Suggestions for President Buhari on technology (I)

As someone who has lived outside of this country for the better part of his life, I appreciate the potential that Nigeria has, both in natural and human resources. I, like any other black person anywhere, constantly experience a lot of ill-treatments, resulting mostly from the perceptions that our people back home are retarded, if […]

As someone who has lived outside of this country for the better part of his life, I appreciate the potential that Nigeria has, both in natural and human resources. I, like any other black person anywhere, constantly experience a lot of ill-treatments, resulting mostly from the perceptions that our people back home are retarded, if not subhuman, as an un-voiced  reason to explain why Africans cannot harness the God-given resources, and instead are dying of hunger, diseases, and poor governance. Unfortunately, although President Goodluck Jonathan, an apparently kind-hearted individual, tried his best, the problem of ridding Nigeria of corruption, excessive favoritism, and insecurity was simply too much for him.
Mr. President-elect, it obvious that most Nigerians will not be looking for miracles from you, but from your demonstrated, stable and genuine love for Nigeria, coupled with your integrity and exemplary leadership capabilities, I am absolutely convinced you will deliver for the Nigerian people.
My position is that, in addition to your three espoused goals, as gleaned from your touching inaugural address to the Nigerian people, you will need to put technology in the front seat, as a way for Nigerians to generate true wealth, get out of perpetual poverty, and create employment for the kids. South Korea does not have natural resources, but thanks to technology, it is one of the most developed countries in the world today and the Number One in Information and Communication Technology (ICT).
To establish my credibility and help you assess the quality of my interaction with you via this medium, I’ll tell you a bit about myself. I was born in Nigeria – Kabba in Kogi State, to be sure. I attended the University of Ibadan, with a First Class Honours from the Faculty of Technology, after which I served in NYSC and then left for the United States of America (U.S.) to pursue my passion – the application of advanced mathematics to science, engineering, and technology. I have lived in the U.S. continuously for 34 years, and have put in 25 years as a professor of mechanical/aerospace engineering at the State University of New York in the U.S. I also have decades of experience in “hard-core” IT, and I am currently in my fourth year as a weekly columnist on ICT for this newspaper – Daily Trust. Finally, in January of this year, I was appointed by the State University of New York (SUNY) in the United States, to be the first Head (Chair) of the Department of Mechanical Engineering at SUNY Korea, the first American university on South Korean soil.
Learn from South Korea
Mr. President, ask your Tech Chief to study, learn, and adapt South Korea’s miracles in the arena of technology and hence economic empowerment. Some describe South Korea as the Miracle Country, simply from the fact that within a relatively short period of time, South Korea transformed itself from being one of the poorest and worn-torn countries in the world to the Number One country in Information and Communication Technology (ICT), with companies like Samsung, LG, Hyundai, Daewoo, Kia, and Doosan, to name a few, to boot. The South Korean story is out there.
Encourage locally-developed technology
I have seen well-meaning, patriotic, but otherwise uninformed leaders mess up big-time by outsourcing virtually every tech project to companies in developed countries – aka, the industry leaders, without concrete plans to develop local capacity. The population of Nigeria is too large to develop like the United Arab Emirates, where virtually all technological developments are done by foreigners. Please don’t do it; otherwise you might as well shut down our universities and ask people not to have children anymore, because there wouldn’t be work for them.
We will never develop Nigeria technologically if we let foreign companies do everything the country needs to do. Your people will be subservient, and will stay impoverished, as the foreign firms send their bounties back to their respective countries. Mr. President, you need an aggressive plan to grow the local tech base, otherwise your impact would only be meager and temporary, and black people will perpetually be enslaved. Of course, I am not suggesting that the presidency should give crucial projects to amateurs, for that would be silly. There are a few examples of countries to follow.
Allocate money for research and developments in the STEM fields
Although Nigeria is the largest economy in Africa, the country, pathetically, is at the bottom of the list of research funding, even below relatively impoverished countries like Botswana! This has to change if Nigeria is to grow. Without a conscious focus on funding science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) projects, Nigeria will not go far in terms of true development. Get the university dons engaged – give them money to carry out research and to innovate. The ways to do this are well known.
Education, Education, Education
I remember when I first arrived in the U.S. in 1981; we Nigerians used to brag that American university students were learning in their first and second years what we had already learned in high school. Even though this was a bit of exaggeration, it was a reflection of the confidence we had in our Nigerian education. The state of education today is pathetic: university students cannot construct a single sentence in English without a grammatical error, lecturers themselves cannot speak or write well, and students pay teachers to get good grades. Without overhauling the educational system, the fight for survival, not to talk of prosperity, is already lost.
This article continues next week.