Wednesday, November 18, 2015

Re: FW: USA Africa Dialogue Series - BBC: Nigerian professor solves 150 year old maths problem

i suggest we look more closely at the considerable accomplishments by nigerian authors and filmmakers, intellectuals and theorists--brilliant, amazingly accomplished people i know in my own field, and who clearly compete with or outshine many many others in europe or america. come on; all is not to be measured in STEM or industrial accomplishments. there are historical factors that can account for an industrial state and its economy, but the accomplishments of the mind will shine in other domains.
that is true of all people: their strengths are not uniform, and these days i fear with the stress upon STEM at american universities we will see increasingly small numbers devoted to the humanities or arts. nigerians are producing more and more work of value, interest, beauty. so focus on that for a while
ken

On 11/18/15 10:32 AM, Anunoby, Ogugua wrote:

Amen.

 

oa

 

From: usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com [mailto:usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of Mobolaji Aluko
Sent: Wednesday, November 18, 2015 9:16 AM
To: USAAfrica Dialogue
Subject: Re: FW: USA Africa Dialogue Series - BBC: Nigerian professor solves 150 year old maths problem

 

 

OA:

 

Let us be frank with ourselves:  in recent years, our "bad" and "ugly" far exceed our "good", particularly over (1) military rule, under Abacha (partcicularly with Saro Wiwa's killing (2) the incidence of 4-1-9 (3)  financial corruption and electoral riggings in our politics at home, and more recently (4) Boko Haram.

 

Let us also be frank with ourselves:  our exploits in SOCCER internationally (male and female, junior and senior levels) are our best "ambassadors", maybe only after Brazil in terms of soccer reputation.   And yes, we have Nigerian professionals EVERYWHERE in the world,  doing quite well thank you, but unfortunately, many "deny" it...."Me...I be Ghanaian o!"

 

We do have a lot of cleaning up to do...maybe we are in the beginning of that n

 

And there you have it.

 

 

Bolaji Aluko

 

 

On Wed, Nov 18, 2015 at 3:16 PM, Anunoby, Ogugua <AnunobyO@lincolnu.edu> wrote:

"They seem to excel in everything, from the good, to the bad, to the ugly!"   

ba

 

Is the same not said of all countries' people when they make "good" and not so "good" news?

With scores of millions of people, Nigeria would be expected to have its admixture of good and not so good people- saints, sinners, hackers,  non-hackers, and others.

hack

oa

 

 

From: usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com [mailto:usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of Mobolaji Aluko
Sent: Wednesday, November 18, 2015 12:00 AM
To: USAAfrica Dialogue


Subject: Re: USA Africa Dialogue Series - BBC: Nigerian professor solves 150 year old maths problem

 

 

Yes. Ken, I love playing Scrabble myself, so to have a Nigerian as Scrabble world champion is "awesome," as my kids would say.   I can assure you that when the news is well heard that a Nigerian is World Scrabble Champion, more people will say "There is something about those Nigerians, I cannot just put my hands on! They seem to excel in everything, from the good, to the bad, to the ugly!"   

 

But, with 170 million people, Nigeria is endowed with its own share of geniuses, both discovered and undiscovered.  The only problem is too many hacks get into the way, and facilitated by even more hacks.

 

And there is where we have it.

 

 

 

Bolaji Aluko

 

 

That is the problem....

 

On Wed, Nov 18, 2015 at 5:41 AM, kenneth harrow <harrow@msu.edu> wrote:

well, let's not forget the scrabble world champ this year was indeed a nigerian!
ken

 

On 11/17/15 11:00 PM, Mobolaji Aluko wrote:

 

Farooq:

 

I stopped commenting about the sprouting of "scientific/academic geniuses" from Nigeria or of Nigerian origin - from Emeagwali to Oyibo, to Akalaka, now to Atovigba and Enoch - when one was often accused of "jealousy", sometimes ethnic in origin.  I just shrugged these charlatans and their facilitators of as disgracing themselves and their names, not Nigeria.

 

Only peers in a particular field can attest to your "original" genius status, not the popular press, who can be paid to write ALMOST ANYTHING, who often quickly become too PATRIOTIC, with a hope that "Black Pride" will also be helped along.   When push comes to shove, these "geniuses" often deny that they made such claims, that it was the Press that headlined them that way.

 

And that is sometimes not far from the truth...

 

And there you have it.

 

 

Bolaji Aluko

 

 

 

On Wed, Nov 18, 2015 at 4:15 AM, Farooq A. Kperogi <farooqkperogi@gmail.com> wrote:

cafeafricana1',

 

I am aware of "Emeagwali, the Father of the Internet", and "Prof. Oyinbo of God Theorem," but who is this  "Professor and Communications Scholar that is parading himself all over Nigeria"? I've never heard or read of him or her. Could you tell us who this person is because communication is my field?

 

Well, the moment I read about Dr. Enoch's claim in the Vanguard, I didn't need to read a second opinion to know it was suspect at best and  fraudulent at worst. You can't prove something as momentous as a 150-year-old mathematical problem with a mere conference presentation. In the rituals of knowledge production in academe, for any claim to be taken seriously, it has to be published in a well-regarded, peer-reviewed outlet, such as a journal.This is elementary knowledge.

 

 My guess is that Dr. Opeyemi genuinely fancies himself as having solved this problem, and his self-construal of his intellectual machismo got a boost when his paper ggot accepted for presentation at a conference in Vienna, Austria. In the now rampant xenophilic academic culture in Nigeria, for one's paper to be accepted at an "international" (read: white) academic conference is an endorsement of one's peerless scholarly prowess.

 

When naive xenophilia seamlessly commingles with the kind of mortifyingly cringe-worthy credulity that pervades the Nigerian media landscape AND the progressive dearth and death of basic fact-checking in even international media outlets like the BBC, you end up with embarrassing stories like we are discussing now.

 

This is not the first time this is happening. In July 2011, another Nigerian academic by the name of Michael Atovigba claimed to have solved the Riemann Hypothesis. The ever so gullible Nigerian media believed him and gave him wild publicity. The reason he believed he solved the mathematical puzzle was that his paper was found worthy of publication in an "international" journal, which turned out to be a predatory, bait-and-switch Pakistan-based journal masquerading as a UK journal. I wrote a widely circulated article that exposed this fraud. Among other things, I wrote: "Mr. Atovigba's claims to unparalleled mathematical genius might very well be true, but we have no way of knowing this for certain because he chose to publish his 'record-breaking' findings in the 'Research Journal of Mathematics and Statistics' owned by a bait-and-switch publishing company called Maxwell Scientific Organization. By Atovigba's admission, he paid $150 (about 23,000 naira) to get his article published." For the full article, click on this link.

 

So, in essence, two Nigerian academics have laid claims to solving the same mathematical problem in the space of 4 years and the Nigerian media didn't have the capacity to be even mildly skeptical. Incredible!

 

FAK


Farooq A. Kperogi, Ph.D.

Journalism & Emerging Media
School of Communication & Media
Kennesaw State University
402 Bartow Avenue, MD 2207 

Social Science Building 22 Room 5092

Kennesaw, Georgia, USA 30144
Cell: (+1) 404-573-9697
Personal website: www.farooqkperogi.com

Twitter: @farooqkperog

Author of Glocal English: The Changing Face and Forms of Nigerian English in a Global World

"The nice thing about pessimism is that you are constantly being either proven right or pleasantly surprised." G. F. Will

 

On Tue, Nov 17, 2015 at 7:40 PM, 'cafeafricana1' via USA Africa Dialogue Series <usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com> wrote:

When I read the article yesterday,  the heading was different and today BBC added "claims". Well, the Professor appeared credible and sane from the interview on BBC. And I did not see any resemblance to "Emeagwali, the Father of the Internet", nor Prof. Oyinbo of God Theorem, and the so-called "Professor and Communications Scholar that is parading himself all over Nigeria. 

 

Sometimes, we are skeptical of reported achievements by Nigerians due to the unscrupulous people among us. Well, it is what it is.

 

Anyway,  I'm going to have an open mind with Prof. Opeyemi Enoch.

 

Cheers. 

 

 

 

 

 




-------- Original message --------
From: Victor Okafor <vokafor@emich.edu>
Date: 11/17/2015 1:18 PM (GMT-08:00)
To: usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com
Cc: cafeafricana1 Okelola <cafeafricana1@aol.com>
Subject: Re: USA Africa Dialogue Series - BBC: Nigerian professor solves 150 year old maths problem


Congrats to the Nigerian professor!

----- Original Message -----
From: 'Funmi Tofowomo Okelola' via USA Africa Dialogue Series <usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com>
To: cafeafricana1 Okelola <cafeafricana1@aol.com>
Sent: Tue, 17 Nov 2015 01:37:04 -0500 (EST)
Subject: USA Africa Dialogue Series - BBC: Nigerian professor solves 150 year old maths problem

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p03891wc

 

Nigerian professor solves 150 year old maths problem

A
maths problem, which has gone more than 150 years without a solution,
has finally been solved by Nigerian academic Dr. Opeyemi Enoch. The
Riemann Hypothesis was first proposed by Bernhard Riemann in 1859. As
the first person to provide a solution, Dr. Enoch has scooped a million
dollar prize.

Funmi Tofowomo Okelola

-In the absence of greatness, mediocrity thrives. 

http://www.cafeafricana.com

 

 

 

 



--

Listserv moderated by Toyin Falola, University of Texas at Austin

To post to this group, send an email to USAAfricaDialogue@googlegroups.com

To subscribe to this group, send an email to USAAfricaDialogue+subscribe@googlegroups.com

Current archives at http://groups.google.com/group/USAAfricaDialogue

Early archives at http://www.utexas.edu/conferences/africa/ads/index.html

---

You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "USA Africa Dialogue Series" group.

To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to usaafricadialogue+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com.

For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.

