by Philip Emeagwali
Excerpted from a keynote speech delivered by Philip Emeagwali to the African
community in
Imagine that it is
The article continues: “The last patch of rainforest will
soon be empty land scarred by oil pipelines, pumping stations, and natural gas
refineries. Wholesale pollution will be the environmental legacy for future
generations.
“
“In a world without oil, air travel will disappear, and
people will voyage overseas on coal-powered ships. Farmers will use horses
instead of tractors, and scythes instead of combine harvesters. As crops diminish
and populations soar, famine will grip the globe. With no means to power their
vehicles, parents will be housebound, without jobs, and children will walk to
school.”
This scenario could become a reality, because we no longer
have an abundant oil supply. We know oil exists in limited quantities and that
most oil wells dry up after 40 years. It is as certain as death and taxes.
Rather than debate the exact year when we will run out of oil, I prefer to
imagine that we have already run out. It may come sooner than any of us expect.
Our heirs will thank or curse us for how much oil we left for them. Instead of
asking, “When will Africa run out of natural resources?” we should ask, “When
will Africa be unable to export raw materials, either for lack of our own oil
or because foreign markets have themselves dried up?”
Philip Emeagwali speaking in
A $100 bar of raw iron is worth $200 when forged into
drinking cups in
Without African intellectual capital, iron excavated in
In oil-exporting African nations, multinationals such as
Shell (selling rigs for a 40% royalty on exported oil) are getting rich, while
the oil rig workers remain poor. Instead of addressing the underlying causes of
poverty – minimal productivity resulting from a lack of intellectual capital –
We need less talk about poverty and more action to
eliminate it. So how do we do this? Education has done more to reduce poverty
than all the oil companies in the world. So it is disheartening to realize that
few leaders believe that their people’s potential is far more valuable than
what lies beneath the soil.
Intellectual capital, not higher wages, will eliminate
poverty in
And
For example, tax preparation experts living in
We are at a crossroads where one signpost reads “Produce”
and another reads “Perish.” We risk becoming like the driver who stops at an
intersection and asks a pedestrian, “Where does this road lead?”
And the pedestrian replies, “Where do you want to go?”
“I don’t know,” the driver replies.
“Then it obviously doesn’t matter which road you take!”
replies the pedestrian.
If we adopt the same attitude as the driver,
For decades, power in post-colonial
We cannot look forward to our future until we learn from
our past. Five thousand years of recorded history reveal that technology was
ancient
It is absolutely imperative that
Philip Emeagwali has
been called “a father of the Internet” by CNN
and TIME
, and extolled as “one of the great minds of the Information Age” by former
U.S. President Bill
Clinton . He won the 1989 Gordon Bell Prize, the Nobel prize of
supercomputing.
Amparo Ideh (left) and Francis Chukwuma Ideh (right) welcome
Philip Emeagwali to Africa
Day at Palacio de Congresos in
@ EMEAGWALI.COM 2008
General permission is granted for the publication of the
above
transcript.
LETTERS
Sir ,i have heard about you vaguely before this time but your article
about the
The article was very touching and aptly describes the problems we face
in Africa.Inever even knew that africa day is being celebrated and even if the
majority of africans knew ,i am sure it will just be a day for a sorrowful
reminder of the tragedy which the continent has become.
On a melancholic note however may i say that the problem with africa is
not identifying the problem or the solutions but actually implementing them
with sincerity.Iwould not be surprised if in the year 2063 which you predicted
africa is not only still dilly dallying but actually worse off than it is.I
disagree with you that lack of intellectual capital is the major problem
confronting africa.There are a lot of great intellectual giants from africa or
of african extraction all over the world.Of course you are a living
example.What we ,i think ,seem to lack is the sincerity of purpose to do what
is right ,and being ready to die for the cause of democratic ideals ,a virtue
which has liberated many european and other western countries from the shackles
of feudalism and fascism.In one of the rare cases ,it actually lliberated South
Africa.Until then ,we would only be begging the question as we would
continue to have selfish leaders who continue to impoverish their people while
preventing the right atmosphere for the germination of the intellectual capital
you talked about. Why, in God's name should
I could go on and on with the problems of africa but let me stop here
and hope people like you will continue to open our eyes and minds to what need
be done to get us back into the mainstream of current civilization.Ipray you
will one day come to deliver one of your lectures on our campus. It will indeed
be a great day for me personally.Meanwhile ,i beg you to make your articles to
the newsboard more regular.I was informed by one of the executives that
they have a direct relationship with you.Is that true?If so ,perhaps you could
even get to come to Ife through them one day.We are a generation in dire need
of motivators like you.
