tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-61240135078784474832024-03-12T18:50:43.226-07:00Essays Of A CitizenEmem Asikpo Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00232962122484419249noreply@blogger.comBlogger23125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6124013507878447483.post-63597447359910332722011-04-12T15:42:00.000-07:002011-04-12T15:46:46.639-07:00Tekedia InterviewInterview on Tekedia.. Good read and great work on innovation in Africa by Dr. Nd. Ekekwe <a href="http://tekedia.com/?p=1472"><br />
Take link here</a><br />
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Excerpt: <br />
She is a graduate of the prestigious Singularity University (SU), California, USA; a former Shell engineer; a Technology Evangelist and an emerging thinker – connecting technology patterns to human development.<br />
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Ms. Emem Asikpo Andrew knows many things about exponential technologies and how they would redesign the world we live. She has written about them in Tell Magazine and discussed them in conferences and workshops. With a degree in Electrical and Electronics Engineering from Federal University of Technology, Owerri, Nigeria, and recently a Teaching Fellow in Singularity University, she has got many perspectives to share.<br />
Tekedia is proud to present Ms. Emem Asikpo Andrew – Class Speaker in 2010 SU graduation ceremony – in our Women of Technology Series.<br />
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<b>Tell us your name and what you do or your passion</b><br />
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My name is Ms. Emem Asikpo Andrew. I am passionate about people. I believe that in every human being we have a reflection of God and that every life should be nurtured to achieve its greatest potential. I am passionate about human rights, ending poverty and disease and achieving true gender equality in all spheres of human endeavor.<br />
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<b>Nigeria plans to become the 20th economy (in GDP) in the year 2020 under the Vision 2020 program. The federal government has started very bold initiatives. We want your comments on how our government can realize this objective</b><br />
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A plan to become the 20th largest economy by 2020 is a good plan and it is achievable. My concern however is our history of achievements. Historically we have been very poor in delivering on promises. We have had lofty plans for different decades but we have lacked the will and/or capacity to see them through. For me a key initiative that could fast track our economy would be power generation. Let’s move away from centralized power generation to a system where we could have smaller companies providing power to different people. Turn today’s NEPA or PHCN to today’s NITEL. Allow investors to handle power supply from end to end. Produce, distribute and sell power. The government has been lousy at it for 50 years. They won’t get any better in the next 10. We are 150 million strong and we produce barely 10% of the electricity we need. Energy drives the economy, human energy is one thing but the 20 top economies do not depend on human energy alone. They depend on electricity also. Just fixing this or creating an environment where this can be fixed would create more opportunities, innovation and wealth for the country.<br />
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<b>Our tertiary educational system has been criticized by many that it has lost its past glory. Yet, the number of Nigerian graduates starting companies and leading big global organizations continues to increase. How do we reconcile this?</b><br />
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As much as I applaud the achievements of Nigerians, I must caution that we should not be carried away by the success of a few. The average Nigerian is resilient and hard working. In every society there exists at least 1% of the population that is very entrepreneurial compared to the rest of the population. If we should use this statistics, then we have 1.5 million Nigerians who have the risk taking ability to be entrepreneurial and these folks are excelling. If we are to look at the numbers again do we have 1.5 million Nigerians starting businesses and leading global organizations? No. How many businessmen are millionaires in world recognized currencies? Maybe just in the region of one or two hundred. We have just two billionaires on the Forbes list I believe. So statistically, we are not doing as well as we should be doing. This is sheer waste of enormous human capacity. With 150 Million people our economy should be booming with services for these people. We are mired down by declining education standards, therefore we cannot compete favorably in the global economy which is driven today by technology and science which all require high standards of education and conducive environments for innovation. Educating the nation for the challenges of the future is a priority. It is indicative that major oil companies for example, formally train Nigerian graduates in basic sciences for at least a year before granting them entry level employment and we all know that most of these companies recruit some of our most highly intelligent and most competitive graduates. This is very instructive and should be a wakeup call for us all to improve the education system.<br />
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<b>While researching this interview, we noted that you attended Singularity University. Please share with us the experience and what life has become after it</b><br />
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Life is a journey and it took me through Singularity University (SU). My experience at SU is one that left me with mixed feeling. Feelings of hope and fear for our people. I got to learn about technology and the exponential trends in the field of computing and the drive by scientists to turn everything into data, even biology. And then the quest to make everything smaller – nanotechnology. These two areas in addition to 7 other fields I was trained in made the most impact on me....Emem Asikpo Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00232962122484419249noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6124013507878447483.post-47532612037246798582011-04-04T14:03:00.000-07:002011-04-04T14:03:32.147-07:00<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjw7MWt9Fq9kinnyzNqZpj14u3fhbWleLhAsZsCj_btEOMPxVY0W4DPghJNS7YAw6J37hN3EwdUu0Anu7C1zPVHulPdEOB6uUdew6uSdZppqHU2slG2xePiUmNhFuFsPFFrcwhkKibjc6O3/s1600/solardown.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="209" width="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjw7MWt9Fq9kinnyzNqZpj14u3fhbWleLhAsZsCj_btEOMPxVY0W4DPghJNS7YAw6J37hN3EwdUu0Anu7C1zPVHulPdEOB6uUdew6uSdZppqHU2slG2xePiUmNhFuFsPFFrcwhkKibjc6O3/s320/solardown.jpg" /></a></div><br />
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The popular nursery rhyme reverberates…<br />
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“Some like it hot<br />
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Some like it cold<br />
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Some like it in the pot nine days old”.<br />
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In Nigeria we just like to own it. We have to own our borehole and pumping machine to be able to have running water. We have to own our own security outfit to provide security. We own our own neighborhood development to take care of the trash and road. And to generate power, we own our own diesel, petrol or kerosene generators. If we can’t afford either, we go to the bush and harvest wood to burn our own fires. That is the psyche of our people. The telecommunications revolution tapped into this and we grew from 250,000 lines to over 45 million active cell phones within a decade. A cell phone is something we can own. Something we call our own. No one can contest this ownership with us. It is part of us. It is part of our identity.<br />
