₦airaland Forum

The Scientific Ingenuity of Anambrarians

By Emeka Anike Paul
News Tap
29th April 2019



As our old fable tells, it was Phoenix, the fearless bird, that sprouted from mighty tongues of fire to answer a flock of birds who wanted to know what kept it well and strong in the same fire that consumes every bird it meets. He answered them saying: it is not the fire that kills the birds but the fear in the birds that the fire could kill. A fable though but with realistic references, nevertheless! The can-do spirit of Anambrarians has proven that what doesn't scare a man can rarely kill him.


No doubt, Nigeria in general is abundantly blessed. Often do we talk about the abundance of these nature's gifts in the areas of assorted mineral resources and rich, arable land. Sadly, seldom do we celebrate the prowess and ingenuity of the sons and daughters of the land who have successfully inscribed their names in the sand of time through hard work and sheer perseverance. From as far back as history can remember, even before the creation of the state, the people of Anambra are never short of exceptionally endowed individuals in every sphere of life. For the sake of posterity and to instill a sense of unwavering moral rectitude in generations to come, we are spurred to tell the stories of our hard work in this first of its kind event of 100 Anambra Achievers Celebration.


It was not by chance that people looked upon Anambra state at the moment of birth, at the wee hours of 27th August 1991 and described it as the ‘Light of the Nation’. Let me take a pinch of the moment to emphasize that not a foot of the over 4,844km2 of this state is left out in the nature’s bounty – if it is not natural gas, it will be crude oil or bauxite or ceramic that will complement the awesomeness of the arable land. It is this arable land that has repeatedly empowered successive governments of Anambra state to effectively execute different agricultural intervention schemes that have significantly reduced Nigerians' quests for some imported food items such as rice. Since the wake of this, Anambra has positioned itself as the leading state in rice production with numerous rice mills that are continuously fed with locally produced rice, one of which is the 80,000 metric tons modern mill, located at Omor in Ayamelum LGA.


Interestingly, everything that is given in terms of natural resources is doubled many times over in terms of human ingenuity and resourcefulness. We are talking about men and women who will never come to terms with the hopelessness of any situation but rather maintain a glued fist on any dot of green light to make a mountain of genuine opportunities from a situation that would otherwise be considered hopeless. If given a chance to lay hands on clay, they turn it to gold. They take pride in their beliefs and subsequent proof that success is never lenient with sufficient startup but sufficient will to attract and retain it. Barely 50 years ago, these erudite scholars, distinguished inventors and notable entrepreneurs were wading in the ashes of the civil war, which destroyed everything we once had except hope, courage, purpose and perseverance. But like the phoenix, we sprouted from the ashes to remould our world and tell our own stories by ourselves. Yes! We must tell this story because it is by doing so that we will sustain the culture of hard work and reward for value.


In this special period of our time, we look beyond the fortune and fame, even as they are integral parts of reward for hard work, to recognize the true gift from these achievers to posterity. In the area of science and technology specifically, Anambra has continued to live up to what is expected of it as the Light of the Nation. In this context, light of the continent would be most suitable because all over Africa and beyond, Anambrarians are adding lengths to the last strain of technology. In 1989, emulating bees’ honeycomb construction, Dr. Philips Emeagwali used a-65,000 processors to invent what is today, the world’s fastest computer, performing computations at 3.1 billion calculations per second. There has not been any efficient substitute for his computers in weather forecast and prediction of the possible effects of future global warming.


Born in 1954, before the advent of the war, Emeagwali, like other children of Igbo land, spent part of his teenage years in this our land when it was coloured and scented in the chaka-booms of the war, which led to severe economic drought in the whole of Igbo land. So bad was the situation that Emeagwali’s education was intermittently hampered due to his father’s financial constraints. In the face of these, the can-do spirit of Anambrarians was neither wavered nor slumbered. He is today celebrated all over the world as one of the most famous inventors in America for which he has been honored with numerous awards some of which are Gordon Bell Prize – the Nobel Prize for computation. This is just one out of the numerous examples of our endeavors in distant lands.


At home, we have men and women whose efforts have redefined the narratives of science and technology, not only in Nigeria but Africa as a whole. If someone had predicted 40 years ago that there will be a flow of top-notch, indigenously manufactured cars from this land to make movement hassle-free on the streets of Africa, perhaps, only a few would have seen an iota of possibility in such prediction. But this is exactly the dream that Dr. Innocent Chukwuma has brought to reality. And beyond the initial imagination, Innoson Motors is not limited to the production of cars but also have strong footing in the designing and production of virtually everything that has to do with vehicle, which include heavy-duty trucks, tractors etc... But for a man like Dr. Chukwuma, vehicles are not enough because through his impeccable ingenuity, he has already shown the sign of a new thing to expect – this was through his roles in the fabrication and supply of jet parts to the Nigerian Airforce.


I will conclude this piece by saying that the “Light of the Nation” attribute is neither a praise nor exaggeration but a statement of fact. Let’s therefore, live to preserve and promote it through celebrating the bests of our bests.


https://newstap.com.ng/the-scientific-ingenuity-of-anambrarians/

Mama D Mama....

Ngozi is one person our young women ought to emulate.

Ysakaws1:
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Close all the gaps

uchefefe:
Hello!

