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How AIT And Dokpesi Can Help Change "Demoncrazy" In Nigeria
05 November, 2003 02:53:00
By Dr. Wunmi Akintide
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Raymond Dokpesi (Pix: Sola Osofisan)
September 20 was a great day for Nigeria in New York. That was the day the President of the Republic formally launched the A.I.T's global satellite transmission meaning the A.I.T. Studio in Lagos, can now showcase Nigeria and Africa to the World from our own unique perspective unlike before. If A.I.T. can successfully do that, it, sure, can use whatever is good around the world to significantly influence or modify what is going on in our country. I recently watched a DVD video drama titled "ONE DOLLAR." It was a captivating and humorous satire of how the quest for the almighty Dollar and the morbid desire of every Dick and Harry in our country to come to America or get their daughters married to Nigerians already in America.
I nearly cracked my ribs with laughter, but the point I want to make here is the Americanization of Nigeria through entertainment which is truly amazing. Odera and his wife Nne Nneka's Oscar winning performance in that video were truly marvelous and impressive, I might add. If Video entertainment can do that, can you imagine what a global network like A.I.T can do to effectively change our country. That is my preoccupation in this article.
Nigeria, you probably already know, is about the only country on Earth that would send a satellite into space vide a Russian rocket, and keep the news as a top secret even from her own people, until after the satellite was already launched. That is because every Government expenditure and activities are considered top secret in Nigeria even for things that are good and enduring because corruption in high and low places has reached alarming proportions, and has rendered it impossible for any of our Governments State or Federal, to really declare how much has been spent on any project including the construction of High Ways or Bridges like the Third Mainland Bridge, including Public Buildings and landmarks like the Arts Theater Complex at Iganmu, the Muritala Mohammed Airport at Ikeja a prototype of Schipol Airport in Amsterdam or the 8th All African Games just concluded in Abuja in a Stadium whose exact cost is shrouded in total mystery, even as part of its structure was falling apart the very first time it was used. Can you compare that to the Liberty Stadium built by the Awolowo Government at Ibadan? Up till tomorrow, nobody knows how much was spent on Nigerian Peace keeping activities otherwise called ECOMOG or how many Nigerian lives were lost fighting those Wars, because the whole notion of accountability and balancing a Budget is totally foreign to us and our own convoluted notion of public probity in Nigeria. The A.I.T. can begin to help us learn some of the vital lessons that true Democracy is supposed to spread, affirm, teach, and reinforce.
Every day, Monday thru Friday Public Service Television Channel !3 in the United States closes their 7 o'clock newscast by McNeil with a roll call of the latest causalities in Iraq by even showing their pictures one by one. It is the mark of a great Nation to encourage that sort of thing, and to constantly put the feet of the Government in power to the fire In Nigeria, such details are totally unheard off because our Government and our President don't consider it as part of their obligations to the governed to carry the people along in everything they do. Any President in America who is daft enough to tell Americans he knows they are suffering, but they need to suffer now to get a reprieve later, may complete his term, but would never again come back to office. Ours is a Government of secrecy where Presidents routinely doctor legislations passed on to them for signature or veto by the Parliament in the hope that no one will take notice or lift a finger. The climate of Governance in Nigeria is so different from what obtains here, and we need to change that with help from A.I.T. and independent stations like it in Africa.
Take for instance the Budget of 87 billion that President Bush is asking the US Congress to approve, and how much the Iraqi War is costing the American tax payers. The topic is daily debated on television across the country for Americans to know, to the minutest details, how the President and the Government in Power is keeping his promise to the voters and the American People at large. All Cable Television Stations across America have joined hands to sponsor two C-Span stations one and two, to daily bring to Americans, in the comfort of their living room and bedrooms, how the President is doing his job and how the two arms of the Congress are meeting their obligations to the Governed. If that was happening in Nigeria, there is no way, Obasanjo would have been reelected in the so-called landslide we all witnessed last May. American Government is a very transparent and proactive Government where current issues and problems facing the country are dissected and analyzed with a view to finding a solution by consensus. Left to George Bush, he might want to behave just like his counterpart in Nigeria, but the Media and stations like the CNN and so many others across the country would just not let him. The A.I.T. can begin to do that for Nigeria as much as possible is all I am saying.