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To solve the electricity problem, we have to carter to this need to own. Historically, heavily centralized services have not worked for Nigeria. From the government to telecommunications to water supply. What has proved effective and efficient is local service; a strategically placed water borehole serving a few streets in the city, a telecommunications mast serving all cell phones in a small area, a personal power generator providing power for a home or a small block of apartment buildings. These are the infrastructure we are used to. These are what we know works. These small, efficient machines or installations that we can see, touch and understand are the things we trust will work for us. We do not trust central infrastructure – you only need to drive down Benin –Ore road to realize the wisdom of staying local. And the average Nigerian learns to live with it and not trust that it would change.<br />
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This lack of trust is not necessarily a bad thing. Luckily, technology is making ownership of personal generators a lot cheaper and smarter. The burden of not having good infrastructure in Nigeria can be turned to an advantage in today’s world. We would totally leapfrog the infrastructure deficit of the past and move to a future where everything we could ever need would fit into our pockets just like the cell phone. For power generation, we cannot exactly carry a fire in our pocket – if you discount the flashlights on cell phones that is – but we can put that generator on the roofs of our homes.<br />
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Increasingly, cost of solar photovoltaic cells (PV) has been reducing exponentially. It is calculated that the cost of PV reduces by 7 percent every year. From $13/watt in 1980, it is $1.67/watt today and will be about $0.5/watt in 2030. (see graph). What this means for us in Nigeria is instead of using I pass my neighbor petrol generator, a solar generator could serve the same purpose, generate 500 watt of power at a cost of N5, 000 per year, by 2030 this cost will reduce to N1,500/yr in today’s naira. This however does not include the cost of inverter (if we could use only direct current devices, there will be no need for an inverter) and batteries for power storage to be used at night.<br />
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This is the great opportunity we could exploit today to assure every Nigerian access to clean affordable electricity supply. The adoption of wide scale roof top or floor mounted PV cells could open up entrepreneurship opportunities, jobs in solar PV manufacturing, scientific breakthroughs in research, new industries and products that are direct current (DC) based instead of alternating current (AC) based. It will grant us an opportunity to do something radically new and different and in this way enable us solve the electricity problem and create wealth while doing so.<br />
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* This article was originally published in <a href="http://tellng.com/index.php?option=com_k2&view=item&id=103%3Aelectricity-time-to-do-it-the-nigerian-way">Nigerian TELL Magazine Online<br />
</a>Emem Asikpo Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00232962122484419249noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6124013507878447483.post-51711554863028879242011-04-01T09:04:00.000-07:002011-04-01T09:04:54.470-07:00Vote: Imman Nyin Eke VoteI see you the weeping mother<br />
of children abducted, brutalised and murdered<br />
anguished and hopeless for life wasted<br />
mumbling and lamenting in your helplessness<br />
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I see you the young man<br />
struggling for years to find a job<br />
to make ends meet, to start your family<br />
to prove your mettle, to be a man<br />
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I see you the youth<br />
opening your eyes to reality<br />
of the cruelty of the world<br />
and wondering if there is any point in trying so hard<br />
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Ntoeka mukit ke enyin esit me<br />
for I am you and you are me<br />
your pain is mine and your injury hurts me<br />
Idara aya di ke usiere<br />
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We have a voice and let no one tell us any different<br />
Our vote is our voice and we will use it<br />
walk past the army tanks, circumvent the police road blocks<br />
cover your heads against the rain and go to the polls<br />
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They seek to divide us with age old hatred<br />
how can they turn me against the breasts of my annang wife<br />
how can anyone seperate me from the strong bosom of my Ibibio man?<br />
It is not about my tribe, it is about those who use their power to silence me.<br />
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But I have a voice and I will speak<br />
I will go to the polls and speak the voice of God.<br />
I will vote my conscience and make sure my vote counts<br />
I have found my voice and I will never again be silencedEmem Asikpo Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00232962122484419249noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6124013507878447483.post-19717798790516652682011-03-15T16:06:00.000-07:002011-03-15T16:09:03.060-07:00The Nigerian VP DebatesImpressive candidates. In case you missed it. Here are the <em><em>videos...</em></em><br /><a href="http://www.cp-africa.com/2011/03/13/case-missed-watch-nigerian-vice-presidential-debate-hosted-nn24-videos/"></a>Emem Asikpo Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00232962122484419249noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6124013507878447483.post-33660014380891999722011-01-06T08:29:00.000-08:002011-01-06T08:35:09.177-08:00IBM - The New Next Five in Five - United States<a href="http://www.ibm.com/smarterplanet/us/en/ibm_predictions_for_future/overview/index.html?lnk=ibmhpls1/smarterplanet/next_five_in_five">IBM - The New Next Five in Five - United States</a><br /><br />IBM predicts that in the next 5 years - 2015 we will be able to chat in 3D, batteries will be 10 times more effective and in some cases totally eliminated. Devices would power themselves. Computers would help to energize cities.<br /><br />So far their past predictions have panned out; in 2006 they predicted that by 2011 our mobile phones will start reading our minds. Thats happening now with the smartphones. We do live in interesting times.Emem Asikpo Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00232962122484419249noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6124013507878447483.post-64398879934418525842010-12-09T09:23:00.000-08:002010-12-09T09:28:37.620-08:00Date With A Technology EvangelistInterview with the Nigerian Guardian Life Magazine.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.guardiannewsngr.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=31477:a-date-with-a-technology-evangelist&catid=111:spotlight&Itemid=512">Click here for the full story</a>Emem Asikpo Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00232962122484419249noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6124013507878447483.post-39825154999639674982010-11-04T16:47:00.000-07:002010-11-04T16:54:06.974-07:00Tell Magazine & The Sun NewspaperSome more publications on Nigeria's Tell Magazine and The Sun newspaper.<br /><br /><a href="http://tellng.com/ContentDisplay.aspx?page_id=24&id=187">Tell Magazine: Preparing For A Technology Revolution</a><br /><br />Sun Newspaper: <a href="http://www.sunnewsonline.com/webpages/news/national/2010/oct/20/national-20-10-2010-020.htm">Nigeria Will Be a Major Technology Hub</a>Emem Asikpo Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00232962122484419249noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6124013507878447483.post-74254641410042147902010-10-08T08:07:00.000-07:002010-10-08T08:58:29.098-07:00Interview With New Nigerian Newspaper: October 7th '10Excerpt from the interview, heading was - Nigeria 'll be a major tech hub in future. <br />Published on page 20.<br /><br /><br />New Nigerian Interview: Nigeria Will Be a Major Technology Hub in Future<br /><br />1. <span style="font-weight:bold;">How did you feel being selected valedictorian for your class at Singularity U.? </span>: We had to give a 1 minute pitch to be selected. We were 6 speakers and I was very nervous because the competition was quite good. So I was very humbled and grateful when my classmates selected me to speak on their behalf.<br /><br />2. <span style="font-weight:bold;">How has your Singularity University experience changed your expectations of Science and Technology?