₦airaland Forum

(Vist: http://ndibenonso..com/2015/01/archives-new-machine-by-dele-giwa-may-6.html) for original copy)

The New Machine - Dele Giwa
The striking thing about them in the valleys where they sprout in California and Massachusetts in the United States like lettuce in season is that they hate to occupy buildings that are higher than four storeys. They don't like the inner city which perhaps suggests to them the old ways with which they are unfamiliar. For them, the lower the building and the newer the environment, the better. They like to be near their type and stay away from the generality of mankind. You have to speak their tongue to understand them.

Their creators are eccentric, young, renaissant and irreverent. They are made to think and behave like their creators. They are changing the world and they are daring mankind to ignore them. You ignore them at your own peril. They are COMPUTERS. What will mankind do without them? Computers and I have a relationship that will certainly endure for the rest of my life. Once they touch you, computer, you stay touched. Here is the story of how science and I parted ways, and then came back together again whereof I landed on the laps of a computer in Brooklyn, New York. First the parting.

In secondary schools, Nigerian kids are not told why they are forced to offer art and science courses. At least, we were not told in those days at Oduduwa College, Ile Ife. If they had explained to us that the reason we were required to pass English and Mathematics, and a course here and there in both arts and science, was to give us a broad beginning in something called liberal education, we would have perhaps worked harder. All we were told was that we should pass Mathematics and English and six other subjects which you couldn't without taking courses in the arts and the sciences.

I wanted to be a chemical engineer and, if not that, then a shipwrightsman, a ship builder. That was my attitude until my English teacher, a fellow named Mr Sutton, told me that he thought that i would make a better career in an English-related endeavor, hence what I am today, a Journalist. I was lucky way back in 1964 to have made a connection between English and journalism, and not for me the confusion about the choice of a career which carried over into some people's middle ages. It was shortly after Sutton told me to love English that my colleagues and I at the Oduduwa College decided to publish a forthnightly magazine, called The Torch, for the school. Whatever is the pursuit of one's choice, the American University education set-up requires every student to meet certain conditions. In addition to every student passing certain courses in English, he is also required to take courses in the sciences, even if he only wants to get a degree in the arts. And a science student, be he a medical student or an engineering aspirant, is also required to pass a number of courses in the arts.

That's how I returned to science and landed in a computer programming course at the Brooklyn College of the City University of New York. As a candidate for a degree in English, I was required to take a number of credits in the sciences. I was fascinated by the computer, it was a science, and so I took a course in it, and failed. I would always remember, for it was the only course I ever failed in my life. I still love computers. Nobody can go through life without them, or life will not be worth living. That the computer has not made the impression that it should in Nigeria best speaks of Nigeria as a developing country.

To fit into the fast lane of progress, every kid should grow up with the computer. In the future that has already started, computer is the trend setter. Even a journalist, in the brand new world, cannot do without computers. Word processors and typewriters with memories have killed the once irreplaceable manual typewriter.
At Newswatch we obtained some photo-composing equipment made by Compugraphy of the U.S. The brand we ordered was called the 7500. They sent us the Editwriter 7500 II. When they arrived in our offices, we jumped for joy. They were installed, but they refused to work. Why? Nobody could say. After some hours of trying, the technicians who installed the machines, Nigerian "technicians" said the manufacturers had sent the wrong memories for the computer-based equipment. The wrong brains, they said, had been put in wrong bodies. What do I do? I took off for Massachusetts to return the "wrong" brains for the "right" brains. When I got there, a small town called Wilmington outside Boston populated by computer companies, another silicon valley, I was put in a room for three hours to talk to whiz kids - and they are indeed kids - to learn the secrets of the brains which I wanted to return.

They explained carefully that I had the correct brains. The ones I was asked to replace them with, they explained, were old and limited brains. They went on to say that the machines that we bought were better than the 7500's which the Nigerian technicians were familiar with, and were not as versatile as the 7500 II's we had purchased. If we took the ROM brains, being the ones I was asked to collect, we would be cheating ourselves. The RAM brains, which came with our machines, were more up to date. Even those, they painstakingly explained, were already being phased out. Then they painstakingly taught me how to programme the RAM brains. And I returned home with the RAM brains and explained to our technicians. We set about work, and hurrah! the machines flashed. And finally I passed my programming course, establishing a new relationship with the computer.

But the experience depressed me. Why are we always stuck with antiquated technology? Even the 7500 II's are being phased out. The new 8400 series are five years old, yet no one in Nigeria can maintain them, hence they are not marketed here. When are we starting our computer journey? That is the question.

(Dele Giwa, the Editor-in-Chief of Newswatch Weekly Magazine, contributed this article in the May 6, 1985 Edition, Volume 1, No. 14)

Kenai:
I found this picture from a 1985 newspaper cover story talking about Buhari's regime and his eventual defeat at the hands of Babangida.
Please read. It's quite an interesting piece. Very revealing, too.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/B77euFFIgAEFic-.png

The newspaper in question is Concord Weekly (September 12th, 1985), and the story was written by the respected journalist, Prof. Okey Ndibe.