Wishing you the best ,
AKOLADE JAMIU ,
Faculty of Law ,
ile
A RESPONSE TO:
Dear Sir, we have never met, and I’m only now becoming aware of the
great accomplishments you have achieved during your lifetime. So, Sir, it is
with great respect that I’ve decided to respond to the article your wrote,
“Africa Must Produce or Perish.” It is my hope that your call for Africans, and
by extension, I hope, those who are also of African descent to return to
knowledge; was a sincere request on your part. It is one thing Sir, to wish for
change, and another to cause change. To wish for change just for change sake;
produces the results we have experienced, as a people, for the last two
thousand years. Which, have only resulted with us remaining a confused and lost
people.
The change that we must achieve is not rooted in ignorance and
superstitions. We continue to call for action while we are living in a fog. We
grope through the darkness without direction and without purpose. Each time, we
hope (not know) that this change will be the one that will give us our true
direction and our true purpose. We can’t
yet comprehend that we are operating on false assumptions. If your point of
origin for change is false; then you must conclude that any result caused by
this change will also be false. This is the dilemma we face as a people. We
must return to that knowledge which is true for us. Not continue to expect the
knowledge that has been given to us by those who are now responsible for
bringing the earth to near destruction; to deliver us and return us to our once
greatness.
It is in this point Sir, that I hope your sincerity will rise to the
surface. True change begins with true knowledge. We must know what is the true
knowledge that our ancestors discovered and applied to create the great people
you mentioned in your article. We desperately need to have someone speak the
truth to us. Not the words we want to hear! Not the words that make us feel
good, while our people are suffering all over the planet! But, words that will
convict our hearts, minds, and souls to affect a real and lasting change!
II Tim. 4:1-5: In the presence of God (YHWH) and the
Savior, who will judge the living and the dead, and in view of his appearing
and his kingdom, I give you this charge: Preach the Word; be prepared in season
and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage – with great patience and
careful instruction. For the time will come when men will not put up with sound
doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great
number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn
their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths. But you, keep your head
in all situations, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, discharge all
the duties of your ministry.
In an effort Sir, to be this voice crying out in the wilderness of
confusion we find ourselves today: I summit for your review an excerpt of a
letter I posted to a concerned grope on the Internet. In this letter, I
included an excerpt from the letter series I wrote, LETTERS TO THE BLACK MAN
AND WOMAN! The complete letter series can be found on the website, nukeyofknowledge.com
I've decided not to delay on commenting on the state of the condition
the world find's itself in as a result of the religion the Europeans have given
(forced) on the rest of the world. Perhaps this insight will help to bring
clarity to the reasons their leaders conduct themselves in the manner that they
do.
How much thought have you given to the things you believe? How much
time, have we as a people, spent on investigating the beliefs, practices and
costumes that we've been taught to observe? Do we really know whether or not
what we've been taught is the truth? Is there a way to prove, beyond a shadow
of a doubt, that all we've come to accept as truth is actually false? Now is
the time to begin to use our hearts for understanding. How did the world come
to observe the practices and costumes it has today? How many people for example
realize that our society celebrates the beginning of the year at the end of the
natural cycle? It was not always this way. The ancient African civilizations
understood that there was a harmony between man and his environment. These
ancient cultures observed the New Year when nature itself began the process of
renewal. They understood the cycle of life. In the spring the cycle of
life begins again. The grass begins to grow anew, the trees begin to bud new leaves,
and the flowers bloom with all their glory. The animals return from their
hibernation and life begins again. We can visibly see, with our eyes, a new
cycle beginning. In the spring new life is occurring all around us. The ancient
African people understood that by beginning their new year at this time they
would be in harmony with nature and with their environment. The spring is the
start of the cycle of life. The spring is the start of the New Year!
Melanin is influenced by
the electro-magnetic field of the Earth, by light waves and sound vibrations.
Because of its magnetic properties, people with higher concentrations of
melanin in their bodies are more in tune with NATURE... FROM THE BROWDER FILE by Anthony T. Browder pg. 117 (emphasis mine)
The spring in the ancient African cultures was the start of a new year.
