Recently updated on February 15th, 2022 at 05:05 am
Nigerians, Work And Dignity! By Ogunkayode Oluwaseyi Simeon
One day e go better! E go better!
Yeah, I’m proud to be in Nigeria and proud to be a Nigerian. I’m Ogunkayode Oluwaseyi Simeon by nomenclature, and I am a 500 level student (finalist) of the University of Ilorin, Materials and Metallurgical Engineering student, and I’m here to tell you about the vision, nature, the relevance and impact of my work to humanity. Nigeria is the giant of Africa, and I wan yarn you wetin this my work eh, as e go take benefit human being so. I no just dey do work say make e just dey. How will it benefit human beings?
The vision of my course is to see to the maximum utilization of various engineering materials. Many materials have been bequeathed to us by nature and it is expedient unto us that we make proper use of these materials. For instance, you walk on the street, you see ceramics, you see sand, uhm, you see metal scraps, you see various things. How well do we use these materials? It’s one thing to have something, and it is another thing to make use of it well. So, make I con yarn you now the categories of material engineering we have. We have the;
- Metals
- Non metals
- Composite
- Ceramics
- Polymers
These are materials we see everywhere in us. So, how do we use it? Do we just leave it there to rot? We need to make proper use of it. So, that is the Material aspect of my course.
Then, the Metallurgical aspect, we are able to look at the effective extraction and processing of the minerals we have. Like in Nigeria, we have coal found in Enugu state, we have tin found in Jos, we have Gold, we have Gypsum, we have Banite, we have Marble, we have various forms of minerals.
How well do we use these materials?
Then, the nature of my job, is to ensure the structural reliability of materials. Materials can be used in components as small as your gas cooker in your home, it makes use of materials like steam, so, when we now talk of buildings, it makes use of materials. That’s why there is need for test. We do torsional test, we do compressional test, we do bending test and various other tests, just to ensure that we know the maximum, the minimum, the mid service load and also know any form of load that we want to know a material possess. We carry out test, by carrying out these, we are able to specify to those that will construct it. For instance, the civil engineer on a construction field, he is not involved in carrying out the tests to know the load, we are the ones to give it to the civil engineer; this is the test, this is what you need.
That is what my course, you know, the nature of what my course is, and my course is very relevant in the like of structural failures in Nigeria. For instance, the one that happened in March, in Tafaji Lagos Island, Lagos state, South-west Nigeria, killed over 20 primary school students. It is because there was no structural integrity, so my work has a lot of impact for humanity because it will help us a whole lot in ensuring structural integrity. For instance, if it has been well specified that it is 60 kilo-newton that a building should have, and a building agent whom they call a ‘developer’ now says I want it to be 90 kilo-newton, we’ve done our job as a materials engineer. So therefore, it will help because the ISO (International Standard Organization) has specified standard for material. So if it is well followed, Nigeria will be a very great place, there will be protection of lives and property.
Then from the metallurgical angle, you know, when Nigerians extract minerals, this issue of diversification, it will really help because there was a time in Nigeria in the ‘70s and ‘60s when Nigeria made a whole lot from this mineral resources, we can get there, we can do it, we can achieve it, if you dream it, you can believe it.
Naija will be better, Naija can be better and it will be better in our time, and we will have a great to bequeath to our generations yet unborn.
Yes! Yes! Yes!
Click here for the Video Presentation
Ogunkayode Oluwaseyi Simeon
My name is Ogunkayode, Oluwaseyi Simeon. I grew up in Lagos Island, Lagos. I attended my Primary School in St. Mary’s Private School, Adele, JSS in Falomo Jnr. High School, Ikoyi and SSS in King’s College, all in Lagos State.
Currently, I am an undergraduate student (500 level) of the department of Materials and Metallurgical Engineering at the University of Ilorin (UNILORIN).
My hobbies include: reading, singing, rapping, inspirational talks, writing, relaxing with those around me, meeting new people, etc.
Ogunkayode Oluwaseyi Simeon emerged the overall winner of the 2019 PositiveNaija video event, themed: Nigerians, Work & Dignity!
*The transcribing of the video presentation was done by Courage Iroegbute.
