Sir errata regretted - I hardly rarely read over for important posts like this.i will see if a proof copy is possible .
On Nov 11, 2019 6:28 AM, "Gbemi Tijani" <tijanigbemi@gmail.com> wrote:
To a dear patriotic conscientious & revered Prof Toyin Falola .Thanks for inviting thoughts or papers germane to the African Diaspora conference on Higher Education.i m impressed you are not the complacent don.
Kindly note that products of African higher education who are mostly immigrants in the US,Uk etc are not doing badly professionally speaking across decades from now despite President Trump's myopic 'shithole' banter which I replied on LinkedIn barely a year ago.Until recently town and gown started talking about fall in standard of education and unemployment crisis now complicated by the digital trends in employability for products not trained for this market. Frankly speaking African education has been too much centered on certification and although this is also vital to endorse intellectual measurement it should serve beyond credentialing.Ok why are universities & Tech Schokls not tackle the problem of electricity production since 1984 till date in Nigeria for example & bilions of dollars have been budgeted or expended before their Very Eyes - without solution other than epileptic supplies.
Why is formal rote learning practice popular but isn't it teethless to bite good jobs ? To inspire positive revolution leading to education overhaul and becone socially aware to ask questions on the status quo Nd possibly lead peaceful protests as Wole Soyinka had done in 1964 & Nigerian ANA members cancelled 2019 Elections at Enugu because of evident impropriety.
Why is it that higher education hasn't been tailored not only towards entrepreneurship and more vitally encourage creativity,inventivity and ample independent projects not just theoretical studies? My blogging and modest newspaper articles in NIGERIA two decades BEFORE the internet have abstracted this issue.Articles like 'The Teachers Nigerian Schools Need,'Anatomy of Infected Democracies,'1986: A Year of Relapsing Peace ( for Wole Soyinka,Nobel Laureate),The Chemistry of Patriotism,Longevity For All for WHO Day April1992,Trends in Health Definition , Of Moods & Thinking & I should add this
,'Your Armour(Mother Africa) poetry
mostly published in The Sketch ,Tribune &:Daily Times & Dokita( Medical Traffic)& a piece on The Guardian on Sunday s Short & Sharp in the Sept 22 1985 edition.In the blogging era most of my posts are inspired by the same concern education for creativity & tech invention .70% of what I contributed online including linkedin Pulse posts were impromptu.More empirically most of the inventions and acts of creative genius by Africans aged 15-26 e.g Kevin from Sierra Leone ,Nelson from Malawi are not from the traditional education system.Did you know Kevin was invited to MIT and he wow the tech connoisseurs on his home radio and battery?Nelson invented a water generator. I also observed most partially successful or failed loan or support programmes especially in Nigeria are focused on Agriculture & entrepreneurship yet we haven't seen the ample results desired even for food security billions of dollars possible from Agriculture itself or co-efficiently reduced poverty in Nigeria till date.I commend those concerned with ICT but it should be an open opportunity not for politically privileged citizens.The universities and higher tech citadels should be sensitized not only to watch for creative or inventive individuals in & out of the formal education system ,the whole education system should congruous ly plan & budget for mentorship & development of the Exceptionally Gifted child & by this I m not referring for excellence in rote learning-dont we have lots of 1st class grads?
.Any formally prepared pupil or student can excel. Despite this as UNESCO experts observed and reported equal opportunity does not guaranty equal outcome.Again why s the likes of Ayodele Awojobi,inventor of Autonov ,1,2&3 & professor of Mechanical Engineering at University of Lagos phasing out?I also give kudos to his CONSCIENCE packed lifetime which nicknamed him as Professor of Litigation.Like i also remarked twice only civically socially minded students will spring surprise as they are educated .imagine another decades back event that was recently re-mimicked by Greta Thurberg & her dad Slante Thurberg ffom Sweden who respectively deferred her high school education & her dad support for environmental campaign on Climate change .A young Nigerian tacitly dropped off from high school for two years to join his grand Daddy in a successful Farmers strike of the 70s called Agbekoya.Decades later Toyin FALOLA IS NOW A PROFESSOR OF HISTORY ,Texas,Austin.There are many such examples of a child s resilience and determination to be educated to PhD level and impact on others reported by Voice , Fgbmfi.Professor Alexander Owolabi,Prof Oluemisi obilade ,Prof Yomi Alfred,Dr David Adio & Builder & historian,chairman Akinyele East LCDA are tips of the iceberg of from grass to gorgeous grace.We also want the conference to brainstorm how 21st c students will not just be educated but also be mentored guided to develop their creative geniuses- even in the arts & humanities for the good of all.
What if China Achebe was not advised to transfer to any Art Faculty Course could we have had a most translated novel,Things Fall Apart from Africa ?
What if Emmanuel Emeagwali had not left Nigeria for USA how could he had been privileged to contribute to the internet revolution & also earn Bill Clinton Prize for Super Computers for prodigious mathematical calculations?Then how should African Academics be fully rewarded for knowledge production & crucial manpower industry especially in a continent where top political personnel has taken a lion share of the annual budget for emoluments/ salaries?Should their pay be controlled by govt ?
There s no govt that can do without consulting intellectual s how should academics serve ideologically amorphous political tenure without compromising with prevailing decay albeit not limited to Africa?
should they be treated as bureaucrats ? What's best for them should be discussed because time is running out for everyone.This submission is a proof copy of the earlier impromptu post full of errors.apologia ..i woke up at 538 am just to fix my android & wanted to test if I am already online & I jam into Daddy TF s post.God bless your conference deliberations.Gbemisoye Tijani,Paul Harris Fellow,former UNESCO Club leader & founder in Ogun State,Nigeria.Ps.Should creative or Individual writing grants be restricted to academics?Academics are distinct ly engaged in teaching research and publications.There s a lot of diverse Writers who aren't in teaching and who have a lot of productive writing plan & whose work will remain indefinitely postponed for lack of grants like their campus based counterparts enjoy--even in developing countries too.Thanks for availing this opportunity.Wish an effective living& impact conference.Gbemi Tijani MST,bylineOn Nov 11, 2019 12:03 AM, "Toyin Falola" <toyinfalola@austin.utexas.edu> wrote: --I write from Addis-Ababa where I am for a major conference on the African Diaspora and higher education in Africa. If you have great ideas, I will be sure to pass them around and make them part of our discussion.
TF
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