</span> – I now see science and technology as a tool that can be used to solve problems for humanity. A lot of the intractable problems in Africa that we have been unable to solve; poverty, hunger, sanitation, water, health etc can be solved through the use of technology. We should not only be consumers of technological products, we should also be innovators and manufacturers to be able to have sustainable solutions.<br /><br />3. <span style="font-weight:bold;">How can Africans, and Nigerians in particular, derive benefits from these fields considering the dearth of infrastructural support like electrical power and internet connectivity? <span style="font-weight:bold;"></span></span>– We can still derive benefits from nanotechnology, computing, artificial intelligence, biotech and engineering because of our infrastructural problems. The problems of electricity and internet connectivity can all be resolved using technology. In fact in the next decade we will be harnessing solar energy more and more for our electricity needs due to advances in manufacturing and material science. The cars of the future (within the next 10-20 years) will all be electric powered. Experts forecast that the last fossil fuel driven passenger car will be built in 2030. To progress Africa and Nigeria must embrace technological solutions because of and not inspite of our infrastructural problems. We can use technology to leapfrog the limitations of infrastructure.<br /><br />4. <span style="font-weight:bold;">Is there some short cut through the grit of building our technological capacity brick by brick, i.e. some speedy form of knowledge/skill/competence acquisition module that can fast-track Africa along the path of progress?</span>: The answer to that is yes. It is easy but we have to do a lot of hard work. The beautiful thing about technology is that when it is learnt, it becomes almost second nature. Too much is not required just the brain power, tenacity and hunger to solve problems and then ‘viola’ we are there. We don’t need to know all the ‘old’ technology; we can start using today’s technology, modify it for our environment and solve problems for our continent and humanity. <br /><br />5. <span style="font-weight:bold;">What would you say should be the priority of Nigerians, and many Africans, after half a century of post-colonial existence?</span> – Our priority should be taking responsibility for our today and our future. We should stop the blame game. After 50 years we can no longer blame the colonial masters. We should forge our destiny, face challenges, solve problems and evolve into a strong self reliant continent, a partner in the progress of humanity and not just the charity case of the world. We should take leadership as the cradle of not only humanity but also civilization and write a new chapter for a better future.<br /><br />6. <span style="font-weight:bold;">Are there any silver bullets to rid us of recurrent health challenges like cholera, meningitis and malaria? Also, what hope is there for people living with HIV:</span><br /> I would cautiously say YES. One such silver bullet would be ‘Water’. More than 80% of communicable and deadly infections plaguing Africa is caused mostly by our lack of access to good drinking water and inadequate use of water in sanitation. If we can fix the problem of water, then we could fix most of these diseases and where they might occur we will be able to manage them better with therapies which are available and effective today. Combinations of innovations in biotech and nanotech could produce simple membranes which we could use to desalinate water cheaply. In addition, solar power will help us heat water before usage and reduce the risks of ingesting harmful bacteria.<br />On HIV, I would want to commend the countries of Europe and United States of America who have been very aggressive in attacking this problem in our continent. It is however strange that in Nigeria and in the continent we do not have any research led by Africans that would produce a cure for this infection. I believe that we will be able to create biovores, tiny organisms that will mimic a human cell and introduce them into the body of HIV infected candidates, these biovores will be more attractive to the virus than the ordinary human cells and the HIV virus will inject themselves into the biovores and will end up being eaten up and ejected from the body. This will be possible within the next 15 – 25 years. We will also have regenerators that will replace dead cells and make them more resistant to virus attacks. In the near term we can be more effective in prevention by creating vaginal rings for women and imbue these rings with hormones and medications which could work to prevent cervical cancer and minimize sexually transmitted diseases including HIV. This could be achievable within the next 5-10 years. There is also ongoing work on a vaccine for the virus so this virus is being attacked from all angles, prevention and management of infected patients. So my encouragement to all my brothers and sisters is if you are positive, live positively, very soon we will beat this virus and if you are negative, use a condom and when the vaginal ring is available, use that too and make intelligent choices when it comes to sexual partners. Remain faithful to your faithful partner. If in doubt, use a condom. <br /><br />7. Your vision for the future?<br />My Vision For Nigeria - 2060<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Energy</span>: Everyone in Nigeria will have access to steady, reliable electricity supply because we will all use solar power. Oil will no longer be the primary source of energy and revenues from oil exports will shrink to 15% or less of all national revenues. <br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Transportation</span>: By 2040 all the cars in Nigeria will be electric driven, however the road infrastructure will still be inadequate to carter for all the cars. More reliance will be on rail, water and air travel where we can leapfrog expensive road construction. By 2060 most people will live in Mega cities and work from home or satellite office sites near their homes due to the use of technology.<br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Education</span>: We shall achieve 99.99% literacy as the use of smartphones become ubiquitous, prominent universities like MIT, Oxford, Stanford, Harvard, Lagos Business school etc will offer their courses online and for free. The cost of internet connection will be virtually free and everyone will be able to connect and get educated. We will become a hub for foreign students especially Africans in the diaspora who would want to reconnect with their roots.<br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Poverty</span>: It will be redefined as people living on the equivalent of $8 a day. Extreme poverty as we know it will end. We would have tackled the problems of hunger and water supply through the exploitation of technology in food production and water desalination.<br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Population</span>: We will be a country of at least 300 million people. Our life expectancy will be as high as 98 years for children born within a decade of 2060.<br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Technology</span>: Nigeria will be a major technology hub in the world both in innovations and manufacturing. The next Einstein will come from Nigeria or from the continent. Evidence is the current Nigerian kids in Britain all attending high school and universities at record early ages.<br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Health</span>: Innovations in genetics, biotech and nanotechnology will create biovores that will eat up virus infected cells and also cancer cells, in addition, we will also have regenerators that would replace dead cells. HIV will be a thing of the past just like smallpox is today. Health care solutions will be delivered mostly online and we will have access to the best care possible within and outside our country.<br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Politics</span>: We will remain a force in the continent and as early as 2019 will have more credible leaders who will chart a new course for Nigeria and the continent. Economic states of West Africa will form a strong EU equivalent by 2030 as African leaders gain more credibility and the people are lifted out of poverty.