Fwd: [yorubanation] Misplaced Priority - Nigeria Is Sending Astronaut to Space?

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Toyin Falola

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May 21, 2012, 9:21:24 AM5/21/12
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From: Ademola Dasylva <dasy...@yahoo.com>
Date: May 21, 2012 8:15:55 AM CDT
Cc: Yoruba Group <yoruba...@yahoogroups.com>, Omo Yoruba Egbe <egbeomoyorub...@yahoogroups.com>
Subject: Re: [yorubanation] Misplaced Priority - Nigeria Is Sending Astronaut to Space?

Fine, a patriotic spirit, this will normally be in a sane society. I love the responses so far, except that I am angry at our shortsightedness. 

Unfortunately, the man who wrote about "misplaced priority" isn't far off the mark. Arguably, there are different ministries and government parastatals manning different areas of responsibility. Have you stopped to ask yourself how many scientific or technological research products/projects are lying idle in our universities and polytecnics but remain untapped and unpatronized by the government or our industries? Have you stopped to ask how many locally manufactured automobiles we produce in Nigeria? We are not even able to manage ordinary assembling plants, PAN and VON, they all went with the Tsunami of CORRUPTION!

 It is true these Federal ministries represent and oversee different arms of governance, but then there is a connectedness, there is one SG, there is one Head of Service, there is one Speaker of the House of Rep, and a President of Senate, there are proposals no matter how beautiful that must procedurally end up on the tables of these 'big' personalities. They have the official authority to kill or make them live! That is the connectedness. Budgets are presented defended, synchronized in a way that ensures equilibrium, etc. That, my people, is the connectedness. Only last week we were being warned, already, that Nigeria is in a fiscal crisis, although Dr Okonjo-Iweala keeps denying the obvious. A Minister is talking of Nigeria flying astronauts to space on the year of election, and you take him serious. What a big joke!

You talked about US and the USSR and the stage at which they embarked on their repective space missions. You are right there, but have you asked if US or the USSR had depended on some other countries, as Nigeria does currently, to assemble their space ships in those wonderful days of the cold war? Nigeria's so called satellites launched sometime ago are not native of Nigeria! They were manufactured to the minutest part by Russia, or was it China? One was even reported missing, or that it could not be located any more. I hope that Nigeria was not 419ed

What makes it so hard that Nigeria can we not learn a simple lesson from India, lesson of being a serious, humble, honest, patriotic, hardworking nation. In India, see how education is made functional, with entrepreneurial skills, and made accessible via cheap newsprint book production, how India has gone through the humble path regardless of the aspersions from the West, to almost take over Medicine and medical practice and the ICT engineering, mass production and market, globally. America, the most bitter critic of India's education has eaten her own words, God's own country is now flooded with Indian doctors, and ICT products!

No Fed Ministry can go it alone. Every Fed ministry is seen to pursue, as well as accelerate the vision of the Fed government. So now, is flying astronauts in space the priority of the Federal government?  A government that unwittingly killed indigenous education and skills, apprenticeship, artisanship, etc., through the introduction of madding commercial motorcyclists a.k.a "Okada" as its own way of youth empowerment! Unfortunately, Nigeria does not even manufacture the motorcycles or the spare parts, so what are we talking about? The railway system is down, we are trying to import Chinnese, is it Indians to put it back in place. That is if they ever will. Late Abacha actually brought the Chinnese to do it, but where is the result today? Shouldn't that be one of the priorities of this Ministry on a goose chase? The State of Texas generates a total of 61,000 megawatts from 7 or 8 different sources, coal being about 65%. But Texas is 2/3 the size of Nigeria and consumes a maximum of 21,000 megawatts. So it sells to neighboring states the remaining 40,000 megawatts. A top shot in ECORT, that is the company that handles the energy distribution at Taylor's Town, is a Nigerian, Engr. Obadina, a product of a first generation Nigerian university! We have a rich Coal deposit in Nigeria, we used to be about the third largest producer in the whole world, yet our dreamer Minister and government could not think of its full utilization for energy generation, they are busy with flying Nigerian spaceship in 2015! 


Is it not shameful that every house has suddenly become a local government? must sink a borehole for its water supply, supply own energy by elect.generator, and provide roads to put one's vehicle on, provide own Maigadi for security. Meanwhile, there are ministries in charge of these infrastructures and their staff draw monthly salaries even when such ministries have become redundant!

