The D0VE Story Part 2

And that’s where all the I’s end. January 2015 came and still there wasn’t any money to resume work, but we weren’t deterred. Myself and the then ULES President, Sir Pristine worked our way up to the Sub-Dean and later the Dean of Engineering’s Office where we were finally granted official access to a section of the lab to resume our work. Finally!!! Some recognition.

Once that happened, things started coming together. February ending, we got some funds to resume and students started showing interest. Special to thanks to Mr Akinbo Akin-Olugbade from Kawai Technologies and Mr Segun Akin-Olugbade from SE Automotive Nigeria Limited, they’re currently our only corporate sponsors.  Special shout-out to my Mum also, Mrs V.A Olusanya for believing in our dream. She is currently our single largest contributor to our program. May God continue to bless you ma. We got some new recruits, Mohammed from Building Dept, Ayo from Met and Mat, Bayo and Seun from Mechanical Engineering, Sadiq from Electrical and Dimeji from Yaba-Tech. Altogether, guys directly involved in construction summed up to ten, and the total amount of guys involved with D0VE summing up to fourteen. 

We have the guys from the Mechanical Design and Analysis, Myself, Smart, Demola and our recruits Bayo and Seun. The guys from Materials and Construction, Mohammed, Ayo and Dimeji. The guys in charge of the electrical power-train Jay and Sadiq and the guys in charge of Administration, publicity, logistics and fundraising, Umar, Peace and Damilare. And yeah, I know, no ladies are in the group; we are currently working on that.

Anyway, from then on, The D0VE P1 became a project, being worked on after hours by individuals with unusual talent trying to make a difference. Progress was slow but steady. We purchased some components, modified some and fabricated some. All in all, P1 was coming to life. Currently, she stands on her four legs, her frame is ready, the front and rear suspension setup is completed, the steering is currently being done and I’m sure it would be in place by the time this article is uploaded. What’s left is the pulley drive for the drive-train, brakes, seats, interior finishing and the body. We have a deadline for today, would we have to stretch it? I don’t know, but I do know that the God who’s helping us isn’t known to come late.

Right now, we have myself and all the guys in Mech and Materials doing our thing, Sir Jay and the guys in Electrical doing everything to make sure that the powertrain is working efficiently without any glitches, Sir Damilare Rodeo is currently in Abuja soliciting for sponsors and my very good friend Mr Ceramo is at work constructing the fibreglass body.

I must also make an exclusive shout-out to the CEO of Pythagoras Animation Studios Mr Henry for designing the gorgeous body our car is going to have. Mr Henry is a very talented young man with a vision for taking animation in Nigeria to a whole new level, Indeed Nigeria is full of talented people, too bad a lot of the time, we don’t take advantage of them

Our Exhibition/ Unveiling/ Luncheon/ Public Test Run is gonna be sometimes at the end of May/Beginning of June. If you’re in Nigeria, or in Lagos, you should definitely come and see, the extent of creative talent we’ve got roaming around and what can happen when these talents come together. Pledge support for Project D0VE Initiative by checking the our facebook page, and  using the #SupportProjectD0VE hashtag twitter and Instagram. Peace y’all.

P.S If you’re Unilag, you’re free to come take a look at the Foundry, Engineering Lab and see for yourself, or wait around, you just might see us blasting down Unilag roads pretty soon. God is at work. All is well that ends well.

Speaking of which, some of you may notice that the body design is shown in 3 different colours. Which is your favorite?