YESTERDAY VERSUS TODAY

According to lexicographers, Yesterday is the day before today. Today is the child of yesterday and the parent of tomorrow.

Every man in the present world, looks forward to bringing a replica of himself  and on the long run, expects that the new generation will give birth to other successive generations, thus, making the reality of today. Based on this, it simply shows that there can never be today without yesterday; undoubtedly, there will never be tomorrow.

            Various systems in practice today stemmed out from yesterday’s input by men and women who saw the future in their hands and decided to take the bull by the horn. The philosophized, hypothesized, tested, theorized, simulated and invented things we use in the world today are from people of yesterday. Michael Faraday, a 19^th century scientist, studied the nature of electricity and discovered that electricity could be made by moving a magnet inside a coil; hence, he was able to build the first electric motor, generator and transformer. He introduced several words that we still use today to discuss electricity: ion, electrode, cathode and anode.

Another scientist of yesterday is Alexander Graham Bell, the man who at the age of 29 invented the telephone. Apart from this landmark achievement, he also invented the photo phone, a device that enabled sound to be transmitted on a beam of light. This invention reveals the principle upon which today’s laser and fibre optic communication systems are founded. Other personalities of yesterday include Sir Isaac Newton, Albert Einstein, and many others.

            Does this mean that there are no Nigerian nationals making the nation proud? Does this mean that everything needed for man’s use has been discovered or invented already? Does this mean that people are no longer interested in making new discoveries and inventions? The simple answer to these questions is No!

Coming back home is the scientist of the African Diaspora called Philip Emeaguali. He is known as “father of the internet”. A Nigerian-born engineer and computer scientist/geologist, who programmed the connection machine to compute a world record 3.1 billion calculations per second using 65,536 processors to simulate oil reservoirs. Another renowned personality of the African origin is Professor Gabriel A. Oyibo, who obtained his Ph. D in Aeronautics and mathematics from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI), Troy, New York, where he worked for four years on NASA/AFSOR sponsored research and made several contributions in aircraft design, aerodynamics, aero elasticity, Mathematics, and taught several courses. He found the Unified Field Theory, the Holy Grail of Physics and Mathematics. His theorem, GOD ALMIGHTY’S GRAND UNIFIED THEOREM (GAGUT) is used to prove Einstein’s most famous theory: E=mc². He is the first to complete the task that challenged Einstein and many other luminaries in science. There are still many people of today making waves in their various disciplines. What are you waiting for?

            There was little or no advancement in technology yesterday; yet, these personalities saw the need to bring changes that would affect the entire world. They had sleepless nights; some had little education, while some could not afford it at all due to their poor background, yet, had feats in their various disciplines.

Today’s technology is such that every child has an access to the computer, hence, they know its uses beyond the elementary being taught in schools. They operate sophisticated mobile phones and can troubleshoot within few seconds- the knowledge of technology.

            Shouldn't this give today’s people the impetus to effect changes? My problem with today’s people is that they are under utilizing today’s technology. With today’s technology, we can build cars powered by compressed air and not just by hydrocarbons; design a simulation for diffusing bomb used by terrorists before the detonating time; design a program to determine the solid mineral reserves in an area within the shortest period of time. We can also design tape recorders which will allow us to record our thoughts during the day. Youth today dwell mostly on social media like Facebook, twitter and many others. All sorts of social vices are committed using today’s technology. Culture disorder is equally rampant with today’s technology.

            What then should we do? Somewhere in the Holy Bible says “as a man thinkest, so is he…” what do you feed your mind with? How much of what you studied in school do you know? How much do you know about engineering, finance, humanities, management, and so on? Do you occupy your mind with provoking thoughts that will effect changes in our society? I would say “learn to know little things about everything, so as to proffer solutions not only to today’s technology, but also, the future.

A MISGUIDED APPROACH

A MISGUIDED APPROACH

Every parent expects to see his child or children doing well academically or become a reputable personality in the society. Parents love to see their children become medical doctors, barristers, engineers, etc, with little or no attention being paid to the academic prowess of their children.

The foremost type of education is still the informal education which entails the parent/guardian acting as a teacher who exposes the learner to the rudiments of life so as to acquire the basic knowledge and skills needed to thrive in the society. This type of education is no longer in vogue, as our parents have a misconception to this, and do not take out time to address their children’s non-challant attitude towards their studies. I wouldn’t blame; but in real sense, they are to blame.

