creating sustainable convergence for indigenous scientific and technological innovations and...

CREATING SUSTAINABLE CONVERGENCE FOR INDIGENOUS SCIENTIFIC AND

TECHNOLOGICAL INNOVATIONS AND ADVANCEMENTS.

Keynote address by Canon Professor M. Adebisi Ṣowunmi (née Jadesimi) at the 2014 edition of

the Annual National Conference of the School of Science of the Adeyẹmi College of Education,

Ondo.

Science and technology – Siamese twins

• Science is the systematic and organized procuring and building up of knowledge about the universe -- its physical and biological components by -- humans in various fields. This knowledge is gained through the wisdom granted to humans by Almighty God, Whom one can reverently refer to as the Greatest, Pre-existing, and Self-existing Scientist.

• The antiquity and life-span of the search for this knowledge.

Science and technology – Siamese twins

• Technology is the application of knowledge acquired through science.

• Underlying goals of technology -- skill needed for human survival and for the enhancement of their quality of life.

• Extent to which co-joining of science and technology is beneficial to humankind and to the Earth depends on how technology is used.

• Some ecological and [socio-] economic crises self-destructive use of technology… compounded in Nigeria debilitating social factors.

Sustainable convergence of scientific and technological innovation and advancement (development)

• Sustainable development -- makes it possible for the environment to continue to support all forms of life, without diminishing or otherwise negatively impacting on their intrinsic nature and quality.

• Non-sustainable development -- leads to the :extinction of appreciable proportions of plant and animal species; reduction of agricultural land and hence food shortage for humans and their livestock; degradation of ecosystems; and mass destruction of human life – physically, morally and spiritually .

Sustainable convergence of scientific and technological development

• Sustainable convergence of science and technology is absolutely essential for sustainable development → harmonious relationship between humans and the rest of the environment, and safeguarding the future of humankind on the earth.

Parameters of sustainable convergence of scientific and technological development

1. Efficient harnessing and utilization of environmental resources;

2. harmonious relationship between humans and the the rest of the environment;

3. stable, just and genuinely participatory socio-political system, with effective mechanisms for peaceful change of government and for ensuring that public officers are accountable to the nation;

Parameters of sustainable convergence of scientific and technological development

4. efficient and adequate basic infrastructures; 5. a sound and buoyant economy in a peaceful environment; 6. upholding of basic fundamental human rights (with special provisions for women and children);7. equal rights for all -- egalitarianism;

Parameters of sustainable convergence of scientific and technological development

8. wholesome and progressive “infrastructure of the mind”*;9 stable and cohesive family life; and 10. attainment of self-fulfilment and the enhancement of self-esteem by the majority of the populace, at least.

*Thanks to Lagos State Governor, Raji Babatunde Faşọla, SAN, for this ingenious and creative term.

Science and technology through time – a bird’s eye survey

• Pre-human ancestors presumably evolved in Africa about 3.2 million years ago.• Science and technology, in the

broadest sense, most probably date back to 3.2 million and 2.6 million years ago, respectively..

Reconstruction of Australopithecus afarensis skeleton and face

“Out of Eden - The peopling of the world”Stephen Oppenheimer (July 2004)

• “In 1988 Newsweek broke the news that everyone alive on the planet today carries DNA that can be traced back to a single woman living in Africa over 150,000 years ago. Modern humans are truly 'out of Africa'. But how, when and why we left our motherland was open to question and until very recently most experts believed that many waves of ex-African migration had resulted in a gradual populating of the world. With a synthesis of new genetic, archaeological and climatic evidence, Stephen Oppenheimer challenges the orthodoxy by arguing that all modern non-Africans can be shown to have sprung from a single exodus. One migrant group of no more than a few hundred souls was forced out of its homeland by increasing salinity in the Red Sea, some 85,000 years ago, and all non-Africans today can trace their mitochondrial DNA to one woman from this group - the Out-of-Africa Eve.”

• VERY EUROCCEENTRIC --- MAKES NO MENTION OF MODERN AFRICANS, I.E. THOSE WHO REMAINED IN THE CONTINENT AND SPREAD FROM SOUTHERN AFRICA.

Oldowan tools

Acheulean tools

Mousterian tools

Late Stone Tool

Microliths (Late Stone Age}

Oldest known ceramic (baked clay) vase, ca. 18,000 yr BP

More recent developments in science and technology

• Metallurgy commenced about 5,000 years ago; the industrial revolution “from about 1760 to sometime between 1820 and 1840” was marked by transition “from hand production methods to machines, new chemical manufacturing and iron production processes, improved efficiency of water power, the increasing use of steam power… the development of machine tools, [and] ... the change from wood and other bio-fuels to coal”; culminating in the use of nuclear power and solar energy, information and communication technology and space exploration

“The world held its collective breath as the first astronauts walked on the moon in 1969.”

Photograph by: NASA

Astronaut Gene Cernan, the last man on the Moon, Dec 14, 1972.