For background, I was born to a Igbo father and a black American mother. I grew up in the U.S., and because my father didn't teach me anything about Nigeria, for the first part of my life I didn't even know I belonged to another culture. As I got a bit older I would question him about things pertaining to Nigeria; his response was "that's not important" or "don't ask such questions, focus on your book instead". At some point I asked him if he spoke another language. He confirmed that he did, but when I asked him to teach me he told me "no one speaks it, instead we just use English" and I accepted that answer.

I had a revelation one day in middle school when eating lunch with one of my friends. Like me she was born in the U.S., but had Chinese parents. We had gone to school together for nearly 10 years, so I was shocked when one day she picked up a phone call from her grandmother and spoke to her in fluent Chinese. When I questioned her on how she learned, she told me that her parents had been teaching her. That way, if she ever goes to China she won't struggle to communicate with her people, and if she chooses not to go she'll at least be able to talk with her grandparents that don't know English.

This impassioned me and that evening when my father came home from work I begged him to teach me Igbo, even though "no one speaks it". He agreed and taught me simple phrases like "kedu", "afa m bu", and "o di mma". The thing is, which it was nice to know these things I could not actually use them to communicate. I didn't understand Igbo grammar and my vocabulary was limited to basic greetings. When I began asking him the name of household items and chores he became angry with me. He told me I was focusing on Igbo and not my books (even though my grades were great), and that he'll punish me if I keep asking so I stopped.

Getting more so to the point, I'm now a graduate student in my early 20's. While I have tried my best to study Igbo, I have met many frustrations that have led me to investigate Hausa and Yoruba. At this point, it simply pains me that when I meet people from my country, I have no means of communicating with people from my country besides English. I plan on moving to Nigeria in the not-so-distant future, and when I go I want to be fluent is something.

Between the three major languages, the arguments I have for each are:

Igbo
As an Igbo person, it makes sense for me to prioritize my language. I don't want to just sit there confused and lost during family gatherings, I also want to be able to speak to my grandparents who don't understand English well. That's really the only positives of Igbo though, even excluding the past experiences mention above, I've over all become disheartened by the idea of learning the language for a variety of reasons.

Yoruba
One thing I like about Yoruba language is that Yoruba people seem to have put a lot of effort into developing it and teaching it. Most Nigerians I've met in the U.S. that speak a Nigerian language speak Yoruba, despite the fact that I've met mostly Igbo people. In addition, of Nigerians I've met also born in the U.S., only the Yoruba's are able to speak their language. Despite that, my family roots are in the South East. I may be able to speak with more Nigerians by learning Yoruba, but I'll still be disconnected from my family. Yoruba people might seem to have less of a "complex" when it comes to their language than Igbo people, but I have observed it's still there.

Hausa
I've only ever met one Hausa family in the U.S., but from what I've observed in Nigeria they seem to practice their language the most. In addition, it seems like Hausa is a lingua franca for most of the country, and many non-Hausas are fluent in the language. Hausa is one of the few sources I can find unadulterated practice of the language. It's also West Africa's most spoken indigenous languages. It still has the same problems a Yoruba though when it comes to connecting with my family. I also don't know how realistic it is to expect to live in the Northern Part of Nigeria as I have limited experience there.

Like I said, I want to move to Nigeria at some point and that's where I want to raise a family and start a career. When I have children I don't want them to grow up like me. I want them to be connected to their people and be able to communicate with them on a level no other group in the world can. I can tell my children to love and embrace African culture and languages when I know none myself.

I decided to come here for insight from other Nigerians as I have no one to talk to about this in real life. Given everything I've said what do you think I should do? At the end of the day I just want a sense connectivity and belonging among my people. I want to put my efforts into learning a language its speakers wholly embrace so I can pass it on to my children.

Also, I don't intend for this to be tribalistic at all. I would also appreciate if responses avoided tribalistic sentiments.

Connect me on Whatsapp let me teach you Igbo language. I'm not gonna charge you a dime, just a little help I'm willing to offer freely. In a space of 2 months, you will be fluent in Igbo language, depending on your level of commitment tho. See my signature for number.

LadySarah:
Except to look for trouble,the IGBO man sends his kinsman's corpse home for burial Or pays at a cemetary.
That was Why Town hall unions started so your ppl can know the welfare of Their kin.
I think on the land issue for mkt,hmm,everybody is just being careful.HasAnyone preventedYou from selling livestock in the current mkt You are in?

IGBO ama eze,Those kings You are running to have no power over lands in igboland.Meet the families that owns the land not the king.

Igbos have been known to destroy gods that have outlived Their usefulness,ofoziekwa kings installed by them

Lady... Iji-okwu, nne oma

Good for him

Still very much around...

Still very much around

Engr. Emeka Okwuosa is a seasoned engineer, renowned for his exceptional expertise in virtually every field of engineering. He is an administrator, entrepreneur and a visionary leader, with over 33 years of experience in engineering with greatest focus on the following areas: maintenance and operations, teaching, wire-line logging and interpretation, seismic acquisition, processing and interpretation, pipeline engineering, procurement and construction (EPC), project management, drilling and drilling services. Some of these activities span Europe, North Africa, West Africa, Gulf of Guinea/Central Africa and

deepwater:
The black woman needs a complete overhaul of the brain.
we have been pushed to accept that we are made for sex only.

Women are the same everywhere, just that civilization has helped some improve a bit.

Well, it is right to ask people for votes, plead with them if you have to but don't force or threaten them.

Let your voice be heard...

Let your voice be heard...

Let your voice be heard...