Honestly, you can’t blame the African man for being entertainment and not innovation oriented.
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An 8 year -old kid in Japan is exposed to technology even from the womb and when he pops out into the world, he is naturally integrated into his innovation conscious society. It’s no big deal for him.
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An average youth in the US is curious about how things work around him via the instrumentality of technology and science, no matter how minute. He wants to know what gives birds the ability to be suspended in the air, how thoughts can translate into energy, why the sky is blue and suspended above and so forth.
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In Nigeria, our society is entertainment oriented. We want to always play. It’s our escape from suffering.
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Hence, we make celebrities out of comedians.
Music/TV stars are idolised and Sports stars are worshipped.
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But what about the intellectual niche? Bad market. We don’t want. Patapata we will give you a spot on LIB and a classified space in the Punch Newspaper and soon we have forgotten who you are and what you did.
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The danger to this however is the imbalance it creates.
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In the UK / US scientists and innovators in the are celebrated as well as a mentor a hero to thousands.
In Nigeria, the reverse is the case. Intellectual development and innovation is worrisomely low. Little wonder why the best brains have all relocated abroad where beta Obama breeze will blow their brain .
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But then, I remember that hunger is a talent killer. I blame our visionless leaders who took over during independence.
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This strategy of African rulers to starve and make their citizens always hungry through impracticable and inconsistent feeding programmes over the years has worked and it’s still working.
‘ Don’t feed them too much lest they get too strong for us. Keep them humble with hunger’.
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I mean we haff not chop bellefu and you want us to be innovative. Where inspiration wan take miss road untop hungry belle. Hian!
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For us, it is better to fight over whose country jollof rice is better, to creating hash tags such as:
#WifeNotCook
#MarriageIsNotAnAchievement
#MenAreTrash…
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And the cycle repeats itself over and over again. And we are still hungry and happy people.
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# Sighs.
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#IAmSisiMi