But, in the European’s civilization that now leads the world, their new year
falls in the dead of winter. There’s no life occurring at the time of their new
year. In fact, all nature has ceased. There is no grass, there is no life
in the trees, the flowers have all withered and died. Most animals have
either migrated to warmer climates or are hibernating for the winter. Winter
is the end of the cycle of life! If the yearly cycle were also a representation
of the life cycle, then the spring season would represent birth and the newness
of life. The summer season would represent youth and vigor. The fall season
would represent adulthood and maturity. The winter season, then, would
represent old age and death, and this cycle, like the cycle of life, would
continue to repeat itself. So, why would the Europeans want to begin their new
year at the end of the natural cycle for all life: And, how have they convince
almost the entire world that the start of the new year actually occurs doing
the time of death in the natural cycle? Today in our modern world, we don't
understand all that transpired to bring into existence this present
civilization. We can no longer comprehend the degree to which the peoples of
the different nations had to suffer in order for this present European
civilization to become established on the earth. As was stated in the
second letter (“Abraham, Abraham”) of this series:
“MANY WHO UNDERSTOOD THAT THERE WERE FALSEHOODS BEING PROPAGATED ON THE
PEOPLE, HAD TO PAY WITH THEIR LIVES.”
In a coming letter, we are going to see just to what degree the world
has suffered as a result of this empire the Europeans have created. If you
think these letters have surprised you before, wait until you see what that
discussion will reveal! Believe it or not these two choices for the start of
the New Year also define the choice between good and evil. Ask yourself this
question and try to put aside your feelings for a moment: Which of the two, the
spring or the winter really makes more sense as the start of the New Year? Of
course the spring! Particularly for us as black people because we come from the
part of the world where we are accustom to warm climates. It is the Europeans
whose origin is that of the harsher colder climates that changed the time the
New Year began. Is it any wonder they would begin their new year in the climate
they were most accustom? It was also stated in the second letter (“Abraham,
Abraham”) that:
“IN ORDER TO ACCOMPLISH THIS FEAT, TIME ITSELF HAD TO BE CHANGED.”
The people who would give the world their English translation of the
Bible would actually change the way time was to be viewed. This occurred
during the time of Emperor Constantine I.
...The official introduction of the seven-day week by Emperor
Constantine I in the fourth Century AD disrupted this arrangement. It appears,
from the day of insertion of the intercalary month in the Roman republican
calendar and the habit of designating years by the name for the consuls, that
the calendar had originally commenced in March, which was the date when the new
consul took office. In 222 BC the date of assuming duties was fixed as March
15, but in 153 BC it was transfer to the kalendae of January, and there it
remained. January therefore, became the first month of the year... Encyclopedia
Britannica Vol. 15, pg. 473
The Encyclopedia makes it clear with irrefutable evidence that it was,
in fact, the Europeans who changed the start of the year from March (Spring) to
January (Winter).
It is now your move Sir, If you truly want to see knowledge return to
our people, then you now have access to this true knowledge. I will wait to
hear your response.
Ralph Nathanial Wells,
Managing Director
L'AFRICA DEVE PRODURRE O PERIRA'
di Philip Emeagwali
Excerpted from a keynote speech delivered by Philip Emeagwali to the African
community in
Immaginate che sia il 25 Maggio del 2063, il 100°
anniversario dell’Africa Day, una giornata per riflettere sui successi e i
fallimenti dell’Africa. Il titolo sul giornale annuncia: “L’ultimo giacimento
petrolifero nel territorio americano dell’Africa Occidentale si è esaurito.”
L’articolo continua: “L’ultimo pezzetto di foresta pluviale sarà presto terra
desolata, segnata da oleodotti, stazioni di pompaggio e raffinerie di gas
naturale. L’inquinamento su vasta scala sarà l’eredità ambientale per le future
generazioni.
“Le riserve di petrolio al largo delle coste dell’Africa si andranno esaurendo.
I pozzi di petrolio abbandonati potrebbero di certo diventare attrazioni
turistiche, e gli insediamenti
“In un mondo senza più petrolio spariranno gli aerei, e la gente viaggerà
oltremare su navi alimentate a carbone. Gli agricoltori useranno i cavalli
invece dei trattori, e le falci al posto delle mieti-trebbiatrici.
