Herbal electronics:Toyin Adepoju for Researching Damian Anyawu

[Augustine Togonu-Bickersteth]

Toyin Adepoju you are great at research.  I like whst you did about the sensation around  Dr.phiilip  Emeagwali super computing maverick  perhaps  you can also  do an equally  thorough job  on Damian Anyawu on herbal electronics. .this is a  forum where you find serious  minds so i would not want to feed them with bunkum. I appreciate  Cornelius Hamelberg concerns

[Oluwatoyin Adepoju]

Thanks Augustine.

At the time the story was trending, an engineer in Benin told me he actually saw the radio and its puzzling herbal components and could not fathom how it could work but it worked, he said. He did not mention the inventor's name.

That was well before Internet and social media days in naija so the subject did not circulate much, to the best of my knowledge.

If one Googles ''Damian Anyawu herb radio'' a lot of hits come up, some giving credence to the story. 

Chioma Uchenna's  paper ''REPOSITIONING SCIENCE EDUCATION IN NIGERIA'' references a newspaper report as being a source for the story- Ibcabuchi A (1982). ''Technological Marvels of Nigeria's Strange Scientist. Daily Times, Saturday March 20 , Nigeria. ''  

How would one get to the bottom of such a story?

The man is reported  as having passed away in 2020, with the then governor of Imo State commending him fulsomely for his achievements as a scientific innovator and technocrat:

''He added that Mr Anyanwu impacted the lives of so many people positively with his Radio Mbaise and that, other efforts he made at the establishment of Science and Technology Polytechnic – /Kelly Research Institute – and a stint at the Department of Physics, the University of Nigeria Nsukka as an Assistant Lecturer, pointed to the rare gift the deceased had.''

 With such academic and technocratic exposure I wonder why such a wondrous technology was not taken further, even if only to publicise it more, particularly as people have complained that support for scientific and technological innovation is difficult to come by in Nigeria.

Perhaps one could contact his children for information.

 Without suggesting anything about the plausibility of the Anyanwu story, I am reminded of an experience I had in a forest in Benin, again before Internet and social media days in naija.

I came across two young men who offered to show me something wonderful. One of them plunged his hand into a hole in the ground and brought out a live scorpion. The scorpion seemed immobilbe because it did not move, remaining still in the man's hand, with its tail and the sting at the end raised but motionless.
The man then placed the scorpion on top of his head and covered the head with a cap, as I gazed, amazed.
''What I have just done, you can do too'' the man assured me, as the scorpion remained unmoving on his head, covered by the cap.
 ''All you need to do is chew this leaf growing right  here on the forest floor before picking up the scorpion and it will be powerless to harm you. We learnt this from a herbalist/traditional priest here in Benin'', he informed me.
Did I test this assurance by chewing the leaf and grabbing a scorpion from inside its lair as the man had done? Did I ask to see the person who had taught this men about this wondrous formula? Did I visit their teacher and ask to learn how he had learnt about this thing and how it worked? Did I try to find a laboratory where the properties of the leaf could be studied? Did I consider the possibilities of how such info could be used and shared and who would benefit from the sharing?

I did not do or consider any of these things. I was not bold enough to test the leaf eating/ grabbing scorpion formula. I did not understand enough the significance of what I had just witnessed and so did not pursue the matter further. I simply remained with my amazement.

thanks

toyin

 

As for

On Tue, 13 Jun 2023 at 12:01, 'Augustine Togonu-Bickersteth' via USA Africa Dialogue Series <usaafric...@googlegroups.com> wrote:

Toyin Adepoju you are great at research.  I like whst you did about the sensation around  Dr.phiilip  Emeagwali super computing maverick  perhaps  you can also  do an equally  thorough job  on Damian Anyawu on herbal electronics. .this is a  forum where you find serious  minds so i would not want to feed them with bunkum. I appreciate  Cornelius Hamelberg concerns

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[Augustine Togonu-Bickersteth]

toyin you have done well you have not disappointed  its sad such a man could have died without

an editorial comment in  a nigerian newspaper at least

i hope he passed his secrets to his children. toyin i challenge you to track down his children for the benefit of this forum and others.

On Tue, Jun 13, 2023 at 12:01 PM 'Augustine Togonu-Bickersteth' via USA Africa Dialogue Series <usaafric...@googlegroups.com> wrote:

Toyin Adepoju you are great at research.  I like whst you did about the sensation around  Dr.phiilip  Emeagwali super computing maverick  perhaps  you can also  do an equally  thorough job  on Damian Anyawu on herbal electronics. .this is a  forum where you find serious  minds so i would not want to feed them with bunkum. I appreciate  Cornelius Hamelberg concerns

--

[Oluwatoyin Adepoju]

Thanks Augustine.

I provided a link to a scholarly paper which referenced a newspaper report on the subject.

Thanks for the challenge but am I sufficiently interested in the subject?

The issue would require talking to the children digitally and if they say they have evidence of the verbal device, going to see it.

Its an intriguing subject but I'm not particularly interested in it.

If you are able to pay for my time and resources, however, I could embark on the project of first trying to locate the children and talking to them  digitally and if necessary, go to visit them.

thanks

toyin

To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/usaafricadialogue/CAP9m8j%2BnQzEFw2BigrAV7oeqEJwyUfu3X-8Kbp4CU6FCOGBCwA%40mail.gmail.com.

[Oluwatoyin Adepoju]

Edited

Thanks Augustine.

I provided a link to a scholarly paper which referenced a newspaper report on the subject.

Thanks for the challenge but am I sufficiently interested in the subject?

The issue would require talking to the children digitally and if they say they have evidence of the herbal device, going to see it.

Its an intriguing subject but I'm not particularly interested in it.

If you are able to pay for my time and resources, however, I could embark on the project of first trying to locate the children and talking to them  digitally and if necessary, go to visit them.

thanks

toyin

[Dompere, Kofi Kissi]

THANKS,

ONE OF THE PROBLEMS OF AFRICA’S CONTINUAL AND COSISTENT DEVELOPMENT FROM ANTIQUITY IS  GREAT KNOWLEDGE HIDDEN IN THE DARK WALLS OF SECRETS.

OUR KNOWLEDGE AND KNOWING MUST BE PLASED IN OPEN GOLDEN GATES OF ANCESTRAL WISDOM FOR CONTINUITY,

KOFI

 

From: 'Augustine Togonu-Bickersteth' via USA Africa Dialogue Series <usaafric...@googlegroups.com>
Sent: Tuesday, June 13, 2023 5:14 AM
To: usaafric...@googlegroups.com
Subject: Re: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Herbal electronics:Toyin Adepoju for Researching Damian Anyawu

 

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