Photograph by: NASA

Scientific and technological development from the onset till now

• Moon-landing is but a development that came out of the human capability to make tools, dating back to about 2.6 million years

From Oldowan tools to Lunar Module 5

• “Human space exploration is the natural result of our species' technology driven, tool making evolution, the ultimate marriage of man and machine…” McLane III (2009)

Egyptian pyramids

World’s largest rock art petroglyph carving in Nigér, West Africa

Nok terra cotta figurines (500 B.C. – 200 A.D.

Igbo Ukwu terra cotta pot (ca 800 A.D.)

Another view of same pot

Ife bronze head of an Ọọni, ca. 1,100 A.D.

Benin bronze head of an Ọba

Benin bronze head of a Queen Mother

Benin ivory mask – (Festac 1977 symbol);still in the British Museum!)

Daima figurines

Implications of past West African and Nigerian indigenous technology

• Vivid evidences of the ingenuity, highly sophisticated artistic skills, creativity, profound knowledge (science) of the physical and chemical properties of the materials used, and accompanying technologies characteristic of peoples who managed their natural resources efficiently and harmoniously.

• Their societies must have been relatively stable and well-organised, with wholesome socio-political structures.

Implications of past West African and Nigerian indigenous technology

• Furthermore, environmental archaeological studies in West Africa and Nigeria revealed the following attributes, among others, of the various peoples:

• (1) complexity and diversity of subsistence economies; • (2) remarkable knowledge about their environment; • (3) resourcefulness and versatility in the utilization of

environmental resources, both in the immediate vicinity and at distances of up to 100 km.; and

• (4) remarkable self-reliance and initiative

All these are manifestations of sustainable convergence of scientific and technological innovations and advancements;

Re-creating a sustainable convergence of indigenous scientific and technological innovations and advancements.

• The probable origin of and advancements in pre-human and human scientific and technological innovations have been highlighted.

• These innovations began in parts of Africa by the indigenous peoples.

• They are manifestations of sustainable convergence of indigenous scientific and technological innovations and advancements by these Africans in the past

Re-creating a sustainable convergence of indigenous scientific and technological innovations and advancements.

We should therefore be talking about RE-CREATING a sustainable convergence of indigenous scientific and technological innovations and advancements, because such a convergence existed in the past!

• Sadly, our political and social environments are becoming more and more unconducive for the generation of this convergence.

GDP nominal per capita world map (IMF 2008.png)

Basic requirements for a sustainable convergence of scientific and technological innovations and advancements

• (i) transparency, modesty and accountability by those in governance with commensurate sanctions imposed on anyone who defaults – the Swiss ambassador to Nigeria in an indicting and unusual outpouring of the hard truth by a foreign diplomat, was recently quoted as saying, inter alia: “our public officers don’t steal public funds, they don’t fly in private jets, and they don’t travel First Class”; (ii) sensitivity to the plight of the ordinary citizen; (iii) constant measures to improve the quality of life of the average citizen; (iv) responsible leadership; and (v) a critical and articulate citizenry.

CONCLUSION: irreducible minimum requirements

• Domesticating and enforcing Principles 5 and 8, respectively, of the United Nations Conference on Environment and Declaration (Rio de Janeiro, June, 1992): “All states and all peoples shall co-operate in the essential task of eradicating poverty as an indispensable requirement for sustainable development, in order to decrease the disparities in standards of living and better meet the needs of the majority of the people of the world.” “To achieve sustainable development and a higher quality of life for all people, states should reduce and eliminate unsustainable patterns of production and consumption and promote appropriate demographic principles. (Hallman, 1994)

CONCLUSION: irreducible minimum requirements

• The successful ancient civilizations, including those in Nigeria, must have had good governance, which ensured the proper management and equitable distribution of natural resources for the welfare of the citizenry rather than for a privileged few. Having such good governance at the different tiers is an essential requirement for sustainable development. This requires, inter alia, responsible and responsive leadership and followership, a positive and active “infrastructure of the mind” as well as true patriotism. This is an important ethical dimension, which will contribute significantly to the reversal of the current, mind-boggling and conscience-less impoverishment of the ordinary Nigerian in the midst of an abundance of God-given wealth.

CONCLUSION: irreducible minimum requirements

• An attitudinal change on the part of the average Nigerian, which demands that we believe more in our innate capabilities and thus determine to creatively overcome obstacles in the path of achieving sustainable convergence of scientific and technological innovations and advancements.

The anti-thesis of sustainable convergence of scientific and technological development in Nigeria

• Underlying our failure to achieve the sustainable convergence we so much desire is corruption, particularly in the public domain. Corruption is self-destructive and therefore must be seriously tackled and greatly reduced. The cartoon below taken from The Punch of Friday, 18th April, 2014, brilliantly captures how endangered the nation is, if corruption is allowed to continue to fester!

The anti-thesis of sustainable convergence of scientific and technological development in Nigeria

CONCLUSION: irreducible minimum requirements

• Nigeria should spend appreciable sums of money to promote the use of solar and other renewable energy sources for domestic and small-scale industrial consumption. This should reduce drastically the emission of carbon dioxide, the indiscriminate felling of trees for fuel, and the current reversion of human life in the nation back to the Earliest Stone Age, from where we started ca. 2.6 million years ago!

I THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION!