SEGUNDA PARTE PREGUNTAS DE RESPUESTA CERRADA : Esca

Part I

not too distant history points to the evolution of knowledge that characterizes humans as animals with gradual improvement. As we collectively have in custody more, or sufficient, information about the complexity of life where we all find ourselves that requires our deliberate tact and creativity, we begin to develop a welcoming atmosphere to scientific engagement, rather than a hostile one that would further chase it away into undeserved oblivion.

Consequently, the benefits that greeted humans as a result of the untamed investigations into the unknown are strictly interminable.

An objective assessment of the global society today will reveal to us the level of dependence that some civilizations have on technological advancement. In fact, the giant economies across the world today would remain in Disneyland if not for the embrace of science and technology, which has ensured a magical turnaround to their myriad of challenges. Obviously, the current century has enthroned a lifestyle that would be impossible to maintain without technology—cars, phones, modern trains, improved planes, internet life, social media, virtual realities amidst other things.

These are a telling legacy of curious minds. It is even awe striking to realize that with all these achievements notwithstanding, technology has made it a reality for man to now think of possible substitutes for himself in carrying out some activities. The existence of robots has inserted a dangling question mark on the importance of man after all, since they (the robots) can perform many of the tasks hitherto performed by man. But this however is

a subject of debate for social architects, and not within the framework of this exchange. Thus, the best sign of intellectual evolution is that we update our standards to live in harmony with the scientific revolution that technology has brought.

Has technology not really come to dominate our lives? We can begin to provide answers to this question ourselves by silently scanning this structure that houses us all viz-a-viz the technology that makes it possible. From the public address system that I am using here, to the projector enhancing easy communication between the user and the audience, to the magnificent sound system, cameras, among many other things, would it have been humanly possible, or maybe easy, to address a crowd of 5000 people and comfortably reach them all effectively?

Ladies and gentlemen, if we can begin to imagine the level of the arduous journey we would travel to make a program of this nature without these technologies within a single structure in a university, can we equally imagine the borderline extraneous, yet rigorous, experience it would attract if we were to live in our modern society without them? A life without phones to connect with distant and immediate kindreds, without social media hub where we can share our emotional burden and as a result sanitize our mental well-being, without domestic gadgets that would reduce the task of running helplessly from pillar to post. How would we cope exactly? I picture a possibility of my dear audience counter-arguing with a rhetorical question that "did we not live when we were not introduced to these technological innovations?" Fair argument if

you ask me. But then, we would equally remember how "scattered"

the world then was until globalization, a brainchild of technology, came with its magic wand. And the rest is history.

At this particular juncture, I consider it necessary to liken technology in the contemporary time to pests that have a parasitic relationship with the plants, food and livestock. The pest actually feeds exclusively on these things and has little or economic benefits to them. Interestingly, however, technology does not share this negative trait with pest. Unlike it, technology has immeasurable additions it brings to humanity, generally. Admittedly, therefore,pest and technology share similar characteristics in that they both invade a space and are claiming suzerainty over them.

However, when we look at the strategic positioning of technology in human lives, it has brought along with it some measure of benefits that are enough to reshape our dispositions to them entirely. Given the fact that technology has provoked rapid development regardless of the little attention the world has given it, the benefits that are accruable from it can only be imagined, if we give more friendly reception to it totally. This should not be confused to mean that every cultural extraction in the world has a hostile relationship with scientific engagement that birthed the kind of latent technology that is available there. Every civilization today has its success story dedicated to the magnitude of scientific engagement and the technological revolution that has taken place in their environment. But, can we say the same thing with us in this part of the world?

Technology calls for a paradigm shift in human development method as opposed to the known traditional style that now seems too monotonous to answer to the contemporary dictates of our world. Africa's western education which remains a product of colonial influence continues to be the reason for the inflexible nature of our curriculum, and we would have no one to blame but ourselves, for the very reason that post-independent African leaders have not proven to nurse any interest towards the intellectual revolution of the people, through the form of education they give to the teaming members of the society. If the colonial master placed boundaries on the areas by which the pre-independent Africans were grown and developed mentally which was obviously to serve the clerical and communicational purpose between them and the masses, his bias will be duly understood. But when the same thing persisted even after decades of gaining independence, what would we say is responsible for this? We would feel that the contemporary Africans are developed across every field of study, but any time we have a course to fly out our patients for an ailment, it remains a constant reminder that the people we have raised in that field are not entirely doing something different from what educated folks did under the colonial powers:

they were wanderers.

Apparently, a tertiary institution like the First Technical University in Nigeria is long overdue in a country as big as Nigeria. Saddled with the responsibility to develop our youths in preparing them to meet up with the prevailing challenges of the society, the University holds enough promises in grooming brilliant youths as

a way to anchor our journey to technological revolution that will fill the spaces that were plagued with abandonment and catapult us to position of envy where we would enjoy the privilege of global competitions in solving problems. We need to understand that success has its beauty in the quality of succession, a wobble successor would not only erode the crystal legacies left behind, but will also crumble the probability of building a new one. Therefore, these younger ones sitting shoulder to shoulder with us must understand the enormity of the tasks ahead of them, and their coming to the reality that a technological revolution can save us from this mess would spark the necessary zeal needed to kindle the spirit. In a plain language, we must graduate from wanderers in the scheme of things to actors. And this, I tell you, requires action.

First Technical University of Nigeria must come to an understanding that like the proverbial arm giver, their sociocultural environment must be in good condition before they can provide needed solutions to their environs. What do I mean by this? The University, having its location in the Ibadan city, has a burden of responsibility to provide technological solutions to the myriad of social challenges that they are confronted with. The best method to undertake this daunting task is by asking various questions which we can give workable answers to when we consider the realities around us. That Ibadan needs an urgent radical improvement in the area of technology is not actually up for debate. One of the biggest cities on the continent of Africa deserves to be a cynosure of all eyes in every ramification. But the stark truth remains that no development can come in the contemporary period without passing

through the window of technological revolution. Truthfully, we must as a matter of necessity take heroic steps that will engineer drastic positive changes in this area.

I must concede, ladies and gentlemen, that the offered courses in the First Technical University spell clearly their social and educational mandates and the roads to achieving these goals have been cleverly mapped out. Courses such as Mechatronics Engineering, Biomedical Engineering, Food Sciences and Technology, Cyber Security, Computer Science, Software Engineering, Physics with Electronics, Petroleum Engineering, Industrial Chemistry and Statistics show exclusively that the University's planners are in tune with the educational currency of the global community and are committed to making groundbreaking accomplishments in this respect. Coupled with the fact that they are combining intelligence with skill acquisitions, they are, as a result, paving ways for a generation of problem solvers and financially stable individuals who would compete well in globally dynamic markets. Considered from the perspectives of progressives that we are, our duty now lies in our steadfastness towards the achievement of these stated objectives which would be demonstrated by the constant self-assessment that we do. In other words, there is no room for derailing from these set goals and the standards in order to accompany them.

Let us consider cyber security for instance. As a matter-of-fact, there is absolutely no area of our day-to-day life that is not permeated with cyber engagement. Apart from the reality that the larger members of

our netizens are liable to be exposed to ideas and things that are not in any consonance with their cultural epistemology, they equally are not prevented from being victims of internet poachers who would take advantage of the innocent users in many outrageous ways.

These people, for the fact that we are a community of problem solvers in that respect, therefore, they fall under our ambit of care and the responsibility to ensure their safety lies in our hands. By training people and making them understand this, we can only imagine the difference they will make within a short period to ensure that security is provided to the people using internet for various purposes. If we understand the censorship of certain contents in Asia, America and Europe, we would come to a sad understanding that our cyber life in this part of the world has rendered us regrettably vulnerable. By making it compulsory for the students to combine their knowledge with independent skills, we are decidedly on a right part.

Thus, the question of cultural preservation is already answered with the availability of cyber security programs that are ready to avail us of cultural dispossession. It becomes necessarily instructive to reiterate the fact that self-preservation has been the only way by which a specie survives in any predatory environment. Therefore, the survival of human species also lies in their ability to protect their strongly held values against any predatory group. Suffice to say, therefore, that the influx of internet characters into our social dealings holds the potential to influence our values in ways that will break the walls of our predictions. However, the struggle against cultural invasion which may invariably jeopardize our

collective interest, if not managed beforehand, brews the emancipation of a cyber-based knowledge economy, the type that the First Technical University is making available. This, therefore, calls for a general understudy of the cultural and moral overview of the Ibadan people, and by extension the African populace, in order to device the appropriate means by which their safety can be guaranteed in a world that is potentially under the continuous threat of cyber-attacks.

A densely populated city like Ibadan which has its root cause in urban migration requires the immediate impact of technology. The unplanned nature of the city however continues to attract a burden of work on the general populace. The sedative effects of indifferent political leadership inspire a form of poorly managed environment within which the city of Ibadan is framed. As a consolation therefore, the First Technical University is a product of the administration's will that nurses the ambition to see a sudden turnaround in the running of events. It becomes relatively easy, therefore, that any recommendation offered by the intellectual giants of this institution will gather enough social strength to attract political backings. This becomes essentially necessary as it is readily difficult to accomplish important feat such as this without getting the logistical approval and support from the government of the day. Although the age-long challenge of discontinuity that characterizes political successions remains a foreboding issue to contend with, however, a promising leadership with eyes on collective development will not abort a project of this magnitude, for political vendetta.

The nature of the clustered structures in Ibadan deserves a long-lasting solution that can be offered by technology. Housing problem in Ibadan is an environmental imbroglio and has been an intransigent challenge that requires proper solution. The fact that the city is adding weight in population size without appropriate measures to manage this constitutes a threat that needs to be attended to without pretense. From uncontrolled noise pollution resulting from such density, to increased violence, and sometimes scary criminal activities, nothing should relegate further the need to take technical measures that will curb these menaces or reduce them to the most bearable minimum. How about making CCTV by students and researchers from this University, making applications that would help reports incidents almost immediately to address these?

Resulting from the growing congestion that remains a byproduct of people migrating to this city for economic and other foreseeable purposes, a dearth of technology can only compound their economic woes as that would limit their chances of getting financial sources that would give palliative succor to the multitude.

Where exactly am I going with this ladies and gentlemen? We are all aware of the waste products generated daily by the populace of the environment and the appropriate waste management services provided by both private and public organizations that would in turn compete in the art of ensuring clean environment. This obviously is a good step in an applaudable direction. But doing this alone does not necessarily guarantee total safety for the people and neither does it rake enough economic benefits for the organizers of

these waste management service providers, that is, the government and the private sector. Instead, the continuous accumulation of waste in our public space portends a very serious danger and that is the danger of brewing climatic problems later. How about turning these waste products to renewable energy therefore? How about recycling these disposable products to benefit us more in amazing quantities? It is both sad and unfortunate that we do not have efficient bodies that are charged with the duty of recycling our waste either private or government owned ones.

The benefits at the end of a program like this would be in manifolds, undoubtedly. The fact that such innovative idea in an environment with zilch attention to recycling would engender similar activity and spur countless competition in that respect signals a possible reduction in the rate of environmental hazard that continues to stare us collectively daily. Without being economical with fact, the general attitude to innovation in this part of the world constitutes the chunk of our societal challenges, as it diverts our energy away from using the latent human resources found in every individual.

A burden of responsibility to change this orientation of the public looms large on the First Technical University to raise the bar by inculcating the culture of innovation into the promising Nigerians that are here to make a difference, given the fact that they are made to accept such challenge as an inescapable condition to national growth. A cursory look at many of the civilizations that we hold in high esteem today will provoke a revelation that will live us in

surprising shock; the fact that their progress is hinged on the vision of an insignificant minority who pioneered changes of generational advantage.

In order to achieve this, we must begin to root for excellence in our pursuit. There should be no room for distractions in the process of accomplishing this potentially laudable project. It has been proven over time that human habit is developed from the things they do consistently and continuously. Thus, for Ibadan to match up to the standard of its contemporary metropolitan cities across the world, the sacrifices needed is to focus on the things that determine the waves of civilization in the 21st century, and this we all know is technological innovations. By realizing that our refusal to function in this respect will push us generally to the margin and render the Ibadan populace, and by extension Nigeria, consumers of products that are produced by the youths from other parts of the world, we would therefore begin to act until something happens. The fact that the larger percentage of this younger generation does not charge their neurons in ways that will benefit them as well as their environment should be a source of worry to us parents.

We should therefore begin to consider how we can maximize the knowledge of technology to drive more economic growth to us collectively, by marketing our cultural resources to the global buyers. The fact that our sociocultural system harbours a wealth of cultural resources should be a convincing reason for us to take a giant step in our search for technological knowledge. All through our communal history, there are numerous antiquities with

attractive historical legacy around them that would arrest the global attention if they are properly branded. This forecasts a possible interdisciplinary project between the learners of this reputable citadel and researchers from the field of anthropology, archeology and institute of African studies to make concerted efforts at the excavation, sifting and refining of these cultural heritages in order to midwife them into the wheels of technological currency so that they can stand tall in the context of global cultural possessions. In the world of entertainment, a people's cultural properties usually make up their sources of ideas which are then combined with their creativity to process them in ways that well align with the contemporary requirements. Have we not seen in cinemas, dramatic displays that are a clear pointer to ancient beginnings of some people?

Talking about these benefits, therefore, we can say confidently that our rich cultural legacies are impressively sufficient to serve us enough economic capital that will have great impacts on our general lives. The history of Ibadan, with its corrugated layers of successful past in wars, local technological inventions, traditional spiritual mores and others would make adequate resources when explored for this purpose. As thinkers, we must not leave any stone unturned as the world is gravitating towards identity revolution, and the people who can refine theirs and not abandon it would stand the hurricane of cultural erosion that is set to sail by globalization.

As such, this school would serve as the anchor of the societal values that have suffered strict abandonment under the colonial and postcolonial hypnosis. Although it cannot be over flogged that the