Re: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Re: Lagos State University in Photos, no. 1

Amen.

I have a problem with this, though-

'I have noticed that by the time they graduate from the university,
most Nigerians do not speak good English. One notices that this trend
is observed even in American universities where English is the first
and many a time, the only language.'

Americans who cant speak good English are poorly educated in what has
become the most globally widespeard means of communication, same with
Nigerians. This inadequacy will lead to problems, particulraly in
contexts where verbal communication is vital.

As for this idea:

'Why don't we ask ourselves why we are even speaking English in the
first place or why cant we use our own languages to teach our
students.'

Many nationalisties are struggling to learn to speak English well bcs
it is the most global of languages. Most African languages are served
by a relatively small demographic and so the idea of teaching in
African languiages needs to be managed carefully bcs what is at stake
is being able to take advantage of the world's knowedge, not only the
knowledge avaibale to a particular linguistic comunity, particularly a
relatively small one.

I doubt if African underdevelopment has much, if anything, to do with
language of instruction, but I belive is more related to the
dysfunctional mode of founding and structures of the nations in
question.

The race is very long. We must not hobble ourselves.

We should ask why Africans are able to excl in the West but are more
likely to be challenged at home. Kunle Olukotun, for example, is a
professor of computer science at Stanford, an entrepreneur with Afara
computing systems and has sufficent recognition of conjunctions
between his discipline and Yoruba cosmology to name his server 'Ogun
', the Yoruba orisa or deity of iron, in recognition of the role of
metals in computer construction, as he informed me in an email in
response to why he has 'Ogun' in his email address, but I wonder if
studying in Yoruba is necessarily central to his achievements.

thanks

toyin














On 24/07/2017, Kayode J. Fakinlede <jfakinlede@gmail.com> wrote:
>
>
> Prof,
>
> Thank you, thank you, thank you. May your tribe increase.
> I am very grateful to you that you are able to actually name some
> Nigerians who are incorruptible and exceptional. As long as we celebrate
> these people, even in passing, others will like to emulate them. And is
> that not really what history is made of - exceptional people? For every
> Jesus Christ, Mohammed, Orunmila, Achebe, there are hundreds of millions
> of us who go bye as mediocres.
> Most Nigerians are not corrupt. Most of us wake up every morning trying to
>
> do the best to stay alive.
>
> Most Nigerian lecturers are not thieves or sexual perverts who are out to
> get into students' pants. Most Nigerian lecturers and professors try to do
> the best with the hands they are dealt. There are of course, too many
> factors militating against Nigerians lecturers and professors that make it
> not possible to be as productive or as effective as their American
> counterparts. This is not due to their laziness or lack of will.
>
> True, there are many areas of our university life that need improvement;
> and that is where many of the people in the diaspora can be of help.
> Helping means that the diasporean people, who are definitely more aware of
> ways 'to grapple with the challenges of running a university in the twenty
> first century and doing right by students,' can come in the spirit of love
> and wanting to contribute their own quota. This is not to say that Nigerian
>
> in the Diaspora are not contributing already, however, they have to take it
>
> out of their minds that once they enter that big bird and escape to Europe
> or America, the rest of us suddenly become deadheads and bumblers.
>
> The process of getting into the university in Nigeria is quite effective. I
>
> would say that for every one hundred students that are admitted into the
> the university, upwards of ninety of them come though the right way.
> Nigerian universities are also conscious of their reputation.
>
> I have noticed that by the time they graduate from the university, most
> Nigerians do not speak good English. One notices that this trend is
> observed even in American universities where English is the first and many
> a time, the only language. I know older Nigerians tend to judge the younger
>
> ones harshly for not being as proficient in the English language as
> themselves. I daresay that I will never be as proficient in using the smart
>
> phone as my grandchild. I also know that this yardstick does not apply to
> Chinese, Russians, Japanese etc, who sometimes may speak no English at all
> by the time they become doctors, engineers or space scientists. I always
> see this as the vestiges of enslavement or deep seated colonial mentality
> among older Africans. Why don't we ask ourselves why we are even speaking
> English in the first place or why cant we use our own languages to teach
> our students.
>
> Prof, I share your observation that 'the millions of African young men and
> women represent our future, and their abilities at imaginations and
> inventions are so extraordinary that we may not even know that we are
> witnessing a revolutionary moment. To those who speak ill of these young
> men and women, they should check their thinking processes.' And when you
> come up with this assessment, you are in no way exaggerating.
>
> Again Prof, I say, 'May you tribe increase.'
>
> On Saturday, July 22, 2017 at 12:52:45 PM UTC+1, Toyin Falola wrote:
>>
>> In over 300 photos, I will bring to you the impressive campus of Lagos
>> State University, Nigeria. The Departments are all well staffed, and the
>> students are incredibly talented and energetic. The millions of African
>> young men and women represent our future, and their abilities at
>> imaginations and inventions are so extraordinary that we may not even know
>>
>> that we are witnessing a revolutionary moment. To those who speak ill of
>> these young men and women, they should check their thinking processes.
>>
>> https://www.flickr.com/photos/toyinfalola/albums/72157684295203430/page1
>>
>>
>> Toyin Falola
>> Department of History
>> The University of Texas at Austin
>> 104 Inner Campus Drive
>> Austin, TX 78712-0220
>> USA
>> 512 475 7224
>> 512 475 7222 (fax)
>> http://sites.utexas.edu/yoruba-studies-review/
>> http://www.toyinfalola.com
>> http://www.utexas.edu/conferences/africa
>> http://groups.google.com/group/yorubaaffairs
>> http://groups.google.com/group/USAAfricaDialogue
>>
>>
>
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