The popular nursery rhyme reverberates…


“Some like it hot

Some like it cold

Some like it in the pot nine days old”.


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.



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.



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.



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.



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.

* This article was originally published in Nigerian TELL Magazine Online

Vote: Imman Nyin Eke Vote

I see you the weeping mother
of children abducted, brutalised and murdered
anguished and hopeless for life wasted
mumbling and lamenting in your helplessness

I see you the young man
struggling for years to find a job
to make ends meet, to start your family
to prove your mettle, to be a man

I see you the youth
opening your eyes to reality
of the cruelty of the world
and wondering if there is any point in trying so hard

Ntoeka mukit ke enyin esit me
for I am you and you are me
your pain is mine and your injury hurts me
Idara aya di ke usiere

We have a voice and let no one tell us any different
Our vote is our voice and we will use it
walk past the army tanks, circumvent the police road blocks
cover your heads against the rain and go to the polls

They seek to divide us with age old hatred
how can they turn me against the breasts of my annang wife
how can anyone seperate me from the strong bosom of my Ibibio man?
It is not about my tribe, it is about those who use their power to silence me.

But I have a voice and I will speak
I will go to the polls and speak the voice of God.
I will vote my conscience and make sure my vote counts
I have found my voice and I will never again be silenced

IBM - The New Next Five in Five - United States

IBM - The New Next Five in Five - United States

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.

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.

Tell Magazine & The Sun Newspaper

Some more publications on Nigeria's Tell Magazine and The Sun newspaper.

Tell Magazine: Preparing For A Technology Revolution

Sun Newspaper: Nigeria Will Be a Major Technology Hub

Financing Green Energy Growth

I 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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

BOP: Designs for 2 X10^9 People

BOP = 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.

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.

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.
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!

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?

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.

Energy 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.
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.

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.

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.

Dirge of The Praise Singers

In 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?

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!!!!

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!!!

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.

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.

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.
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!!!

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.

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.

God bless Akwa Abasi Ibom State and Long Live the Federal Republic Of Nigeria.

Of Prayer Houses & Assignments...

Persecution Delusions and Prayer Houses: 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’.
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:
‘Victim’ needs to pass the national exams for university admission:
1 Lantern, 10 litres of kerosene, 1 bottle of olive oil, 6 80-leaves exercise books, N500 cash.
‘Victim’ needs a job or promotion
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.

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’.

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.
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.
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.

The Economic & Political Emancipation... Part II

As 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.

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:

Our parents are suspected witches, our parents-in-laws are confirmed wizards: 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.

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’.

Persecution Delusions and Prayer Houses: 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’.

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.

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.