Nigerians,this is your time to code!

Computing has changed the world in profound ways. It has opened up wonderful new ways for people to connect, design, research, play, create, and express themselves. However, just using a computer is only a small part of the picture. The real transformative and empowering experience comes when one learns how to program the computer, to translate ideas into code.

These days we all have pretty fast computers with us wherever we go.And we really love them. It defines who we are.
But, should we continue to sit by and watch this amazing technology? Shouldn't we participate in defining it?
My answer to this is we can. And it would not even cost you anything to get started. All it needs is a bit of your time.
If your answer to my second question is "YES", then we can walk together. You will not only walk with me, we will walk with
global community of programmers and developers.

(map int "church")

I would want you to make an intuitive guess what the above is? And do you think it is really difficult to figure out? Maybe yes, but my
bet is that you will someday find out that it is not as difficult as 2 + 2. Remember that we were made to believe that 2 + 2 = 4. Is that
really true? I will say a big "NO". Say we have two goats and two tubers of yam, is it not same as 2 + 2? And what do you think the
answer would be?

Back to the reason for this writeup , it is to motivate you and to let you know that you can write your own computer programs. That your can
write your own games, that you can turn your Microsoft excel and co into something amazing by adding a few lines of code. You can monitor your warehouses via
your phone. You can open your gates with your phone. What you can do is only limited to your imagination and skill set(note that I am only referring to computers here). You don't need a degree or university education. One may say that I am wrong here. Okay, MicroSoft, Apple, Facebook, and Twitter they all have one thing
in common. Guess what? They were all started off by dropouts. One may say that that is US not Nigeria.
Now, let's sketch how to get started. We have thousands of free computer languages out there on the net. And most of them are Turing complete.
And in computer languages some are imperative, procedural, functional, class-based, logical , and etc. But what you need is just the simple ones that naturally
match the way we reason, that will not stand on your way while learning and coding. Ones with amazing online communities and free text e-books and articles.
I will recommend Ruby language or Python language. Pause now, point your browser to google and search for Ruby language or Python language. However, if
you are a Maths genius(First-Order Logic and Co) then try Clojure language. If you are an Engineer, then I would say you should also check out Arduino and Octave. Arduino is not really a language,
it is a hardware and software suite. With Arduino boards and Arduino IDE you will effortlessly program Micro-controllers and ARM processors. Please note that all the smart phones
out there are based on ARM processors(Intel please bear with this lie!). Octave is really pretty cool, it is a free alternative to Matlab. It shares the same syntax with Matlab. You will use it to do heavy algebra and calculus. And above all it is pretty easy to use.
But remember that I promised you something, I will walk with you and I really have a lot for you. If you are interested, then send a mail to us[satajanus(at)gmail.com].

Reading and Future

We were told in school then that what you read is what you are. However, if you apply it to this country, we are just lazy. Development can only come when we start applying the knowledge we have acquired from reading and training and experience. By not reading we would not be developing ......
This land called Nigeria has not ceased to amaze me, just go to the universities.What do you see? Students with cellphone sets of about fifty thousand Naira. However, ask him/her about text books,he/she would be quick to tell you that books are expensive. If you go further on stuff like the books he/she has read lately, you would be surprised ......

ITS TIME FOR NGOZI IWEALA TO LEAVE

Its obvious that she has done her job well, and I believe that now is the best time for her to "move on". This land for the first time was made to feel the heat of economical reform and restructuring under the watch of a world-class economist.
I know that one day Ngozi would take over the leadership of this country,I have been praying on this.
However,I have a case against Ngozi, why should she defend cold-blooded capitalism. The way she vehemently defended Transcorp,the oil majors and other "barbarians at the gates" made me feel sad. I pray that by the time she takes full control of political and economic power of this land she must have purged her from such.

