A young Nigerian man identified as Abdulmumin Adinoyi Taofiq has further proven that Nigeria is home to lots of talented people.
The student of Federal University of Technology Minna builds airframe structures, mini aircraft and teach people how to create the flying objects.
Speaking with Muse.ng, Taofiq said his passion for flying started stronger when he was 10 years old.
How it all started
He said he started building airframe structures that are airworthy enough for tools to be integrated into them for them to be called drones back in November 2020.
In his words: “But I won’t say that I have actually manufactured a real drone as such since I lacked the necessary tools for that back then.
“As at October/November 2021, I designed a fixed drone prototype for a small research team which I belong to at the Federal University of Technology Minna. It was a V-tail fixed wing UAV prototype that is capable of long-distance autonomous flights, and carry an extra payload of up to 1kg.
“It is currently undergoing some tests before being put to use by the team. So, I can say that that’s the first real drone I have designed.”
According to Taofiq, he has always been interested in flying objects including birds ever since he was a child and he has always had the dream of flying someday.
He said: “My passion for flying started growing stronger when I was 10 years old, I was in primary four back then, I watched a movie where an ultralight aircraft was used, and since then, I wanted to build my own airplane and have a flying experience.
“Still at that stage, I would draw plans and blueprints that I want my airplane to look like, and tell people that I want to build it. Many people will see it as a near impossible dream.
“Many people would laugh, some would encourage me and tell me to keep on chasing my dreams. I didn’t give up. As time passed, I read more books and watched more movies about aircrafts, and I grew my knowledge and understanding of the principles behind flying aircrafts.
I would craft small airplane with different materials to apply any new thing I’ve learnt, with the hope that it would fly, but I always get disappointed when it doesn’t. But I didn’t lose hope, I kept on studying and experimenting.
According to the young talented man, the trial and error continued until he was able to get something right and made his first mini aircraft that attempted to fly in 2018.
He said: “I was so joyous about the results. I found out what I was missing all this while to make things work.
“Due to financial issues, I was unable to get the necessary tools and materials to put my knowledge to a full test, but I kept on building airworthy airplanes just for fun until 2020, when I got all I needed as a gift from a friend, and I was able to build my first miniature remote control airplane that actually flew and landed all from the controls from my fingertips. It was one of the best experiences I’ve ever had.”
He is inspiring many
The Kogi State indigene and student of Agricultural and Bioresources Engineering has been inspiring many people with his work.
In his words: “I have come across many people who picked interest straight up after seeing my works, and I have been told directly by lots of people about how my tech skills inspired them. Not only in the aeronautics field, but in other areas of tech, which I also work on.
“I can say that my works have positively inspired lots of people, both young and old, to pick interest in similar fields, and science in general.”
Taofiq taught himself all of this
The talented young man said most of what he knows about technology and aeronautics was not learnt from school.
He said: “Most of my skills were self-learned and self-developed. I got asked this question many times by people, if I learned all those in school, or if I went to technical school, and they were always surprised that I didn’t go to technical school, or learned any of it in the classroom.”
Taofiq said he is happy that drones are utilised in Nigeria and that the number of drone users are growing rapidly both in the military and within the civilian population.
In his words: “I am happy that Nigerians are being exposed to the various business opportunities that the drone market offers.”
He said he is impressed that the number of people who have experience of drones is growing at a very good rate.
In his words: “What is needed now is more education and enlightenment about the usage and working principles of drones to avoid abuse and misconceptions.”
He offers free training
Taofiq said he offers free training on the basics of Aeromodelling, Aerodynamics, Flying lessons and more.
In his words: “In fact, there are lots of people currently undergoing free training and lessons from me. And I have also written several articles about aircrafts that are yet to be published.”
He advised people who aspire to go into technology field not to give up, adding that technology is the future of the world.
According to Taofiq, every new global development is rooted in technology. He said advancement in tech leads to breakthrough in all other fields.
In his words: “Fields such as medicines, journalism, banking, and even politics and arts in general have shown the employment of technological innovations over the years, and the advancement following that is very obvious.
“So, I can say that if you are willing to go into the tech industry, you won’t regret it, as you will be able to apply it anywhere.”