<br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Civic Society</span>: As revenues form oil dwindle, government will be forced to raise taxes and aggressively collect taxes to run the country. Citizens will demand more accountability from the elected and will aggressively pursue all 'forgotten' stolen monies of past politicians and military dictators. As African leadership credibility increases, there will be pressure on foreign countries who harbor the loots from Africa and other present third world countries to return these monies and in most cases with penalties and apologies.<br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Social</span>: Nigerian citizenship will be bestowed on children based on either the father or mother's country of birth, or both could also be used. Laws will prohibit state of origin and only recognize place of birth as place of origin.<br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Ethics</span>: Society will struggle with acceptance of computer - human interfacing (by 2040, computers will be embedded in the human brain to increase the common intelligence) this will be a more radical change compared to the use of smartphones. Religious organisations worldwide will resist the change but as more people opt to be interfaced, it will be more difficult for individuals to operate and compete without being interfaced.Emem Asikpo Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00232962122484419249noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6124013507878447483.post-88204739229803870122010-10-01T08:21:00.000-07:002010-10-01T08:39:33.837-07:00Nigeria is 50!Inspite of the bomb - <a href="http://bit.ly/dgphNO">here</a>. We celebrate our 50th year of independence. Nigeria will continue to soar and Africa will rise out of darkness to be a partner in solving humanity's problems.<br />The labors of our heroes past shall never be in vain.Happy Anniversary Giant of Africa!Emem Asikpo Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00232962122484419249noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6124013507878447483.post-31396227295550831702010-09-05T16:38:00.002-07:002010-09-05T16:43:43.693-07:00Singularity University: Graduation SpeechMy classmates at Singularity University honored me by electing me the graduation speaker. View the video on YouTube.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cmH6C3ZGNQU">Video Here</a><br /><br />http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cmH6C3ZGNQUEmem Asikpo Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00232962122484419249noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6124013507878447483.post-53984168103972055552010-09-05T16:38:00.001-07:002010-09-05T16:42:03.782-07:00Singularity University: Graduation SpeechMy classmates at Singularity University honored me by electing me the graduation speaker. View the video on YouTube.<br /><br />http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cmH6C3ZGNQUEmem Asikpo Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00232962122484419249noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6124013507878447483.post-54995927401797348612010-08-04T10:17:00.001-07:002010-08-04T10:54:20.788-07:00Entrepreneurship: Harnessing The Igbo ResourceNigeria is now officially 50 years old. The labours of our heroes past are truly not in vain. Yet we are confronted daily with problems that seem sometimes to be insurmountable. In my opinion one reason why we are not doing so well is that we do not harness our human resources effectively. We have to creatively use what we have to get what we want. <br />To grow our economy, we have to innovate, build businesses and grow industries. To create jobs, we have to move from depending on government and get to enabling an entrepreneurial generation who can grasp and utilize the opportunities that have been created by exponentially disruptive technologies.<br /><br />Here then enters the entrepreneur. Who exactly is this person; the entrepreneur? She is the unreasonable man.. not my words but Bernard Shaw <br />"<span style="font-style:italic;">Reasonable men adapt to the world. Unreasonable men adapt the world to themselves. That's why all progress depends on unreasonable men." George Bernard Shaw</span>.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvWVibjChGZi5SewOrY-9Fqh2kjKwMTIfx0j0a6eWqjXveI79-9yEQOHtCaKKtqDmhnZuFVgYoeiVH5PgD2m_Kpx2TWJqVwsLA2l2RWsti_GGfCkJQLAXnd-etCj4Cf_iq9t6ngr2AurOn/s1600/entrepreneur.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 257px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvWVibjChGZi5SewOrY-9Fqh2kjKwMTIfx0j0a6eWqjXveI79-9yEQOHtCaKKtqDmhnZuFVgYoeiVH5PgD2m_Kpx2TWJqVwsLA2l2RWsti_GGfCkJQLAXnd-etCj4Cf_iq9t6ngr2AurOn/s320/entrepreneur.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5501612597494404418" /></a><br /><br />Some say such a person is to some extent slightly hypo-manic(thus the "unreasonableness") but to succeed, the entrepreneur must have the following:<br />A cultural environment that supports risk taking. This means an environment that rewards success and does not overtly punish failure in business (economic failure not treated as a crime for example). In addition, the individual should be exposed to role models whom they can look up to and emulate.They should also be exposed to problems and opportunities where they can provide solutions to the problems. In addition it never hurts to get good and targeted training.<br /><br />This is where the value proposition kicks in. The Igbos of Nigeria are recognised to be highly entrepreneurial and they have perfected training systems and role models where mostly young men are trained in business and then assisted to startup their own enterprises. This resource and knowledge is highly specialised but unfortunately has not been well documented. An opportunity exists here in documenting the process, studying it and optimising them so that they could be easily replicated and scalable in other areas apart from commercial training. <br /><br />There is a wealth of knowledge and opportunity here where entrepreneurial Nigerians can be coached formally by Igbo businessmen(currently the proteges are mainly kin and kith of established traders) to develop their skills. The program can be incentivised by government with training grants and certification could be a basis for access to seed capital to start up businesses. This form of business incubation could fast track innovation and spread a business revolution in our country.<br /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">Disclosure: As a student of Singularity University,though some of my ideas are influenced by lectures and contributions from my colleauges, the expressed ideas here are totally formed by my personal convictions.<br />Photo Credit : http://www.noulakaz.net/weblog/2008/09/19/mind-of-an-entrepreneur/</span>Emem Asikpo Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00232962122484419249noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6124013507878447483.post-14426669306686013312010-07-30T18:03:00.002-07:002010-07-30T18:39:08.862-07:002030: The Year the last Petrol/Diesel Powered Commercial Car Will Be BuiltJust had a lecture by Tony Seba of Stanford University and author of the book - <a href="http://amzn.to/4MvOee">Solar Trillions</a> - and came out thoroughly convinced that the end of the gas powered vehicle is near.<br /><br />Two http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifthings:<br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Battery Storage<span style="font-weight:bold;"></span></span>: The cost of a battery bank to power an electric car today stands at $25,000. By 2030 that cost will be $3,600. A fully electric vehicle costs $5/month to charge in San Francisco. Imagine the cost savings in gasoline!!!<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Solar Energy:</span>The cost of solar panels and thus solar generation today is higher than that of all fossil fuels. But by 2020, following Moore's law, the cost of solar energy generation will be at parity with the cheapest fossil fuel - coal.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8134GbGpDul5RERaUPqH1nCK9X6xVYqZ8fHQ8yzDO_cwh5rfkJo2H3rqVfnxU6dcy2EXG985YHKVp5YmwEtdVZlY56_l6qvr7nhqX_lHwbhNetlalOlYJXR7YoE5JpCtQYpRJK-hridhC/s1600/VoltObama-thumb-650x428.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 210px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8134GbGpDul5RERaUPqH1nCK9X6xVYqZ8fHQ8yzDO_cwh5rfkJo2H3rqVfnxU6dcy2EXG985YHKVp5YmwEtdVZlY56_l6qvr7nhqX_lHwbhNetlalOlYJXR7YoE5JpCtQYpRJK-hridhC/s320/VoltObama-thumb-650x428.