Today, parents leave their children at the mercy of lesson teachers. They leave home as early as possible for work, to beat the traffic on our major roads, when the children may possibly be in bed, and on returning from work, the children are in bed. House-helps have taken their roles as parents, of which the affection a child is supposed to get from the parent is not there, hence, the children are exposed to a lot of social vices.

Most parents don’t know the strengths and weaknesses of their children. They expect the teacher to be able to discover the innate abilities of their children, whereas, it’s their primary role to do so

            Today, when a child opts for the Arts or commercial class, the parents decry. They start comparing their children with their neighbor’s, and you hear statements like “your friend, Obinna wants to become an engineer; Dayo wants to be a medical doctor, why can’t you also think in that direction?” Does this mean that the intellectuals are only found in the sciences? Why do some parents have a misguided approach to this?

If we all become engineers, who will be the artisans? If we all become accountants, who will be the newscasters? If parents and guardians are living up to their responsibilities, they would be able to discover the abilities of their children and wards, and guide them towards making the right career choice.

            Never compare your child with others. Everyone is uniquely made. Take out time to know your children, so as to bring out the best in them. Help them to discover their purpose, actualize their potentials and live their dreams.

THE QUEST FOR MONEY

THE QUEST FOR MONEY

 Money! Money!! Money!!! The economists would say it is a legal tender, generally acceptable as a means of transaction between two or more persons.

It is handled by everyone irrespective of their financial or economic status. It affords everyone the ability to transact business in the form of buying and selling goods and services. To an average child in the world today, when you give money to someone, it shows you love and care for such one. Is this assertion true?

 During my days at the primary and post primary levels, once you are in possession of huge amount of money, you will be quizzed by your contemporaries, of which, the school authority may be brought into play, and such person may risk leaving the school.

Every child today wants to be controlling money. Yes, the Holy Bible rightly says, “money answereth all things.” The same Holy Bible says, “Money is the root of all evil.” Does this mean that the Holy Bible is contradicting itself? No! With money you can do whatever you want, have whatever you wish and go anywhere in the world. Funny enough, it cannot buy life.

 If it were so, only the rich would thrive in this world making the quest to assail. Philosophically, being the root of all evils stems from the fact that one’s crave for it can lead to one going to any length to have it.

How many people in today’s world make money in a honest way? People compromise their integrity; get involved in shady deals at the expense of their souls. Honesty is devoid in people’s idiosyncrasies. This is why we are still where we are because we want everything to be done for us. If we have a changed attitude towards money, we would not only be the giant of Africa, but also, be among the first twenty best economies of the world in the nearest future.

If all Nigerians were honest, there wouldn’t be any case of money laundering or looting. What we hear or read from the national dailies involve individuals, groups, corporate bodies looting public funds. They transfer such funds to foreign countries, thus, enriching their treasuries. Governors, senators, ministers and other top government officials have been drowned into this at one time or the other.

 Why would a minister of aviation be alleged to have whisked away with #255 million, claiming to purchase two armoured cars for herself and any aviation-related foreign dignitaries? This is a show of shame to her personality. Is this how she manages her home?

Sometimes ago, a lawyer-turned shady businessman, Fred Ajudua, was alleged to have defrauded two Dutch businessmen to the tune of $1.69million. Will he go scot free?

          Why do we have the dichotomy between the rich and the poor? They can’t attend the same colleges, occasions, hospitals, etc.

The rich is never defeated in any quest; craves for more money, up to the point of making the poor a money-spinning machine. The poor is always poor, and is reckoned as a no-match with the rich. This has even built acrimony between these two sides.

          What then is the rationale behind our crave for money? To some, their posterity must not suffer, while to others, the system should be bastardized to the detriment of the poor.

Young folks today have sold their conscience; some teachers have lost their integrity to examination malpractice; the bar benchers have equally sacrificed justice at the altar of money. Private medical doctors will only attend to patients on the account of huge deposits; contractors have resorted to substandard materials for public usage. Why wouldn’t we remain in a moribund state as a nation?

 We need attitudinal change so as to make the system conducive for us all.