This would be my second time traveling to Nigeria. The first, being four or five years ago, was a culture shock at many levels, least of which was being separated from my young family for a significant period of time. Therefore, the decision to go again was not a light one. I was intent on looking for a purpose worthy enough to subject myself to what was to be a mentally and physically challenging venture.
The written purpose was to aid in capacity building within the African continent - specifically human capacity, to train eager minds that were otherwise caught in a form of scientific passion sadly restricted by lack of resources and isolated by an often selfish academic community. I was there as a teacher proficient in the ways of molecular biology, and adept at sharing that knowledge to diverse audiences. Truth be told, the first time I went, it all seemed rather pointless - the pursuit of scientific respect just didn't seem like a proper priority in a country such as Nigeria.
However, Nash, our host would disagree. There was an oft repeated argument that Nigeria is perhaps one of the better places to start rebuilding science in Africa, this being a testament to its nickname as that of Africa's "slumbering giant." In fact, this week's issue of the Economist so much as said so:
"THERE must be few other countries on earth with such a glaring mismatch between their actual state and their extraordinary potential. ...With 140m people, Africa's most populous country is the world's eighth-largest oil exporter. That has earned Nigeria about $223 billion in revenues over the past eight years alone. Yet so wasted has this windfall been that most Nigerians continue to live in squalor and poverty. The country ranks 159th out of 177 on the UN's human-development index."
In other words, there was potential to be seen within these borders, albeit a potential often fraught with corruption and mismanagement at various levels of government. Still, the country had recently went through a tumultuous election, and one where the individuals who were awarded the top positions of President and Vice-President, had former lives as scientists.
To this, Nash would lament, "We can only hope, we can only hope."
Comments
At This Stage and At This Age With The Current Global Slow Down, Nigeria Has Lost The fundamentals of "A Start Up" In Any Revolutionary Change Whether In Medicine, Agriculture and Technology. The Country Has Never Thought Of or Prepare For "After The Gold Rush" Of The Oil Boom. With The United States and The EntireIndusrial World Finding Alternatives To Energy Usage From Crude Oil, An Eventual Collapse Of tHe Revenue ATM of A Nation Of Nigeria Spells A Doom State. The Problem Is That The Nigeria Leadership Do No Know Where They Are and Where They Belong In The Chart Of Failed Economics Of Nations.
The Fact That Tribal, Regional, and Religious Divids Superceeds The Patriotic Glue That Hold Nigeria , Creates A Vacuum Interest in The Affairs Of A Single Nation Called Nigeria. Most Leaders and Representatives To The National Assembly, Have Vacuum Idea of a Nation Development, of Crative Mentality, of Spirit of Innovation and This Spells Further, A Doom To The Hope of Nigeria. In A country Where The Public Safety Sector, The Leaders at The Top Steal from The State and The People, In Country Where There Is No Iota of Industrial Take off of any Kind, In A country Where No Proper Data of The Numbers Children Going To Elementary and Secoundary Schools for Accurate and Fair Budgeting, In A Country Where There Is 40 Million UnderGradutes Unemployment With Thousands Comming Out To Join The Line Soon and The Government Have No Idea How To Create a Single Job, We are potentially Facing A State of Anachy.
Posted by: Gideon Ogbeide | March 1, 2009 5:13 AM