at Nigeria, trying to revive the rail lines but completely blacklists the South-East region. That is not a government of justice or one that wants to develop Nigeria. Myopism is killing Nigeria because those that have led and are still leading Nigeria are myopic.”