DO WE NEED FIFTY DANGOTES OR 1 MILLION MAZI CALCULUS

It was reported in one of newspapers that our current governor of Central Bank Of Nigeria, Mr Charles Soludo,boasted that his ambition was to "create" fifty Dangotes by the time he leaves office as governor. This shows that our governor indeed wants to jump start our economy.
However, I would want him to "create" one million mazi calculus instead ,at same cost. One millions caluluses would impact more on the economy than fifty Dangotes. Calulus group would equally affect our body politic more than the Dangotes. No country wants to widen the gap between the haves and the haves not. Because this would definitely lead to social crisis.
Calculus group would definitely free the economy from backwardness and under-development. We would have a highly literate, upwardly mobile, middle class.
Mr. Soludo needs to re-think and channel his energy in areas that would develop the people of this great land and not on areas that would only benefit the well heeled and connected.

LIVING IT OUT

John Grisham wrote a novel by name THE FIRM. I would assume that he got his inspiration from American corporate culture. I read about Goldman Sachs the other day from The Economist, an international magazine , and immediately came to the conclusion that Goldman Sachs culture,that is its ability to manufacture millionaires,not being transparent,making money from sources not clearly understood by outsiders,conducting minimum of twenty interviews before one is employed,and sending top manager to recruit new hires , are clearly what John illustrated in his novel.
Goldman Sachs is the bank to beat. A place to work. I hope this great bank would not go down like the firm John wrote about.
Lets pray that it wont happen in our time.

NIGER DELTA-EXIT FROM POVERTY

I thank Nigerian government for their new development plan for the people of the oil producing states. However, I would say that what the poor masses are asking of is an "Exit from Poverty" .They need to be empowered economically through multiple means.First, I would like the real village people that have oil in their communities to be the beneficiaries .Government should help them to become shareholders in the oil wells in their neighborhoods. They may be allowed to own up to 10% through an investment vehicle-where each family in a community would be a shareholder. There should be a clause that would make it impossible to sell shares. This investment vehicle must invest at least 20% of its capital in the stock exchange for future generation. It would also invest at least 30% in agriculture in the affected communities. Apart from economic investment, this investment vehicle should be partners with federal and state and local governments in area of social infrastructural developments.I believe this arrangement will make oil communities to become investment friendly communities. Because these communities would start to see oil installations as their own investments that need to be protected.
Another scheme could be in this form. In each of the oil producing communities, government would be giving out handouts (something like $200 per family) to the people each month. These handouts would be tied up with some conditions such as these; that they (villagers) should send their children to school and have other streams of income. However, government should also let them know that getting these handouts are dependent on the number of oil wells in their communities, and peacefully allowing oil companies to transact business in their areas.In conclusion, whichever option government chooses, oil communities and their militias must surrender their weapons.

ANOTHER OPPORTUNITY TO BE LOST

Once again we have the opportunity to join the global "train of prosperity".This train is about passing through our land,however the drivers of our economy arenot aware of this.They do things that would cause this train to derail.They are fighting on nothing,how to alter the constitution in order to stay for another term.
We are still know that a committed and hardworking leader has the capacity to unlock the economy and potential of his people.It does not depend on how many years one has been in power.Ngige changed the face of anambra state within 22 months.

THE DIFFERENCE

FOR A THIRD WORLD COUNTRY TO BECOME PART OF THIS CENTURY,THERE MUST BE A CONCERTED
EFFORT TO DEVELOP HER PEOPLE.THIS DEVELOPMENT MUST BE WORKED OUT BASED ON THE COUNTRY'S NEED AND CULTURAL SETTING.
SOME ECONOMIES MIGHT GO FOR PERSPIRATION INDUSTRIES WHILE OTHERS FOR INSPIRATION.
INSPIRATION INDUSTRIES MIGHT BE THE ANSWER FOR A ENGLISH SPEAKING COUNTRY.THE ENTRY LEVEL FOR INSPIRATION INDUSTRIES IS NOT HIGH.AND MOST OF THE THIRD WORLD ECONOMIES HAVE THE CAPACITIES.
LOOKING AT SOFTWARE INDUSTRIES AND WHAT THE THIRD WORLD ECONOMIES STAND TO GAIN BY INVESTING IN THIS AREA.IT WILL CERTAINLY BRIDGE THE GAP BETWEEN THE HAVES AND HAVES NOT.
IT WILL EQUALLY IMPROVE TECHNOLOGIES BECAUSE OF INJECTION OF NEW TALENTS AND ENERGIES.