“There must be a deliberate need to uncolonize the contents taught in academia wherein new learning systems which infuse knowledge of pan African breakthroughs in STEM must be programmed into the minds of our future generations”
At a time when the President Bola Ahmed Tinubu led Federal Government of Nigeria is grappling with policy misdirection which place age restrictions on entry into Universities and tertiary institutions amounts to signposting a state of retrogression in our education landscape. Such a restrictive benchmarking for higher learning at 18 years is bound to leave dire gaps and untool the machinery of 21st century continuous learning in the current Artificial intelligence age.
History is replete with teenage sensations and achievers in several field of the social and the also core sciences. Most recent that comes to mind is Esther Okade who is a British-Nigerian mathematician who has gained attention for her exceptional maths abilities. Born in 2005, by age 10 she was as already enrolled at the university studying a Mathematics course, and by age 14 she had bagged a PhD in Financial Mathematics.
The culture of STEM learning should and must be established as a requirement driven by Government policy, funding and skills acquisition based tutelage in order to develop the vast scientific and creative capacity of our population in Nigeria. In Africa’s most populated country the youth account for over 55% of the population making Nigeria that youngest country in the world. The society must ensure that Children-centric learning must be practical and practice driven from their young age which unearths and unlocks the likely outcome of expertise in their teens.
It goes without saying that technological thinking, invention driven ecosystems and a solution’s culture has to become the framework of the successor generation’s mental wiring like in India, China or the collective West. Infact this must become the pan African industrial revolution formula and paradigm so as to liberate the black race from dependency on others races and climes for their knowledge and expertise.
The drive to achieve Africa’s food security and sovereignty by overcoming the globalist and capitalist Corporations who unwittingly seek to takeover Africa’s food value chains from Dupont, Monsanto to the Bill Gates Foundation as a critical subject matter that must be nipped in the bud. Energy poverty, designing Africa’s own pharmacological and biotech remedies for future pandemics post COVID-19 and especially now that MPox rages, must be a focus for Africa and her diaspora to collaboratively solve.
This is where the State of the African Diaspora (SOAD) under the leadership of His Excellency Dr. Louis-Georges Tin is shouldered with a huge responsibility, nontheless the AU and other regional and multilateral bodies across Africa and beyond. Other areas as Infrastructure development must be enabled by local content, whilst evolving there must be a deliberate need to uncolonize the contents taught in academia wherein new learning systems which infuse knowledge of pan African breakthroughs in STEM and other fields compulsively must be programmed into the minds of our future generations.
A Pan-African curriculum of foundational backed by R&D is key to decolonizing the African mind in its entirety and this is where the Pan African Science and Technology Exhibition and Summit comes firmly into the picture.
Afrimerge Limited run by Ikechukwu Edwin and United Pan Africanist Movement (UPAM) run by Dr. Benedicto Mbango are the organisations vested with the response to lead a Pan African action plan through the technology company’s commitment to advancing innovation and digital transformation across the African continent and beyond.
At the 4th edition of the Pan African Science and Technology Exhibition and Summit to hold in Abuja in November 9th ,2024, the program in partnership with SOAD and other organizations is broken into an Abuja Technology Rally( coming up from October 31st- November 2nd, 2024) and the Exhibition and Awards. The event seeks to showcase and drive a forefront of technological innovation where Pan African communities of STEMites, Government officials, Civil Society stakeholders in the STEM field and the general public will fuse into a melting pot key to chart a course for development and progress beyond that shores of Nigeria and inspire the continent and Diaspora. Ensure to be a part of history by joining the conversation and attending.
Conclusively, with the issues of the Nigeria subsidy debacle and energy poverty in the form of scarcity of PMS and other fuels, especially given Nigeria host one of the world’s single largest refineries, being the Dangote Refinery, the impact of these scarcity on all spheres of economy is subsisting as an existential threat for jobs, SME/MSMEs survival, national security and holistic productivity of the country. With the gathering of stakeholders at the forthcoming 4th edition of the Pan African Science and Technology Exhibition and Summit, it is hoped that the discussions can drive a new thinking of national harmony for growth and sustainability of not just Nigeria but African and the Diaspora.
It’s key to note that one of the startup products to become a recipient of the 2024 Pan African Science and Technology Awards/Summit is Ndeipi Coin. It was founded and conceived by Tyrone Moodley who is CEO of Ndeipi, Inc. The Texas registered and Africa based company is listed on the Victoria Falls Stock Exchange and is set to revolutionize the payment value chain and cryptocurrency landscape with genuine disruptions. Watch out!
Hon. Ebube Ebisike George is the Minister of Investment & Trade, State of the African Diaspora (SOAD)
