Visions for the Third Millennium


The following are in-depth answers to millennium-related questions e-mailed by producers at the "Millennium Live!" television program.

Emeagwali: We must ensure that African children are properly educated. When we invest in our children, we will find that our standard of living grows, too. We should invest in education and technology not because it is easy, but because our children will be the beneficiaries tomorrow of the decisions, we adults, make today.

Investing in education and technology will be our legacy to our children; because it will bring the best out of them as well as all Africans and enable us to reach our potential as individuals, as communities, as a people.

Emeagwali: Invest in education

Emeagwali:

My heroes of the 20th century include Cheikh Anta Diop, Kwame Nkrumah, Marcus Garvey and Bob Marley. I admire these four individuals because of their genius, courage, tenacity and for being ahead of their times. I will pay anything in the world to have a dinner conversations with them.

I admire Cheikh Anta Diop, the Senegalese historian, for writing the book "The African Origin of Civilization" which proved that civilization originated in sub-Saharan Africa.

I admire Kwame Nkrumah, the first president of Ghana for spreading his message of Pan African unity.

I admire Marcus Garvery for teaching the dignity of the black race and for coining the famous slogan "Africa for Africans." Garvey's thoughts and ideas inspired the first generation of modern African leaders such as Jomo Kenyatta, Julius Nyerere, Kwame Nkrumah and Nnamdi Azikiwe.

I admire Bob Marley for using his reggae music to communicate the message of Marcus Garvey.

Emeagwali: Ten percent of the world speak English language but 80 percent of the materials published on the Internet is in English. By the end of the 21st century, many African languages will disappear.

Emeagwali: My gift to the children born in the new millennium will be to ensure that they are properly educated.

When we invest in our children, we will find that our standard of living grows, too. We should invest in education and technology not because it is easy, but because our children will be the beneficiaries tomorrow of the decisions, we adults, make today.

Investing in education and technology will be our legacy to our children; because it will bring the best out of them as well as all Africans and enable us to reach our potential as individuals, as communities, as a people.

Emeagwali: In the 1980s, I used the Internet and 65,000 processors to perform the world's fastest computation of 3.1 billion calculations per second. The achievement demonstrated the power of the Internet and I was given the most prestigious award in the computing field.

Computers, the Internet and telecommunications are the nervous system and physical infrastructure for the coming global civilization. If Africa is left out of this technology, an entire continent will be left out of the biggest economic boom of the 21st century. This will make it difficult to eradicate poverty and illiteracy and bring political stability in Africa.

Emeagwali: Nobody is an island. We all live in a community and should care about our neighbors. We should look out for our neighbors and support each other during hard times. Many people in Africa are going through difficult times and feel abandoned. We should reach out and touch those in need, hold their hands and provide them a sense of belonging to our community and neighborhood. Be a good neighbor. Cooperation can be more important than competition. As they say, "united we stand, divided we fall."

A century and half ago, we sold our neighbors children into slavery. The descendants of those slaves are now the 200 million Africans in the United States, Caribbean and Latin America. The war was us against us.

The lesson we learned is that progress requires that we adopt the mantra "each one help one." Although ancient Africans coined the saying "It takes a village to raise a child," modern Africans do not practice what our ancestors preached. Such villages do not exist in modern Africa. We have elected officials cruising in imported luxury cars when children cannot afford one dollar tuition fees for their children. We can afford to buy jet fighters while our schools do not have libraries.

At the same time, we have to educate Africans on the meaning of parental responsibility. Couples who cannot feed a child are having seven children and expect their neighbors to raise their children.

On the governmental level, we must ensure that our children are properly educated. When we invest in our children, we will find that our standard of living grows, too. We should invest in education and technology not because it is easy, but because our children will be the beneficiaries tomorrow of the decisions, we adults, make today.

Investing in education and technology will be our legacy to our children; because it will bring the best out of them as well as all of us and enable us to reach our potential as individuals, as communities, as a nation.

Emeagwali: Today, couples have sex for procreation. A hundred years later, couples will have sex for recreation. Parents will shop for children from mail-order catalogs which contains information about sperm and egg donors. This will raise many ethical questions as parents demand custom-designed children that are smarter, prettier and taller.

Cloning will lose its stigma and many children will be clones of prominent men and women.

Emeagwali: Since we are entering the Third Millennium and beginning a journey of a thousand years, now is an appropriate time for reflection and introspection. A journey of a thousand years begins with a single step. Africa is now taking the first step in her journey of a thousand years.

The new millennium is a new beginning for Africa. It is the point at which Africa, the birthplace of humanity, meets Africa, with hope for the future.

Africans must replace the hate and violence of the 20th century with love and compassion.

Africans must learn to forgive and forget, learn to put the past behind them and learn to come together as one united family.

Africans must learn how to fight without killing. Africa has waged war upon Africa. Africans nations must declare truce and make peace with their neighbors.

The enemy is not the other tribe. The enemy is injustice, ignorance and poverty. Africa will be a better place when we learn to accent the positive and work together on issues that we agree.

AFRICA MUST GROW:

In the Third Millennium, Africa must grow along several dimensions and directions.

Africa must grow politically by eliminating the army and coups d'etat while empowering the people to choose their leaders.

Africa must grow democratically by creating a society in which the emphasis will not be on individuals or leaders but on building and developing our communities.

Africa must grow psychologically by restoring the faith and confidence of the African people in our leaders.

Africa must grow spiritually by having a society in which African traditionalists, Christians and Moslems can practise their religions with mutual respect for each other's.

Africa must grow socially by reducing crime and corruption, creating a new Africa in which government officials do not demand bribes from citizens.

Africa must grow morally by encouraging honesty and not singing praises to embezzlers.

Africa must grow artistically by leaving a legacy comparable to what we had in Nubia.

Africa must grow scientifically by developing advanced technological knowledge that enabled our ancestors to build majestic pyramids, the tallest buildings in the world for 3,700 years. These pyramids withstood all types of desert storms and still stand today, like the Rock of Gibralter.

Africa must grow culturally by creating a less repressive society in which women are encouraged and empowered in all areas of education and society.

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