I have been watching with profound interest the current debates on Television on the Medicare Legislation, and how it impacts everybody and especially the senior citizens in America. As a Political Science major in my Ph.D., I see the intensity and the enthusiasm and seriousness with which leaders in Congress on both sides of the Isle take their job. You listen to new majority leader in the Senate, Bill Frist and John McCain and ranking members like Senator Durbin, Senator Ted Kennedy of Massachusetts and Senator Diane Feinstein of California, and you just have to shake your head when you compare what is happening here with what is happening in our neck of the woods in Nigeria. All you hear is how our Legislators also known as Law breakers in both the House and the Senate are only interested on how much money they are able to make in Furniture and other allowances including the allocation of multiple cars to senate President and his Deputy not to talk of Majority Leader in our nation's House of Assembly The recent scandal blown open by a Federal Minister of the Federal Territory which has been a veritable conduit pipe for our leaders both civilian and military to mercilessly and heartlessly plunder our country without any conscience, is simply mind-boggling.
In more civilized countries around the world, both the Senate Deputy President and the Majority leader Swingina should, at least, by now have recused themselves, if they had any honor and integrity to let the investigation into their alleged corruption take its full course for better or for worse. In the meantime, the Lord of the Manor himself, the President of the Republic, and the man who has made fighting corruption his major goal of coming to office for the third time in eleven years is yet to make any public statement as to his personal, if not official views, on how the top echelon of his ruling Party is disgracing our country and carrying on. You would think the leadership of the PDP would have learnt some lessons from the Omisore disaster. The murder suspect Omisore was not only allowed to contest as Senator, he was like others in the Party elected Senator following a massive rigging of elections every where and most especially in Esa Oke the home town of Bola Ige the erstwhile Chief Law Enforcement officer of the Government led by the same President. It was an outrage of colossal dimension to say the least.
I, for one, I am closely watching the activities of some of our friends and colleagues who had lived in America for years and actually studied here, and are now being given the opportunity to being appointed to the Nigerian Senate or the House of Representatives in Abuja or at the State level. I know of two such Nigerians I would like to mention in this article. The first is one Jumoke Ogunkeyede of New York, a man I would have loved to see as the new Governor of Osun State because I know him very well and his track record as a Nigerian patriot, and a truly gifted Nigerian who would easily have been elected to any office in a heartbeat in New York where he has made his mark. Unfortunately, he joined the wrong party and probably started on a wrong footing by asking to be Governor despite his financial limitations. I am not sure he was able to go beyond the Primary stage before he was dropped. The second Nigerian is one Abegunde "Abena" a cousin of mine I am proud to mention in this write-up. He had lived many years in Baltimore, Maryland, before deciding to go run for public office in Akure on the platform of the PDP. Many had expected Abena was going for one mission impossible or a dog dream at best, as the PDP has never won in Ondo State. But Abena took a chance and he is today the Honorable representing Akure in the House of Representatives in Abuja. I just wonder what Abena is going to do to break out of the pack as someone trained or educated in America. Is he going to be infected by the "Nigerianitis" virus which often turns ideologue returnees into hoodlums, and "Egunje" sharing law makers as soon as they hit Abuja. or is he going to behave like one of the men he succeeded as Honorable in Akure? I am talking of the one and only late Olaiya Fagbamigbe of blessed memory. Olaiya Fagbamigbe, one of the best Akure and Nigerian Law makers you will ever know, was the first of our leaders in living memory, to create and hold a Constituent Consultative Committee meetings with those who elected him. He was already a very successful Book Publisher in Nigeria before winning a seat to the House. He was the very best of what is good in our society. Even though he was regretfully murdered in cold blood in 1983 following the 1983 Omoboriowo day light Election Rigging in Akure, Fagbamigbe was a solid gold. He would for ever live in our cherished memories because he was easily the best, if the truth must be told.