As far as many of us are concerned, the Federal government has long abdicated its responsibility, yet a dreamer Minister dangles the carrot of a space mission come 2015, and we must roll out drums and put on our dancing shoes to welcome what? A rot, that is!

My people, let us call a spade a spade, can someone point out just one thing, the current Fed government has executed successfully in one year, besides the conspiratorial looting of the nation's Treasury by, not faceless cabal, but a herd of sacred cows, who will do ANYTHING just ANYTHING, to perpetuate their "extended limbs" in power,  just one thing the government did right, and I will no longer get angry!

 
Ademola Dasylva



Sent from my iPad

On May 20, 2012, at 6:37 PM, Solomon Adio <SKA...@MSN.COM> wrote:

 

Alagba Oladapo,

Nigeria does have trained space engineers specialized in space satellite technology. There is nothing wrong with the projection of planned mission. Some prominent Yorubas were able to lobby the site for the launch pad to be in southwest. Location not disclosed for security reasons. It won't be a white elephant project if we collaborate our efforts. It is not really a difficult task to achieve. We have the will. The question should be 'what can we do to help achieve that milestone'. The Federal Ministry of Science and Technology is doing a lot. I am impressed. I have visited different sites of some of their giant projects.

A lot of us in diaspora are not privy to some of positive things going on Nigeria cos our main source of information is limited to internet news. Negative news sells.  I have met a lot of hardworking Nigerians who do care about the future of this country.They don't make big news probably because they are not stealing money. If you are reading this, you are probably one of them. So, the Vanguard story is a welcoming news to me.

Ire O.

Solomon Kola Adio


To: egbeomoyorub...@yahoogroups.com; yoruba...@yahoogroups.com
From: ola...@yahoo.com
Date: Sun, 20 May 2012 05:47:02 -0700
Subject: [yorubanation] Misplaced Priority - Nigeria Is Sending Astronaut to Space?

 

Dear all,
Nigeria is sending astronauts to space?
Is this another "Green Revolution" white elephant project in the making?
Please read and post your comment.
Ire o.
O. Oladapo
Member - EOY Greater Atlanta.















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Nigeria to send astronauts to space by 2015
 News    Friday, May 18, 2012
LAIDE AKINBOADE
ABUJA - Minister of Science and Technology, Prof. Ita Okon Bassey, Thursday,said that Nigeria would by 2015 put its first set of astronauts to space.


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He said the move waspart of government efforts to boost the economythrough space technology.
He also said technology transfer agreements between Nigerian entrepreneurs and their technical partners abroad had saved Nigeria over N16 billion between May 2011 and March 2012.
The Minister, who spoke at the 2012 ministerial platform, one year score card, organized by Ministry of Information in Abuja, said training of the first set of astronauts to be sent to space would soon commence.
On savings from technology transfer agreements, the minister said: "The highest amount of money that was saved was in September 2011 with over N5.3 billion followed by N3.8 billion and the lowest amount was N89.8 million in August 2011.
"Nigeria shall vigorously pursue the attainment of space capabilities as an essential tool for the socio-economic development and enhancement of the quality of life of its people.
"20 technologies are transferred on weekly basis through training for establishments of small medium enterprises.
These included, instant pounded yam flour, fruit juice production, cassava products (chips, adhesives, starch, flour), instantfufu flour, baking and confectioneries."
He said the ministry signed eight Memoranda of Understanding (MoU), with private sector companies for use of technologies developed by parastatals of the ministry.
On leather technology, Prof. Ewa said there was a strong improvement of production of leather foot wear and products.
He called on the Ministries of Defence and Interior to patronise the ministry by buying their military boots and other accessories from it.
He noted that the ministry had already trained over 150 entrepreneur's from Benue, Kaduna, Kano and Sokoto states, adding that these had created jobs for so many youths in that area.
He assured Nigerians that more youths would be trained on the making of leather foot wears.
He stressed the need for the Federal Government to invest more on technical technology which could create one million jobs in three years, while tomato paste industry could create 500,000 jobs in three years.
He said: "Utilization of coal for industrial chemicals production will create jobs and save foreign exchange.
"Municipal solid wastes, which are environmental hazards, is now being converted to wealth as well providing a cleaner environment. Liquid fuels from coal technology are a hitech area and Nigeria venturing into it is a necessary pre-condition in attaining vision 20:20:20. The skill we acquire will make us globally competitive."


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Toyin Falola
Department of History
The University of Texas at Austin
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