As Ford Moves To Introduce DRIVERLESS CARS: 8 Implications For Nigeria

Ford, the US carmaker has announced that in just 5 years, they will begin mass-producing cars that drive themselves. There will be no need for drivers or even steering wheel. You just enter your car, turn on the music and sit back and relax as the car takes you to your chosen destination.

What does this mean for Nigeria? Join me, let’s take a peep into the future.

1. Driving profession will become an endangered species, as more people buy these driverless cars.If drivers are not proactive, unemployment may blossom. (To prevent that, drivers, should start now to learn additional skills like cake making, graphics design, event decoration, etc.)
2. Driving schools will get less and less customers.This will become the case as more Nigerians buy the driverless cars, whether as brand new or as tokunbo. Remember NITEL phone centers? I see one almost every day, and I remember when we had to go there to make calls. Now, you can place your calls even while sittingin the toilet with your own mobile phone. Driving schools should start mapping out strategies to evolve, like selling soft drinks and doughnuts by the side.

Driving schools should not be like many newspapers that didn’t see the handwriting on the wall when they were being told to establish their own blogs. Today what they want to post on Monday, Mr. or Ms blogger has already posted it now.

3. Driving licenses will become fewer and fewer (state governments and FRSC take note). Very soon you may stop making money from selling driving licenses to motorists, because Ford has made it clear that they will make the cars extremely safe, possibly using computer, enhanced airbags and GPS satellite technology.
4. Insults to or from other drivers will become fewer and fewer:Anyone who drives a car will understand how hard it is for you not to give or receive insults from other motorists. If some people try to move in front of your car, you are tempted to shout, and the other person is also tempted to shout. In fact, driving is war in Nigeria, and a lot of accidents are caused by people struggling over lanes, as childish as it might seem. But I am tempted to believe that cars will be a

In fact, driving is war in Nigeria, and a lot of accidents are caused by people struggling over lanes, as childish as it might seem. But I am tempted to believe that driverless cars will be a little bit more civil to each other. There will be less struggle and less insults, unless someone develops a car insult app for the cars.

5. More Relaxation:Do you feel sleepy? You will be able to safely close your eyes and sleep. You will be able to relax, type in your destination, and browse Zikistmovement.com, Nairaland, Facebook, Whatsapp or just listen to music, while your car drives you to your destination.
6. ‘Oppression’ Will Increase:Do you know that billionaires oppress millionaires in Nigeria? I know a certain popular club -whose name I will not mention- where you will see billionaires oppressing millionaires the way millionaires oppress thousandaires.

When the first mass produced driverless cars come in, only the filthy rich will be able to buy it, and they will paint the streets of Lagos and other big cities red with it. ‘Ordinary’ millionaires will have to wait for like 2 years for the tokunbo versions to come out, before they can join the club and oppress the thousandaire (and people with only N1m in their account) who will be left buying cars where they still have to drive or employ drivers to drive. Lol.

6. Less Accidents:The driverless cars will be driven by computers fitted with GPS satellite technology, which we are told, will be more careful than the analogue cars we have today. There are always chances of computers malfunctioning, but trust the guys at Ford, they will already be thinking about it to avoid expensive mass recalls.
7. Uber will lose customers… unless: In 2016, Uber is the latest taxi technology, causing waves, but in 5 years time (just around the corner), driverless taxi services will dent Uber’s current driver-based model, unless Uber makes provision for people to add driverless cars to their fleet. Uber take note.
8. More Productivity:I remember some years ago, when I did some brand ambassadorial work for MTN. I was provided with a driver. I was thus able to work on my laptop and plan strategy without being saddled with the task of driving myself. But when things changed a bit for a while and I had to be the one driving myself, I found I couldn’t work on my laptop while on the go.

With driverless cars, if MTN should give me another such project, I will be able to use my laptop to strategize while the car is moving, and to update this blog too. Anything with great disadvantages can still have great advantages.

 

Last Word

Like the biblical Joseph advised Egypt to begin preparing for a future famine, I am advising Nigeria to begin to prepare for driverless cars.

Now don’t think this is just a pipe dream, as Americans have a habit of achieving their technological dreams. Remember when in the 1960s, then President Kennedy said they will go to the moon within 10 years, and it came to pass, even though by that time he had died.

Ford is very serious and its President Mark Fields has said the company is investing $75 million to make this dream come true. Remember that they are the people that started mass-producing cars in the first place. Before there was only horse-driven-carriage, or if you were in some localities, bicycles.

Then Henry Ford the former President of Ford decided to start mass-producing horseless carriages (or cars), and he succeeded. So, it would not be the first time they have revolutionized the car industry. They haven’t announced flying cars yet, but they have a record of moving the industry forward. So, let’s not be caught napping as they achieve their dream.

Do you know any other implication I missed. Please add it in the comment section below.