Seems the article was written by Okey Ndibe the popular activist and author.

WisdomFlakes:
He's a square peg in a round hole, coz he's better off in a zoo, being a trained zoologist and all. Nigerians are not animals, so a zoologist is not equipped with the leadership skills to manage humans.

And CATTLE rearer will not rule us because we are not cows.

BUSTED!!!!!!!!!!

Where is the certificate/ I can't see jack.

Mumu. so picture is now certificate.

Mumu. IS THESIS the minimum requirement to contest for presidency?

Buhari provide thy wasc cert!!!!!

Bros do your maths. He was born in 1942 and left secondary school in 1961. That means he was 18 or 19 when he took that photo. The Buhari i'm seeing there is well within the age. He isn't too old.

No be nowadays wey dem dey finish secondary school at 15 or 16.

Ok. Let us chill and await the WASC certificate from his secondary school.

FreeGlobe:
^
lol..... smh

@topic Peter obi should stop embarrassing himself!

How is he embarrasing himself?

Simple Question: Buhari where is thy certificate?

The Trains Are Back - Written by Peter Obi

On Monday, the 23rd of December, 2014, we travelled with the Vice President, His Excellency, Arc Namadi Sambo, GCON to Port-Harcourt. The Vice president was there to flag-off rail transport from Port Harcourt, via Umuahia, to Enugu.

After the flag-off, some of us on the entourage of Mr. Vice President - the Minister of Transport, Sen. Umar Idris; the Governor of Abia State , Chief Thoedore Orji, the SA to the Vice President, Mallam Abba Dabo, the Minister of the Niger Delta, among others, rode with the Vice President in the train from Port Harcourt to the Imo River Station in Imo State. The ride was significant in many ways. Besides confirming the re-birth of rail transport in Nigeria, it has deeper implications for national productivity. Though it was the first time I entered train in Nigeria, but all of us riding in the train remind one that political leaders all over the world use that mode of transport as Mr. Joe Biden used railway regularly for over 30 years as a Senator from his Constituency in Delaware to Washington until he became the Vice President. I look forward to that day our politician will use train to Abuja and I believe we are on our way to getting there. It was indeed a glorious era because I last saw train in Nigeria as an under graduate in the early 80s.

As we rode past several towns, adults and children came out en masse to see the train and wave to the passengers. Observing everything through the window, I said to myself that these people must be in for long conversations later, as it was a mix of the very old and some much younger ones who must be seeing the train for the first time in their lives. I say this because the railways in the country had collapsed for nearly four decades now. But time was when it was a convenient, constant, reliable and very affordable and most secure means of transportation in Nigeria; the way it has remained in some parts of the world. By its very nature, the train is also better in transporting goods from one part of the country to another. Part of the reasons our roads collapsed is because some of the heavy loads that are ideal for the rail are transported by road.

What can be deduced from the foregoing is that civilization is perpetually evolving. Today, the world has, in fact, moved from being a global village to become a global kitchen. Trains now move from one country to another with frightening speed. From behind the key board one can do almost anything conceivable, without travelling from one place to another as used to be the norm. But the point to note here is that nations must be on tip toes to catch up with the speed. If any nation chooses to remain passive, civilization will leave her behind and this is what Nigeria suffered for many years. Oh yes, because for years we seemed to have wings so weak for the flight into the 21st century that we moved from infrastructural stagnation to infrastructural retardation, before finally plunging into the infrastructural decay inherited by the Jonathan era. This is why one can say with certainty that President Jonathan has been facing more challenges than many understand.

Cast your eyes on Nigeria, you will see that this country failed to plan for many years and we are now reaping the fruits of thoughtlessness. Today President Jonathan is working with a holistic template that is transforming everything, backed by focused and continuous planning and re-planning. Nigeria is poised to maintain and surpass the same pace of development we witnessed in the 60.

The way Mr. President manages the country today leaves no one in doubt that he is aware of all that needs to be done and is following a clear sequence in all things. The transformation Agenda is, in itself, an acceptance that many things are bad in the country and that we need radical policies to get the country to where others are in the 21st century. If he was not aware of this he might as well have named as catchword for his Government, Consolidation Agenda or even Sustenance Agenda. The foregoing and more are the reasons why the Jonathan Government appears to have almost started everything anew, since the foundations it met were shaky. Anyone who tries to build on shaky foundations without reinforcing it, will end up with a collapsed building. He did not want that. This informs the building of new railway lines, such as the on-going Abuja-Kaduna line.

