Cruising in Kano-made solar-powered tricycle

Few days into the commencement of the Kano International Trade Fair, Mallam Ahmed, a solar technology expert based in Hotoro area of Kano State drove a solar powered tricycle he manufactured using locally-sourced materials to the venue located behind the Ado Bayero Mall.During his trip to the Trade Fair ground from his base, about 4 […]

Few days into the commencement of the Kano International Trade Fair, Mallam Ahmed, a solar technology expert based in Hotoro area of Kano State drove a solar powered tricycle he manufactured using locally-sourced materials to the venue located behind the Ado Bayero Mall.
During his trip to the Trade Fair ground from his base, about 4 kilometres distance, Ahmed who is popularly known as ISMAH, an acronym of his name, created a scene as people trooped to have a glimpse of the locally made tricycle.
The arrival of the solar technologist to the fair was heralded by the sound of a siren he built into the tricycle. Throughout his days at the fair, there was no dull moment as patrons of the trade fair struggled for a ride in the novel vehicle.
Painted in the colours of Nigeria’s flag, the tricycle is built with plywood on three bicycle tyres with a long iron rod that made it a proper three-wheeler.  With a solar panel on top of its cover, the tricycle, unlike the foreign-made ones, works without using petroleum or diesel. It is powered by solar panels.
At his residence in the Hotoro area of Kano State, Ahmed gave our correspondent  a ride on the solar-powered tricycle.  Even though it was around 8.pm, the tricycle worked with the energy it had conserved during the day.
The tricycle, like any other, has headlights, steering, handbrake, throttle (made with sewing machine motor) for acceleration and a windscreen even if it has no side mirror. Unlike a normal tricycle, it can only accommodate the driver and one passenger due to its size.
 At his workshop, our correspondent saw many children having a glimpse of the solar-powered tricycle. In the area, the source of power in some houses was solar, courtesy of Malam Ahmad.
Born on the 15th of September 1950, Ahmad started his education at the Rimi City Primary School and went to the Kano Educational Development Centre (KEDC) in 1969 and graduated in 1974.
On graduation, he was employed as a store keeper at the Women Teachers’ College (WTC), Kano. From there, he joined BEMCO Construction Company as an internal auditor. It was while he was at the company that he started acquiring the rudiments of construction world.
Not too long, he left BEMCO and joined another indigenous construction company known as Ado Yau Construction Company as a General Manager.
“As the GM of the company, I was saddled with the responsibility of recruiting experts  from the Philippines and Japan,” he said.
After working at the company for a few years, he resigned and travelled to the United Kingdom, a trip that gave him the opportunity to have formal education in engineering.
“I enrolled into Elephant and Castle polytechnic in London for a diploma in Electrical Engineering but unfortunately I couldn’t complete the programme because of 105 pounds. In the course of my studies in the UK, I travelled to Japan where I learned about solar technology,” he said.
Ahmed said he however returned to the country when his aged father asked him do so in order to take over his block factory in Kano State.
“It was shortly after I returned to the country around 1985 that I lost my dad. And after few years, I could no longer manage his block factory, so I started utilising the skills I learnt abroad here in the country,” he said.
Ahmed took the solar-powered tricycle to display at the trade fair to let the world know that Nigerians are creative too. “When I heard the announcement about the commencement of the Trade Fair, I manufactured the tricycle. It took me only two weeks and I only spent about N100, 000 to make it functional,” he said.
Lamenting the lack of support by the government, he said his plan is to use his solar power knowledge to address the problems of power and unemployment in the country.
“ I want to train our youth on solar power technology using locally sourced materials to reduce unemployment and address the power supply challenge,” he said.
Before he made the tricycle, Ahmad said he has produced a solar-powered motor using scraps of a vehicle.
“I did not take the solar powered vehicle to the trade fair because the scrap was foreign and not mine. But the tricycle materials are sourced locally,” he said.
With the support of government, he said, he could mass-produce the solar-powered tricycle for the benefit of the whole country.