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5499877169064481458" /></a><br /><br />President Obama Test Driving the VOLT<br /><br />Please take <a href="http://tonyseba.com/electric-vehicle/oil-energy-independence-%e2%80%93-what-is-the-solar-electric-number/">this link to read more.</a>Emem Asikpo Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00232962122484419249noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6124013507878447483.post-92147180297124419412010-07-28T15:37:00.000-07:002010-07-28T16:30:11.733-07:00Financing Green Energy GrowthI grew up as one of the lucky 250,000 Nigerians that had a NITEL land line before the advent of GSM and cell phones in Nigeria. Today, everyone who can put N2,000 together can get a line and a cell phone.<br /><br />The Obasanjo administration deregulated the telecommunications industry and Nigeria is now awash with telecommunication companies, a booming industry and happy citizens who can now 'complain' about poor service. We need to achieve the same growth and liberalization for the energy sector, particularly electricity. It appears that anything that can be 'pay-as-you-go' would scale in Nigeria.<br /><br />To translate this to electricity and clean electricity at that; we can achieve scale with the right government policy. A first step would be to allow anyone to generate and sell electricity as long as the source of generation is 'clean'. This way we could have neighbourhood estates and villages generating solar power (using concentrated solar panel technology) or wind power to produce energy at source with minimal transmission losses and plant maintenance costs.<br /><br />A second step and one that could create huge demand and a new industry would be the creating of a legislation that would treat green energy home improvements as a mortgage. If there is a government policy is instituted that would allow citizens or businesses that install solar generation or wind generation systems to get tax credits at a better rate than current mortgage tax credit, we would immediately unlock bank funds and harvest the low hanging fruits of rich people who currently use N2-N3M silent generators. By providing financing and tax credits, these customers will be the early adopters of the technology on a large scale and progressively wean us off fossil fuel generating sets.<br /><br />It will like the mobile phone business create new companies, jobs, innovations, businesses and added services that we do not have now because electricity does not exist. The cost for early adopters will be high but as the technology and services become more available, we will naturally follow Moore's law; the same way mobile phones followed Moore's law, service and phones became twice better but cost twice cheaper every 18-24 months.<br /><br />If we can make it relatively 'painless' for early adopters to afford green energy in Nigeria, then we will be well positioned to leapfrog to the new 'green' energy world and bring on board virtually all Nigerians to reliable, available energy in the next 10 years, the same way the mobile phone industry has provided communication to virtually all Nigerians within the same time frame.Emem Asikpo Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00232962122484419249noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6124013507878447483.post-24550736655725674912010-07-26T10:31:00.000-07:002010-07-26T11:27:00.193-07:00BOP: Designs for 2 X10^9 PeopleBOP = Bottom of the pyramid. More than 40% of humanity live on less than $2 a day and this population lacks access to the marvels of technology and the opportunities this access brings. As technologies explode and prices halve while efficiencies and speed doubles, we are entering into an era of abundance where products and services are becoming more affordable. <br /><br />India is taking the lead in this arena by designing specifically for people with low incomes. The Nano car and the newly unveiled $35 laptops (http://bit.ly/9RqF5a) are just examples of this new wave. As products become cheaper and more accessible, people have the opportunity to have more control over their lives and increase their capacity to do more for themselves. <br /><br />The role of governments therefore in this era is to provide the basic services that are necessary for the citizenry to avail themselves of these technologies. Energy again is the core. We must provide universal access to energy at an affordable and environmentally sustainable price. Making available 1KWHr of energy for every household for at least 10 hrs pay day would power 6 LED light points, 2 ceiling fans or 1 room heater, 1 refrigerator (for food preservation), 1 television, 1 radio, 1 computer that would connect every individual to the world. <br />On this platform, a youth in the remotest village in Nigeria could get a world class education on Wikipedia or at MIT http://ocw.mit.edu/index.htm or other available open source education portal, for free and without having to leave his village!<br /><br />But to achieve this we must provide access to electricity for all. Not by declaring a state of emergency but by clearly defining targets, communicating these targets and working together to achieve them. By 2012, the $35 laptop will be available around the world, by 2015 we might be struggling to get kids to use pen and paper because laptops will cost $20. But will we in Nigeria and Africa have the electricity to power them on? <br /><br />Energy should be at the top of all developmental goals for developing countries. Providing energy is the bedrock for designing for the BOP. It is a huge market and India leads the way in recognizing this, Nigeria as a NET energy Exporter needs to lead in providing energy solutions for the BOP.Emem Asikpo Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00232962122484419249noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6124013507878447483.post-57549696010580814312010-07-23T10:10:00.000-07:002010-07-23T10:28:42.703-07:00Energy The Key: To Unlock the Benefits of Exponential Technologies for SubSahara Africa.The statistics are alarming and heart breaking. More than 50 years after independence and despite numerous development projects, 79% of people in sub-Sahara Africa do not have access to electricity. And most of the 21% that have access do not have constant reliable 24hr a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year access.<br />It is estimated that the amount of energy consumed in one day in all sub-Saharan Africa, minus South Africa, is approximately equal to the daily consumption in New York City. The problem is most acute in sub-Saharan Africa, with several entire nations there effectively non-electrified. In 11 African countries, more than 90 percent of people go without electricity. In six of these -- Burundi, Chad, Central African Republic, Liberia, Rwanda and Sierra Leone -only 3 to 5 percent of people can readily obtain electric power.<br /><br />Energy drives everything and without access to electricity, people will be unable to harness the full benefits the exponential technologies that is changing our world and would accelerate more changes in the near future. African countries should therefore focus on providing access to energy for all citizens. Opportunity exists in green technology to provide decentralized off the grid clean energy solutions. The success of the cell phone revolution in sub Sahara Africa points to the viability of standalone decentralized systems in the region. This model be deployed for energy and the use of solar, wind and biomass energy sources for home and community power generation should become ubiquitous.<br /><br />Approximately every two years, the cost of a laptop is halved while the speed is doubled, observing and utilizing this trend, it is possible that solutions in the clean energy space could mimic this growth. Sub-Sahara Africa cannot afford wait until a solar panel costs $10 but we should start now to utilize this solution and build our economy so that in the future we too can contribute to technology and benefit from the growth of technology. Without addressing the energy problem, we cannot fully participate in the development trends and opportunities available to the world at this time.Emem Asikpo Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00232962122484419249noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6124013507878447483.post-92057216026085743632010-07-17T19:50:00.000-07:002010-07-17T20:45:23.296-07:00Exponential Technologies and Sub Sahara AfricaToday I made a presentation at Singularity University, NASA Ames California about the 6th goal in the MDG. Target 6B states in summary: Achieve, by 2010, universal access to treatment for HIV/AIDS for all those who need it. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Millennium_Development_Goals) As of today, it is estimated that only 42% of people worldwide who are living with HIV/AIDS have access to treatment. <br />In sub-sahara Africa, there are many USAID and other NGO initiatives to grant access to treatment but most candidates do not avail themselves of the opportunities because they do not know their status. Most people only get tested when they already have symptoms of full blown AIDS. Despite the spread of the disease, people living with HIV/AIDS experience stigmatization and inadequate support from society and even loved ones and thus they sometimes lose the fight for their lives when they need it most.<br /><br />I believe that we are experiencing exponential growths in technology and the dissemination of these technologies would be global because to global access to the internet. As Sub Sahara African (SSA) countries fix their energy problems, the use of internet services including smart phones will become ubiquitous.<br /><br />Sub Sahara Africa is uniquely positioned to benefit from the green energy revolution due to the lack of on-grid electricity in most areas. By 2020, solar and wind energy solutions will come cheap and in a box. Solving the energy problem will grant SSA cheap access to internet networks and platforms where people can get world class education from the comfort of their homes.<br /><br />Innovations in 3-D printing and rapid automated manufacturing (http://www.weareacasa.com/) would revolutionize home construction and by 2025, the average time to build a functional home in SSA would be seven (7) days.<br />Trends in bioinformatics and biotechnology will produce biovores- disease eating cells- which will work with white blood cells to actively target and destroy disease bearing viruses and organisms. Respiravores - red blood cells- and regenerative cells will be created by bio engineering to replace damaged cells and speed up healing and regeneration of damaged tissues. By 2025 crowd sourced platforms like GoogleHealth (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Google_Health) would have user reported health information and high value medical information that people would make intelligent medical decisions on common problems.<br /><br />Building off these technologies, artificial intelligence through robotics and super computing, would allow the creation of intelligent primary care doctors who can diagnose illness with the aid of reports from user home test kits and symptoms analysis over smart phones. All these and more would be available by mid 2030's but to be part of this revolution SSA has to make tremendous progress in fixing her energy problems within the next decade.Emem Asikpo Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00232962122484419249noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6124013507878447483.post-32504468908817628642010-06-23T20:57:00.000-07:002010-06-23T21:21:04.452-07:00UPCYCLE: Using Technology To Make Waste Management Profitable For AfricaWe have had many initiatives in the management of waste. From waste conservation, reuse to recycle. The more recent and innovative approach to waste management now is Upcycle. A process where the end life of a product is planned before the product is manufactured. <br />For instance before a new paper sheet is manufactured, the manufacture could arrange for the buyer who would get the used paper for recycling into storage cartons and also ensures that the consumer is able to (with minimum effort) effectively manage the intermediate role of buyer and seller.<br /><br />This process seems difficult or impossible, but with the use of technology, this is actually achievable. Africa with a non manufacturing economy could utilise this niche to become a middleman for producers and recyclers to complete the upcycle process. We could also early on design our manufacturing and distribution processes to be more waste efficient and Upcycle ready. This could be an advantage for us as a late entrant to the economy as we can use newer and more efficient technology to operate greener, cleaner and more efficient systems.<br /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">Full Disclosure: I am a student of Singularity University GSP10. This post draws from some discussions and ideas shared among fellow students at the institution.</span>Emem Asikpo Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00232962122484419249noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6124013507878447483.post-39592261912427774442010-06-11T07:42:00.000-07:002010-06-11T07:59:40.131-07:00Heading To Singularity UniversityAwesome and unbelievable. I am heading to Singularity University in NASA Ames California for the GSP 10 summer program (http://singularityu.org/). I am one of four Africans in a class of 80 young leaders and entrepreneurs from around the world.<br /><br />I got to hear about Singularity University (SU) through an Alumni of Federal University of Technology Owerri (FUTO) in the USA - Dr. Ndubuisi Ekekwe. This guy is an awesome lover of Humanity and Africans in particular. He has been running a series of Technology workshops to promote technology use for problem solving in Africa.<br /><br />We had an interesting conversation on how technology could be used to solve Africa's problems from hunger to poverty, ethics, human rights to housing and I was really excited to learn how we could use this to impact our continent and the world. I understand from the GSP09 alumni that the school is a mind blowing experience. <br /><br />My visas are in order, tickets bought, attending teleconferences and heading out to California to change the world!!! Will keep you all posted on my progress. Hope will get to watch the world cup while changing the world!!!!Emem Asikpo Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00232962122484419249noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6124013507878447483.post-27936360770877269072010-01-21T00:10:00.000-08:002010-01-21T00:56:27.062-08:00Dirge of The Praise SingersIn recent times, the good governor of Akwa Ibom state, His Excellency Obong Godswill Akpabio has been deluged with praise singers both at home and abroad. He has been inundated with sycophants who have praised him to high heavens, commended him for building roads and completing abandoned projects. What these praise singers have not told him is that it is expected of him to build roads. If he does not build roads then what would he spend the $2 Billion state budget on?<br /><br />On completion of abandoned projects, we could first debate if such projects were abandoned in the first place. Just because a former governor could not complete the construction of a particular project within 4 years of his term does not mean the project was abandoned. If we retain this mental attitude, then we will not be able to deliver ambitious projects like London’s Heathrow terminal 5, which was conceptualized in 1989 but completed 17 years later in 2006! And became operational two years later in 2008!!!!<br /><br />We will always have praise singers and jesters in the king’s court, but the danger lies where the king takes his jesters too seriously especially the one who keeps telling him that he will conquer all his enemies. The king should however keep close that jester who once in a while reminds the king that he has a large nose and his ears might be a bit too small!!! <br /><br />For all the praise singers, I have only advice for His Excellency Godswill Akpabio - Remember Abacha's wife. I was a fresh university graduate when I went to Abuja to look for work. I was told that to get anything in Abuja you must belong to the Kanu led youth for Abacha club. Every young person in Abuja was talking about the first family, the first lady, Abacha the redeemer, the savior, the man with the cap that fits etc. And every single visible space was filled with his pictures and that of his wife. Just like AKS is filled with yours now. I left Abuja convinced that I could not do a civil service job. I was not created for such levels of ass licking. <br /><br />Barely a month after my Abuja trip, Abacha died. Across the country young people went on the streets to celebrate. People closed down streets and partied till daybreak. The next morning Abuja was in confusion. But I will never forget the statement attributed to Mrs. Abacha (reported by the various youth leaders who rushed to Aso Rock to console the first family) ' So Nigerians Hated Us this Much'. That is what she said.