One clear area that demonstrates the past failures of government is railway sub-sector of the transport sector. The railways were one of our colonial inheritance that our people have not been able to manage well. Today, the Jonathan government wants to turn the rail lines into arteries of national unity, as they crisscross the nooks and crannies of the nation. Many past Governments spent Billions of Naira in that Sector, but with appallingly limited results. That explains how a sector that used to be one of the highest employers of labour in Nigeria became so problematic that most of its workers had to leave, because they were tired of doing nothing.

Perhaps one should sum it all up by stating for the record that the flag-off of the Port Harcourt line was part of the larger 25-year Railway Strategic Plan comprising rehabilitation of the existing 4000 kilometres old, narrow gauge and the building of standard guage across the country. Out of this, the 1,124 Kilometres Lagos- Kano (western Flap) line passing through Ibadan, Ilorin, Minna and Kaduna is completed and is running 6 times a week. On this, the Minister of Transport, Sen. Umar Idris gave an insight: “On December 2012, we flagged-off the commencement of passenger services and haulage of goods on the Western Line from Lagos – Kano, a distance of 1,124Km. As a result of the restoration of services along that Line, economic activities are being further stimulated, thereby engendering increased confidence in the citizenry.”

The PortHarcourt- Enugu line that is completed is part of the longer, 1657 kilometers Port Harcourt- Maiduguri line. The Markudi-Kafanchan-Jos line, which is part of it will be completed in January to be followed by the Jos- Bauchi- Gombe. This is in addition to the Kafachan-Kaduna line, connecting the Western and Eastern flank, which is also receiving attention and will be completed in January, 2015. The rehabilitation of Zaria- Kaura Namoda ( Zamfara) line used to carry cotton and hide as well as Kano- Nguru lines will be completed in June, 2015. The more interesting thing here is even that, while the rehabilitation of the old, narrow gauge is on going, new standard gauge, which is part of the 25-year Strategic Plan is also going on simultaneously. The Kaduna- Abuja line is 90% completed, remaining the rolling stock which is due for arrival between January and February, 2015. The Warri-Ajaokuta double standard gauge is 95% completed, as only the interchanges are remaining. The contract for the Lagos-Ibadan standard gauge has been awarded.

(Read rest of article here: http://ndibenonso..com/2015/01/the-trains-are-back-written-by-peter-obi.html)

We don’t have Buhari’s credentials - Army
The Nigerian Army has said it is not in possession of the original or photocopies of the credentials of the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress, Maj. Gen. Muhammadu Buhari.

It said at a press conference in Abuja on Tuesday that it had a letter from the Principal of Buhari’s secondary school, dated 1961, recommending him for enlistment into the military school.

Details later…

http://www.punchng.com/news/we-dont-have-buharis-credentials-army/

http://ndibenonso..com/2015/01/just-in-we-dont-have-buharis.html

argon500:
Source: http://www.premiumtimesng.com/news/175270-exclusive-inec-clears-underage-candidates-contest-senate-house-reps-elections.html

mostly northerners. I'm not surprised.

ok. NEXT!!!

Buharists niggers have been BUSTED!!!!

berem:
As a former minister of petroleum,three refineries were built in the government Buhari served.

How many refineries has Dieziani and Jonathan built not to talk of putting the existing and non performing below capacity refineries to order?

Questions for Satanists to answer.

Obasanjo and Murtala built them, not Buhari.

Interesting.

PhockPhockMan:
Which refineries, he built them for your village Abi?

Which yeye refinery? The credit goes to Muritala and Obasanjo who were heads of state then.

And they say GEJ isn't working?

ok.

The intense investment drive of the Governor of Anambra State, Chief Willie Obiano has had a flying start to the New Year as a strong team of international businessmen from Thailand arrived Awka, the Anambra State capital today to take advantage of the growing investment opportunities in the state.
(Read more here: http://ndibenonso..com/2015/01/several-investors-from-thailand-visit.html)

BackDatAssUp:
It is not consolation enough that 12 innocent people lost their lives but the OIC wants to initiate legal action against the satirical French magazine.

The OIC by this action sides and sanctions Islamic Terrorism

islam i just tire for the jihadists.

Justbright:
this won't still stop gej from returning to otuoke come may 30th by latest....he thinks say Nigerians Na mumun abi?since wen did oil price drop for international market.....gej will hear it come febuhari 14

Buhari is going back to his village after february.

The old nigger should shut up and tend to his great grand children.

ibnjarir93:
http://dailytrust.com.ng/sunday/index.php/politics-of-grammar/19359-president-jonathan-s-awkward-grammatical-miscues-on-the-campaign-trail

Can Buhari speak better English than Jonathan?

TunjiMsp:
he is a prophet, and not a god.

JESUS S GOD. Deal with it.

GEJ till Buhari gets his Bsc Certificate.

They may have dressed up as mark of respect to the president. Mr O.P go and take your drugs.

Hungry looking niggers.