Having said that, I want to now articulate how Raymond Dokpesi and the A.I.T really come into all of this debate on how our own version of Demoncrazy can begin to be whitewashed or modified to maintain some parity with Democracy else where in the civilized world.
I was an eye witness and one of the 1,500 guests at the launching of the .A.I.T's global Satellite Television in the American continent at the Donald Trump Grand Hyatt Plaza at Grand Central, New York City. Dokpesi the President and CEO in a welcome speech to the President and all the distinguished guests at the occasion had promised the A.I.T. was going to be the CNN of Nigeria. Like the CNN, the A.I.T. was going to showcase Nigeria to the world. What Dokpesi did not quite articulate at the occasion, but which I am now going to suggest to him in this write-up is what the A.I.T. could do to teach, educate and reinforce Democracy in our country by occasionally beaming to Nigeria, if at all possible, a session of the Debates on the floor of the Senate, if not the lower Congress on all important national issues in the United States at least once a week, if not more, now that A.I.T. is able to run programs 24-7-365 as the Americans say.
The A.I.T. by reason of his global satellite empowerment has truly become the octopus and the undisputed doyen and champion of Television Broadcasting in Nigeria, if not in the whole of Africa that most television viewers in Nigeria have to watch when there is no power failure which is very common in our country regardless of what the President and his Government may be saying. Affluent Nigerians have enough generators to operate their televisions, and to keep pace with what is going on else where around the world. If only 5 percent of our 120 million population is able to see Democracy at work as practiced in Odera's America, the multiply effect of such an development will let a good number of our people realize how we are being constantly raped and shortchanged by the hoodlums and outlaws we call legislators in our country. I cannot think of any other station to be better able to do that for our country at this time than the one and only A.I.T.
The A.I.T can also put together a Documentary to be aired at home on what Brain Drain is doing to our country as Nigerians of different stripes and colors troop out of our country in search of their peace of mind and greener pastures which are only guaranteed in Nigeria only to those who are hell bent on stealing our country dry like Sani Abacha who had stolen more than he could ever need as a man. I just cannot, for the life of me, understand what Abacha was thinking about when he stole so much from our country, only to go invest his loot in other countries of the world. The man was so callous and terrible, that he probably forgot that Allah could take him at any time. He, sure, did not appreciate we all do not have any control on what tomorrow may bring. Only God Almighty knows that.
The documentary I am suggesting would focus on Nigerians and returnees, in various walks of life, across the continent who have become great assets to the countries where they live. You can find such Nigerians in NASA, at the Center for Disease Control in Atlanta, at the Carter Center, and in Universities, Research Centers, Ivory towers and Banking industries both here and in Canada talk less of Europe and the Pacific Region. Nigerians can be found every where, even in Ice Land and the Tundra Region. Nigerians are amazing species so innovative, resourceful, and simply unstoppable.
I want to focus my searchlight today on a Nigerian owned company called Lancor Technologies incorporated in Boston Massachusetts which is currently making waves and breaking new frontiers in Computer Technology that could massively benefit our country as well as the United States among others. There are hundreds of such Nigerian Companies all over America and Canada. Lancor technologies and its Nigerian Computer Engineers have just received the patent for the first truly complete PC Keyboard for Nigeria that incorporates all of the major Nigerian languages including English, Hausa, Igbo, Yoruba, and others both for Personal, Educational and Business usage worldwide. It was a major breakthrough for our country, and it is reassuring that the two Nigerians who had joined hands and their brains to develop this innovative key board have taken computer wizardry to a whole new level in America.
Some of the computer skills they have acquired in God's own country is taking them to a new world of opportunities in America. This breakthrough reminds me of an Ndigbo computer scientist who is known to have invented or created the world's fastest micro chip that has facilitated the massive use of cell phones in the world today, and how that has revolutionized global communication around the world. I also know of a plastic Igbo surgeon at Harlem Hospital in New York, and another Nigerian Professor Oluwole from Ijare near Akure making waves and creating impressive records in Medicine at Columbia and Harlem Hospital. But my obsession today is Lancor Technologies.
