Foremost Nigerian writer and Nobel Laureate, Professor Wole Soyinka warned yesterday in Awka that if reasonable steps were not taken, the current internet revolution would destroy scholarship.

Delivering the 3rd Zik annual lecture at Nnamdi Azikiwe University, " Soyinka said the heavy reliance on internet for academic activities would soon witness the end of books as instrument for mind development and potential building".

According to him, there has been so much decline in writing and reading among the younger generation and urged them not to allow any primordial considerations to hinder them from developing their innate potentials.

He observed that certain traditional, religious and western teachings enslaved Africans from exploiting their environment and potentials, adding that the problems in Nigeria today such as Boko Haram, which could be attributed to poor mental development occasioned by wrong teaching.

Speaking on the theme; “The Magic Lantern, Excursions in the Creative Realm,” Soyinka said that the sun remained the magic lantern of the entire universe which gave life to the earth.

He said that such communication gadgets like computers and IPAD were capable of bringing an end to the culture of book writing and reading, adding that the end point should be how to find a way of collaborating between book writing and use of internet knowledge.

Their partnership, he stated, may have witnessed a revolution in the communication world, but regrettably has essentially destroyed the realm of imagination in young people.

He enjoined the young people to tap their potentials and not allow certain primordial factors within their environment inhibit them.

Special Adviser to President Goodluck Jonathan on Inter Party Affairs, Senator Ben Ndi Obi, who endowed the Zik lecture series, said the project was started three years ago to immortalize Nigeria’s first President, Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe in whom the school was named.

He described the lecture as unique and thought provoking, saying that the theme was one of Soyinka’s enigmatic cum realistic, adding that it was an attempt to unravel same without him it would be like an excursion into oblivion and confusion.

Obi said the lecture series was a turning point in the process of actualization of his childhood dream of immortalizing Zik, explaining that it was for that reason that he endowed N10 million in 2010, with an additional N2 million over a five -year period for research in honor of this “icon and legend of all times”.

Zik’s faith in intellectual resources as a problem-solving, he added, stood tall in all his classical statements and actions as his Lincoln University experience re-affirmed his belief in education as a constructive social force which could be harnessed for social progress.

Chairman of the occasion, Chief Emeka Anyaoku said the lecture was to honour Zik’s legacies and initiatives, adding that people knew him as a great inspirer of nationalism and Africa’s fight against colonialism mainly with his pen, first in Ghana and later, Nigeria.

herald9:
brb to comment

liveyourlife:


FTC stealer
watching you.

AceOfDiamonds:
Its said that if you are trying to hide anything from Nigerians, put it in a book ; they wouldnt bother checking/reading it...

AceOfDiamonds:
Its said that if you are trying to hide anything from Nigerians, put it in a book ; they wouldnt bother checking/reading it...


But seriously,the adverse effects aside,the internet has helped in a plethora of ways which cannot be overlooked

Shoutout to the earlier generations who made it through school without search engines
How they did it,i haven't the faintest of ideas

herald9:

Not always true sir...

At least to people like me...

if you doubt....ask my grandpa how I used to ransack his locker

AceOfDiamonds:


Yes...doesnt apply to all Nigerians though

I also read voraciously ...


Btw,how i wan take reach your grandpa locker naa...he might just have some books for me

AceOfDiamonds:


Yes...doesnt apply to all Nigerians though

I also read voraciously ...


Btw,how i wan take reach your grandpa locker naa...he might just have some books for me

herald9:


We've been reading and writing a lot on Nairaland I don't know where he got the idea that there's a decline in reading and writing.

lanxlot:
we'av reached a stage of no return. we call this era.....computer age.

tpia6:


This is the picture/ photography age.

Everything is based on visuals now, not reading/writing.

liveyourlife:

He said that such communication gadgets like computers and IPAD were capable of bringing an end to the culture of book writing and reading, adding that the end point should be how to [size=20pt]find a way of collaborating between book writing and use of internet knowledge[/size].

herald9:
The only time our professor is wrong.

We've been reading and writing a lot on Nairaland I don't know where he got the idea that there's a decline in reading and writing.
With the introduction of cheap smart phones and cheaper data bundles.. one would think It's an encouragement for we Africans to explore the internet the more; having been previously rated as the most backward continent based on internet use by the West.

If professor thinks otherwise then he must really be high on 1860 books.



my 3coins!

Don't mind that baba.. He's old.. Just because students now challenges their same old methods and junk feedings.. We now asked dem questions they can't handle off hand... We are now councious of our environment and happenings , we are now growing with the space the global world is growing..
Baba with due respect you can now go and face your politics now self.. Eshe pupo..


My 5naira

Dahjhi:


Don't mind that baba.. He's old.. Just because students now challenges their same old methods and junk feedings.. We now asked dem questions they can't handle off hand... We are now councious of our environment and happenings , we are now growing with the space the global world is growing..
Baba with due respect you can now go and face your politics now self.. Eshe pupo..


My 5naira

darne:
This man has a very strong point, i am hoping to become a writer/novelist someday too