<br /><br />Your Excellency Sir you shall live a long and prosperous life to serve your people. Your story is one of a man who has overcome great adversity to achieve outstanding leadership. You have been given a unique opportunity in history. Your story is a consolation to every struggling mother in Ibibio land. People say 'That was the son the family rejected, if he can be governor, then my child will be something in this life'. When we hear your story how you struggled with lack but held on to your believe in education and kept going to school even when all odds were against you, we are encouraged to keep striving for literacy. We admire you Sir for promoting free education in our state and we are encouraged by your advocacy for relief for pregnant women, children and the elderly by providing free health care to this vulnerable group of people. Your audacity to stand against and win the mighty political machinery and the conventional wisdom in Nigeria that the incumbent leader (governor or president) is the only one that can anoint his successor, proved that indeed democracy has come to stay in our land and we will keep improving the process and continually reap the benefit of having a form of government that is of the people, by the people and for the people.<br />In this brief discuss, you can see Sir that history has already painted you in a good light and you shall be remembered fondly by many. Yet Sir, your falling under the spell of sycophants will undo all this good work. Cloak yourself with the humility of Fashola. Put your nose to the grindstone. Hire a few real critics especially those who live in Nigeria. People whose job it is to tell you on a daily basis the truth…… That you are not doing enough considering the billions that enters the covers of AKS on a daily basis. That creating a privileged class of people who are personal Assistants (PA) to a PA who is a PA to a PA of the PA who is the governor's PA is not empowerment. It is enriching people without allowing them create value and it is a sheer waste of human talent not to speak of the state money!!!<br /><br />And you will do well Sir to hold a town hall meeting to address those young folks that pelted you with pure water sachets. They I believe have an answer to how you can win our hearts again. We AKS people want to love you, we connect with your story and we believe in you but we think that you are wasting time and resources campaigning for a second term while leaving the work of the first undone. Execute the Mandate that we gave you. Write your name in the sands of history of our state and our nation, as a minority in Nigeria, I understand the challenges you face as a minority in AKS. But dear Sir times have changed. The youths will deliver the votes and we don’t care about Ibibio or Annang, we don’t even understand what it means, we care about our future and a lasting legacy and dear Sir contrary to whatever your praise singers will tell you, in AKS the great governors of our state still remain: Dr. Clement Isong and Idongesit Nkanga. <br /><br />You need to up your game to be included in this list and you will not achieve this feat by plastering your face across the landscape of our land and the praise songs of sycophants is a dirge in the ears of the citizenry.<br /><br />God bless Akwa Abasi Ibom State and Long Live the Federal Republic Of Nigeria.Emem Asikpo Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00232962122484419249noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6124013507878447483.post-83177116221545447362008-08-04T01:04:00.000-07:002008-08-04T01:48:02.809-07:00Of Prayer Houses & Assignments...<strong>Persecution Delusions and Prayer Houses:</strong> At every point in time, we are always persecuted by someone or some force. Someone is always after us, someone is always working overtime to do us in and most times the prayer houses are ready to point out this ‘someone’ to be a family member, close friend or associate. These prayer houses never offer solutions beyond expensive ‘assignments’ and advise to steer clear of the persecuting ‘someone’.<br />Someone asked me what assignments are. Assignments in prayer houses could be compared to the recipes one gets from the traditional ‘juju’ doctor for his ‘spiritual’ concoctions. Depending on the whims or wishes of the prayer house ‘pastor’ these assignment condiments would range from food items to requests for even a motorcar. Below are some lists:<br /><strong>‘Victim’ needs to pass the national exams for university admission:</strong><br />1 Lantern, 10 litres of kerosene, 1 bottle of olive oil, 6 80-leaves exercise books, N500 cash.<br /><strong>‘Victim’ needs a job or promotion</strong><br />N5, 000 to prepare water for spiritual bath that will ‘clear’ the man’s destiny, 1 packet of biro pens, half dozen fresh coconuts, one dozen eggs and a feast of rice to celebrate the impending job offer.<br /><br />From the foregone, you can easily deduce your own ‘lists’ for assignments and to make it sound spiritual, the victim will be told to fast for a full day or 12 hours a day for 3-7 days depending on the ‘severity’ of the spiritual attacks. The most abused victims are women especially those seeking for the ‘fruit of the womb’. In addition to numerous fasting and assignments, some ‘men of God’ recommend ‘spiritual cleansing’ of the reproductory canal and one of the tools for this cleansing – among others- is the penis of the ‘pastor’.<br /><br />Why do we still fall for such abuse and falsehoods? Most of it is because we seek the ‘easy’ way out and these prayer houses exploit this laziness and leave us worse off than when we went there to seek for help! They ascribe everything physically wrong with us to ‘spiritual attack’. They separate our people from family and friends effectively cutting us away from the love of family and the counsel of friends. They fill our heads with phantoms and delusions that our people are unable to separate fantasy from reality. And the worst of their sins is that they take precious TIME away from us.<br />Our people spend too much time to confront their ‘perceived’ spiritual persecutors. Not face-to-face, you are expected to fight this phantom in the spiritual, thus our people spend countless hours at mid night (when witches fly) to fight these phantoms and wake up the next day without adequate rest. This of course impacts their performance at work for the rest of the day. They cannot focus to deliver their best, they therefore receive sub standard reward for their labour, then blame their failures on more phantoms, spend more time chasing them at night and the cycle continues.<br /> Prayer is a good thing so why don’t we spend more time communing with God for solutions and breakthroughs and leave the fighting to Him? If the advice to steer clear of the persecutor is heeded, we have a situation where family relationships are strained, friendships lost and associations broken. We live in a lot of distrust of one another and in this atmosphere, it is impossible to collaborate, share knowledge, pool resources and ideas to create solutions to life’s challenges. These delusions have effectively put a wedge between us and the activities of the prayer houses have widened the gulf.Emem Asikpo Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00232962122484419249noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6124013507878447483.post-28608237107927339462008-07-11T00:51:00.000-07:002008-07-11T01:15:26.504-07:00The Economic & Political Emancipation... Part IIAs part of my education, I read various books but found no information especially in books written by Nigerians about Nigeria. I then left the history books to see what the popular media said about us. In every TV show, the ‘Calabar’ man was depicted as the houseboy or the gateman. He was subservient, without imagination, ridiculed and dominated. This was the picture the media fed us in ‘The New Masquerade’ and ‘Village Headmaster’. Images form pictures in people’s minds and some people live out these pictures in their lives. I therefore stopped blaming my Calabar brothers for not standing up for our people in that January 1991 Sociology class. <br /><br />It was now time to find out what we said about ourselves. It was worse than what the history books and popular media said about us. Here goes:<br /><br /><strong>Our parents are suspected witches, our parents-in-laws are confirmed wizards</strong>: As a people we are mired down by superstitions. The fear of witchcraft – Ifot- is so strong that our sons and daughters do not even visit home. In a country where per capita income is below one thousand dollars, and unemployment rate is over 30%, it is known and accepted that ‘Ifot’ is the cause of job loss or the lack thereof and not the prevalent economic situation. Ifot is the reason why young men and women die young; no credence is given to the WHO statistics that has pegged the Nigerian’s life expectancy at less than 50 years.