Founded in Framingham, Massachusetts on July 18, 2003, Lancor Technologies, a Division of Lagos Analysis Corporation, has been granted patent license number RD8489 for Nigerian Enhanced standard keyboard layout design called "KONYIN"
The Konyin Keyboard was designed to replace existing English only keyboard in the Nigerian market today. Konyin will allow users to type in English, Hausa, Igbo, Yoruba and other common Nigerian languages without changing how users type today. Konyin Keyboard design represents the First and the only comprehensive solution that allow anybody in the world to type in the conventional manner we are all used to, using all Nigerian languages alphabets including English in all computer environment around the world.
I just showcase this product out of several that are hitting the American market today through the ingenuity of Nigerians Engineers and entrepreneurs around the world. Just like Raymond Dokpesi is breaking new frontiers in the field of satellite communications, other Nigerians are doing the same in all field of endeavors, and it is time for A.I.T to start using his newly found powers to help Nigeria attain more self actualization for the good of our country. AIT will be helping herself, and helping the Nation by so doing.
The recent California Recall Election, and the events following the election of a celebrity actor in Arnold Schwarzenegger, a Republican and the defeat of Governor Gray Davis, a Democrat, the concessional speech by Governor Davis and the Victory speech delivered by Arnold as well as the Joint Press interview granted by both the victor and the vanquished in the interest of California and their country, is just tailor made for airing by A.I.T in Nigeria if only to show our people that Politics of Bitterness is an evil wind that blows no one any good in the final analysis. The winner today can be the loser tomorrow, and the winner today may have to depend on the loser for his success, and should therefore not lose sight of that.
America is a great society. There are some of their decency and patriotism we need to cherish and emulate. A.I.T can help us do just that by beaming such programs to our television sets in the comfort of our living room in Nigeria. It can help us emulate what is good in God's own country while shutting out what is despicable and demeaning. I can tell you there is a lot of that in America. But it is still a great society in my book without any question.
I would even suggest that the A.I.T as the leader in Global Television in Africa today can spearhead the move for African Television stations be it public or privately owned to join hands and work together in sponsoring channels like the C-Span 1 and 2 in the United States or Public Service Television in doing what Channel 13 is proudly and efficiently doing for the Public in the greatest country on Earth. Where there is a will, there is always a way. A few years back the same Dokpesi who has become the toast of the President and all progress loving Nigerians every where in the world today, nearly got liquidated through some accident of history and poor management style and myopia that almost sang the "nunc dimitis" and total liquidation of the African Ted Turner in Raymond Dokpesi of Aganabode, Nigeria. But like a big dreamer that Dokpesi was and still is, he had beaten all the odds to hit the ground running again like Americans say. Praise the Lord.
I can only hope that Raymond should have learnt his lessons and realized that not everything that glitters is gold. Becoming successful is one thing, maintaining that success and climbing up to higher heights is a completely different ball game as Ted Turner himself will tell Raymond Dokpesi and all up-and-coming entrepreneurs like Dokpesi who, sometimes, have a streak to want to mix pleasure, debauchery and womanizing with their God-given business and talents. Women should be viewed in much the same way like many Chief Executives in our Governments view their running mates. They look on them like spare tires. They may or may need them, but it is good to keep them close by just in case. Giving the power of life and death to girlfriends and sweethearts who only love your Dollar like the Odera family in the video I mentioned, earlier on, in this write-up is like missing the road. Raymond Dokpesi must take heed and realize that "priceless jewels of inestimable value" have become an endangered species in our country. The last time I checked, the only one I ever heard about, was at Ikenne, and she was married to an icon and probably the only icon in our political history in Nigeria who had never mixed his ultimate goal and principle with the opposite sex. Awolowo has remained a "sui generis" in our country, and arguably our most disciplined and appreciated visionary leader because he was very disciplined with women. The Agenebode prince would be well advised to bear that advice in mind, and to let A.I.T empire run and operate in much the same way like the CNN, the best name in News, and the leader in Global Communication the World has ever known. Need I say more? Have a good day?
I rest my case.
Dr. Wunmi Akintide (2003-10-25)
WUMIONE@aol.com
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