--
Listserv moderated by Toyin Falola, University of Texas at Austin
To post to this group, send an email to USAAfricaDialogue@googlegroups.com
To subscribe to this group, send an email to USAAfricaDialogue+subscribe@googlegroups.com
Current archives at http://groups.google.com/group/USAAfricaDialogue
Early archives at http://www.utexas.edu/conferences/africa/ads/index.html
---
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "USA Africa Dialogue Series" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to usaafricadialogue+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com.
For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.

 

--
Listserv moderated by Toyin Falola, University of Texas at Austin
To post to this group, send an email to USAAfricaDialogue@googlegroups.com
To subscribe to this group, send an email to USAAfricaDialogue+subscribe@googlegroups.com
Current archives at http://groups.google.com/group/USAAfricaDialogue
Early archives at http://www.utexas.edu/conferences/africa/ads/index.html
---
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "USA Africa Dialogue Series" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to usaafricadialogue+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com.
For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.

 

--
Listserv moderated by Toyin Falola, University of Texas at Austin
To post to this group, send an email to USAAfricaDialogue@googlegroups.com
To subscribe to this group, send an email to USAAfricaDialogue+subscribe@googlegroups.com
Current archives at http://groups.google.com/group/USAAfricaDialogue
Early archives at http://www.utexas.edu/conferences/africa/ads/index.html
---
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "USA Africa Dialogue Series" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to usaafricadialogue+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com.
For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.

 

-- 
kenneth w. harrow 
faculty excellence advocate
professor of english
michigan state university
department of english
619 red cedar road
room C-614 wells hall
east lansing, mi 48824
ph. 517 803 8839
harrow@msu.edu

--

Listserv moderated by Toyin Falola, University of Texas at Austin
To post to this group, send an email to USAAfricaDialogue@googlegroups.com
To subscribe to this group, send an email to USAAfricaDialogue+subscribe@googlegroups.com
Current archives at http://groups.google.com/group/USAAfricaDialogue
Early archives at http://www.utexas.edu/conferences/africa/ads/index.html
---
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "USA Africa Dialogue Series" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to usaafricadialogue+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com.
For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.

 

--
Listserv moderated by Toyin Falola, University of Texas at Austin
To post to this group, send an email to USAAfricaDialogue@googlegroups.com
To subscribe to this group, send an email to USAAfricaDialogue+subscribe@googlegroups.com
Current archives at http://groups.google.com/group/USAAfricaDialogue
Early archives at http://www.utexas.edu/conferences/africa/ads/index.html
---
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "USA Africa Dialogue Series" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to usaafricadialogue+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com.
For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.

--
Listserv moderated by Toyin Falola, University of Texas at Austin
To post to this group, send an email to USAAfricaDialogue@googlegroups.com
To subscribe to this group, send an email to USAAfricaDialogue+subscribe@googlegroups.com
Current archives at http://groups.google.com/group/USAAfricaDialogue
Early archives at http://www.utexas.edu/conferences/africa/ads/index.html
---
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "USA Africa Dialogue Series" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to usaafricadialogue+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com.
For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.

 

--
Listserv moderated by Toyin Falola, University of Texas at Austin
To post to this group, send an email to USAAfricaDialogue@googlegroups.com
To subscribe to this group, send an email to USAAfricaDialogue+subscribe@googlegroups.com
Current archives at http://groups.google.com/group/USAAfricaDialogue
Early archives at http://www.utexas.edu/conferences/africa/ads/index.html
---
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "USA Africa Dialogue Series" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to usaafricadialogue+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com.
For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.

--
Listserv moderated by Toyin Falola, University of Texas at Austin
To post to this group, send an email to USAAfricaDialogue@googlegroups.com
To subscribe to this group, send an email to USAAfricaDialogue+subscribe@googlegroups.com
Current archives at http://groups.google.com/group/USAAfricaDialogue
Early archives at http://www.utexas.edu/conferences/africa/ads/index.html
---
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "USA Africa Dialogue Series" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to usaafricadialogue+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com.
For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.

--   kenneth w. harrow   faculty excellence advocate  professor of english  michigan state university  department of english  619 red cedar road  room C-614 wells hall  east lansing, mi 48824  ph. 517 803 8839  harrow@msu.edu
Posted by at

No comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)
 
Vida de bombeiro Recipes Informatica Humor Jokes Mensagens Curiosity Saude Video Games Car Blog Animals Diario das Mensagens Eletronica Rei Jesus News Noticias da TV Artesanato Esportes Noticias Atuais Games Pets Career Religion Recreation Business Education Autos Academics Style Television Programming Motosport Humor News The Games Home Downs World News Internet Car Design Entertaimment Celebrities 1001 Games Doctor Pets Net Downs World Enter Jesus Variedade Mensagensr Android Rub Letras Dialogue cosmetics Genexus Car net Só Humor Curiosity Gifs Medical Female American Health Madeira Designer PPS Divertidas Estate Travel Estate Writing Computer Matilde Ocultos Matilde futebolcomnoticias girassol lettheworldturn topdigitalnet Bem amado enjohnny produceideas foodasticos cronicasdoimaginario downloadsdegraca compactandoletras newcuriosidades blogdoarmario arrozinhoii sonasol halfbakedtaters make-it-plain amatha