<br /><br />A woman who does not give birth to a baby within the first year of marriage is a victim of her mother in law’s witchcraft practise. You see, our witches have perfected the art of eating our babies in the spiritual before they are even conceived. Never mind that most of us are sexually active in our late teens and there are a myriad of sexually transmitted diseases which many young people contract and these when not properly treated (as in most cases they are not), due to ignorance, poor health care facilities and sheer stigmatisation, these infections do lead to infertility in adult life. We do not confront these issues, neither do we study their effects, we feed our mental laziness by throwing up our hands in the air and blaming it all on the unknown and unseen ‘Ifot’.<br /><br /><strong>Persecution Delusions and Prayer Houses</strong>: At every point in time, we are always persecuted by someone or some force. Someone is always after us, someone is always working overtime to do us in and most times the prayer houses are ready to point out this ‘someone’ to be a family member, close friend or associate. These prayer houses never offer solutions beyond expensive ‘assignments’ and advise to steer clear of the persecuting ‘someone’.<br /><br />There is a story about a pastor that started a church in our state. During counselling sessions, his parishioners came with complaints of various uncles, aunties, parents, co-workers and even neighbours who were against them and were about to do them in. The poor pastor was overwhelmed with all the reports of hatred and fear as some of the people, whom the ‘victims’ were complaining about, were also his parishioners and some of these parishioners also felt themselves to be victims also.<br /><br />He then held general prayer meeting to ‘exorcise’ the tormenting spirits, which planted these thoughts of persecution in his parishioners’ minds. The poor church folks were not satisfied. They demanded ‘Spiritual Assignments’. The pastor was confused and asked what assignments meant. Well the definition of assignment will be a subject in my next post.Emem Asikpo Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00232962122484419249noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6124013507878447483.post-31753684214261925512008-07-10T06:29:00.000-07:002008-07-10T06:34:38.465-07:00Towards The Political and Economic Emancipation of The Peoples of the Old Calabar Province – Akwa Ibom StateSelf Awareness<br />I believe the time for the economic and political emancipation of the peoples of Akwa Ibom state and the Niger Delta of Nigeria has come. The manifestation of this actualisation will only become evident when we spread the good news, talk about it always and live our lives as free and empowered people. I have therefore undertaken this journey and I commit to writing a series of essays on the topic: Towards the Political and Economic Emancipation of the Peoples of Akwa Ibom State. In this first essay, I invite you to share my thoughts on the impact of Self Awareness in our political and economic emancipation.<br /><br />January 1991. School of Engineering, Federal University of Technology, Owerri, Imo State. SOC 101 Class. On this day, I for the first time addressed in my consciousness ‘The Nigerian Question’. My teenage soul was pricked and I battled to comprehend the place of the ‘Calabar’ man in the Nigerian polity. It started off as a discussion on the Nigerian civil war and escalated to a name-calling duel. Our SOC 101 lecturer made a statement that Biafra would have won the Nigerian Civil War if the ‘Calabars’ and ‘Rivers’ people had supported the war effort. I was born a few years after the civil war, in fact my parents had not met each other until after the war but the war had been a great part of their experience and early life and my father told us some of his experiences. It was one of this experience that I shared in the Sociology class to prove to my fellow students that Biafra had been a South East struggle and not merely an Igbo war. At the outbreak of hostilities, my father was an engineering student at UNN and he remembered working at night with other students to clear the camouflage from the Biafran airstrip so that planes carrying arms and mercenaries could land and take off. If students could do such menial work as removing fake palm trees from runways, then lets leave to the imagination what they could have used their fertile brains to achieve in the science labs. In that class, based on what my father had told me, I argued that the minority tribes of the South Eastern Region had supported the war effort but in defeat, the Igbos took ownership of Biafra and viewed it as a personal loss instead of a collective defeat. I ventured to add that a ‘Calabar’ man Col. Effiong was the officer who signed the article of surrender that ended the civil war.<br /><br />This last contribution was the last straw that broke the proverbial camel’s back. My fellow students went berserk. They called me, my family, tribe and the peoples of the old ‘Calabar’ province names including but not limited to: cowards, emasculated men, lazy bones, idiots, houseboys etc. At this point, I am ashamed to say; I gave in to emotion at the sheer force of their hatred and wept. No one comforted me, the few ‘Calabar’ students, all of whom were male stayed rooted to their seats, not a word of comfort, no sound of protest, no shoulder to soak my tears, no mass walk out, nothing! Just a studied silence, maintaining the status quo in the face of the majority, hiding in the crowd, not seen, not heard, inconsequential, unimportant and not worthy of note. On that day, I made up my mind to commence a journey of self-discovery and know who I was, where I came from and what motivated my brothers to stay silent in the face of such humiliation and disgrace of their tribe and if we as a people had a place in the Nigerian nation.<br /><br />I began my search in our history books. This is the summary of the history of Nigeria as taught to me in Primary and Secondary schools:<br />Independence: Awolowo, Azikiwe, Tafawa Balewa, Enahoro etc fought for our independence, it is in recent times that I got to hear of the works of a ‘Calabar’ Independence activist Eyo Uyo.<br />Economy: Groundnut form North, Cocoa from West, Timber from Sapele, Rubber from Benin. Even as late as the eighties no mention is made of Crude oil.<br />Politics boils down to a song taught to me in primary school in the early eighties: <br /> Ojukwu wanted to separate Nigeria<br /> Gowon said Nigeria must be one<br /> We are fighting with General Gowon<br /> To keep Nigeria one<br /><br />The above song encapsulates the story of a three-year civil war. No mention of the casualties. There is no word on the human suffering. No one says anything about the bravery of a ‘Calabar’ Colonel- abandoned by a defeated Ojukwu who fled Biafra rather than surrender to the Nigerian forces- this officer faced with a demoralised, ill equipped army, the bloated stomachs of kwashiorkor children, a cruelly effective Nigerian food blockade, had the courage and human compassion to negotiate a dignified surrender to the Nigerian forces. No word is said about this man who perhaps single handedly, saved a generation of Igbos from possible death by starvation. It was reported that at Colonel Effiong’s funeral, an Igbo man proposed that a major airport in Igbo soil be named after the late Colonel, I am sure that this proposal is being seriously considered but more than two years later, there is no Colonel Effiong airport in Igboland or Nigeria for that matter.Emem Asikpo Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00232962122484419249noreply@blogger.com9