Questo scenario potrebbe diventare realtà, dato che non abbiamo più
un’abbondante riserva di petrolio. Sappiamo che questo esiste in quantità
limitate, e che la maggior parte dei pozzi si esaurisce dopo 40 anni. E’
sicuro, come la morte e le tasse. Piuttosto che discutere in che anno
esattamente avremo finito il petrolio, preferisco immaginare che non ne abbiamo
già più. Potrebbe accadere più presto di quanto immaginiamo. I nostri eredi ci
ringrazieranno o ci malediranno per la quantità di petrolio che lasceremo loro.
Piuttosto che chiederci “Quando l’Africa esaurirà le sue risorse naturali?”
dovremmo domandarci “Quando l’Africa non sarà più in grado di esportare
materiali grezzi, o per mancanza
Una barra di ferro grezzo da 100 dollari ne vale 200 quando viene trasformata
in calici in Africa, 65.000 negli aghi fatti in Asia, 5 milioni nei meccanismi
per orologi in Europa. Come può essere? Il capitale intellettuale europeo – la
conoscenza collettiva della sua popolazione - fa sì che una barra di ferro
grezzo da $100 aumenti di 50.000 volte il suo valore? Si potrebbe allora
affermare che una mancanza intellettuale è la causa alla base della povertà.
Philip Emeagwali speaking in
Senza un patrimonio di conoscenza, in
Negli stati africani esportatori di petrolio, multinazionali come la Shell (che
vende impianti di trivellazione per il 40 per cento di royalty sul greggio
esportato) si stanno arricchendo, mentre chi lavora a questi impianti rimane
povero. Invece di occuparsi della causa basilare della povertà, la produttività
minima dovuta alla mancanza intellettuale, i leader del Terzo Mondo si sono
impegnati nel dare false speranze alla loro gente.
Abbiamo bisogno di meno chiacchiere sulla povertà e di più azione per
eliminarla. Allora, come possiamo farlo? L’istruzione ha fatto più di tutte le
compagnie petrolifere
Il capitale intellettuale, non salari più alti, elimineranno la povertà in
Per esempio, esperti in dichiarazione delle tasse che vivono in
L’Africa perirà se continua a consumare quello che non produce, e a produrre
quello che non consuma. Il risultato sarà un deprimente ciclo di aumento
Siamo ad un incrocio dove un’insegna dice “Produci” e un’altra “Perisci”.
Rischiamo di fare come il guidatore che si ferma ad un incrocio e domanda ad un
pedone: “Dove porta questa strada?”
“Non lo so”, dice il guidatore.
“Allora è ovvio che non importa quale strada prende!”, replica il pedone.
Se ci comportiamo come il guidatore, l’Africa perderà la chance di “scegliere”
il suo futuro.
Per decenni, nell’Africa post-coloniale il potere è rimasto nelle mani di quelli
con le armi, e non di quelli dotati di cervello. Non siamo stati sempre in
guerra coi nostri vicini, ma siamo sempre stati in guerra con la povertà. E
abbiamo speso di più nelle armi che in libri e pane.
La scelta dell’Africa è chiara: produrre o perire. Comunque sia, l’importante è
che noi non scegliamo ciecamente il minore tra i due
Noi non possiamo guardare avanti al nostro futuro finché non impariamo dal
nostro passato. Cinquemila anni di storia documentata rivelano che la
tecnologia è stata un dono dell’antica
E’ assolutamente necessario che l’Africa riacquisti la sua rilevanza tecnologica,
cosa che le consentirà di produrre quello che il mondo può consumare. Una volta
fatto questo, l’Africa potrà raccogliere i frutti
Estratto da un discorso tenuto da Philip Emeagwali alla comunità africana a
Valencia, Spagna, l’11 Maggio 2008. L’intera trascrizione e il video sono pubblicati
su emeagwali.com.
Philip Emeagwali è stato chiamato “un padre di internet” dalla
CNN e dal
TIME, e decantato come “una delle più grandi menti dell’era informatica” dall’ex
presidente degli Stati Uniti Bill Clinton. Nel 1989 ha vinto il Gordon Bell
Prize, il premio Nobel per il supercomputing.
Titolo originale: "
Fonte: http://onlinejournal.com/
Link
16.05.2008
Traduzione per www.comedonchisciotte.org a cura di CINZIAB
Amparo Ideh (left) and Francis Chukwuma Ideh (right) welcome
Philip Emeagwali to Africa
Day at Palacio de Congresos in
@ EMEAGWALI.COM 2008
General permission is granted for the publication of the
above
transcript.