Dear Dora, Don’t Do This.

BusinessDay reports that the Federal executive council is planning to spend 3.6 billion Naira on computers and internet connectivity in 260 schools around the nation. Professor Dora Akunyili made the announcement, no doubt because it’s her job to share the word, but also because her ministry would probably be responsible for making it happen.

I’m a firm believer that every Nigerian should have internet access for education, commerce, communication and entertainment. Such a plan shows that our leaders are turning their minds to the future and realising the necessity of raising our children on the technologies that will elevate them to prime position among their peers. Nevertheless, I think it is a rotten idea and I’ll tell you why.

BarCamp Nigeria 2010 Takes Place This Saturday

Barcamp Nigeria 2010 takes place this Saturday, the 22nd of May, at CITS, University of Lagos, Akoka, Nigeria. From the event’s website:

BarCamp is simply an ‘unconference’ - an ad-hoc gathering of people with the simple desire to share and learn in an open environment. Unlike a conference, at a barcamp everyone is both a speaker and a participant. The content is provided by all attendees based on their interests.

BarCamp Nigeria 2010 will be held at CITS, University of Lagos Akoka, Lagos, Nigeria on 22 May, 2010 as a way to bring people interested in technology, on a variety of levels and topics, together in one place for a day of sharing, learning, networking and brainstorming.

Barcamp Nigeria 2010 theme is: “Creating local content for Nigerian web market.”

I plan to be there. If you have an interest in creating technology solutions to Nigeria’s problems or using technology to make a living or you just want to hang with a bunch of folks who are excited about the opportunities on the internet, you should be there too.

You can register right here.

Dej.

My First Interview – Answering Questions About the “Afrislate”

A couple of months ago, I wrote a 3 part series called the “African iPad”. In it I described the features of a hypothetical African tablet device based on the design principles of the Apple iPad. After that, I mentally told myself that I was not going to spend anymore time writing about the iPad, slates, or tablets – at least not for a good long while. However, in not-as-far-as-it-once-was China, someone read the series and had a few questions of their own.

Does the President Know What He's In For?

When I heard that President Jonathan Goodluck promised to engage young Nigerians by opening a Facebook page focused on electoral reforms, I was impressed. However, I couldn't help but wonder whether he realised what he is in for.

Debating the African Internet Industry with Kachwanya

A couple of weeks ago I posted my response to a conversation that started on Techmasai as a blog post. I called it “Clone Wars: The Prelude”. The gentleman who started the conversation brought the discussion over here by posting a response to it. I tried to reply his comments, but the commenting system said my reply was too long. So I decided to make it a blog post again. The commentator, a Kenyan blogger and software consultant who maintains a very nice looking blog over at www.kachwanya.com, wrote his thoughts:

It’s Facebook’s World, But Do We Want To Live In It?

Case 1: A week ago I was asking a colleague about a movie she went to watch on a Thursday evening. Surprised, she asked how I knew she had gone to watch a movie. I told her I found out on Facebook. she said she doesn’t use Facebook. The information, with a picture and the name of the movie, was posted on Facebook by the person she went with.

Case 2: The technical events person had been calling me for years inviting me to corporate technology events. I attended a few, didn’t attend most, but for years all I knew was a name, an email address and a voice on the phone. I finally went online, popped in the person’s name and had their LinkedIn and Facebook pages in seconds. LinkedIn gave me their personal history. Facebook showed me pictures of their 3 children.