Videos | ? Latest |
|
? Feature | ? Sports | ? Your Videos |
A Nigerian worker has built a vehicle from old car parts and scrap metal, which he hopes can compete favorably against other international models sold in the country.
Cruising on the streets of Lagos, the "Rock Auto" is a strange looking vehicle to many but it runs more or less like any other car.
Capable of reaching speeds of up to 100 kilometers per hour, the car's creator, Sunday Okpere, says it is also capable of navigating the city's pot holes and flooded roads during the rainy season just like many other vehicles.
Okpere says his interest in building vehicles began when he was a child, making toy cars from discarded tins and wires for his friends at school. Decades later, he decided to unveil his first moving vehicle.
Sunday Okpere said, "There are a lot of things in my brain, because what I am thinking of now is how to build a car for the masses, that will be cheap transport, that is the main thing."
The automobile is the pride of many Nigerians, often attracting fans eager to pose next to it for photos when it is parked on the street.
Kenneth Osakwe, Lagos resident, said, "This one doesn't have a price, when you see that somebody can develop something like this, it is our pride."
The Rock Auto runs on a Peugeot engine. Okpere says he could not raise funds to build his own engine. The rest of the car is made up of discarded material and scrap metal collected from dumpsites.
Okpere says the Rock Auto is just the beginning.