I really like this video, primarily because is will help answer the question, "What is Africa like?"

This is a postive reaction/response to all the negativity about Africa, hence it tends to be very positive.

It is not an attempt to deny the realities of life in Africa, but rather to point to some of the things we have to be proud of that will appeal to western sensibiities.

The things I am most proud of as an African, is actually the intangibles..

How do you describe, the sense, sounds and smells of Lagos. The palpable fear and the humanity of it all.

The quiet solitude of my hometown -Usi Ekiti, all the fact that every member is really and truly your family.

The best capture of the dichotomy of the western sensibilities and an African one for me, is when Mrs Clinton said, "it takes a village to raise a child". I doubt that meant the same thing to both of us.

 

 

 

Well, it is that time to give this blog another redesign. For some reason, I seem to have lost my audience.. oh well.

The purpose fo this blog is really not about the audience but about me, the interesting observationsI make, interesting things that I think about, rants and raves, knowledge which potentially could become opportunity and the philosophy - decision, descipline and diligence.

 

If I rule the world is simply a catchy title of the song by Nas. However, all I wanted to blog about is if I rule Nigeria.

Let's assume for a minute that I am Alhaji Umaru Musa Yar'Adua, what will I be doing? What will I do differently than Obasanjo?

 

For one, I will focus. Of all the issues facing Nigeria, corruption, education, infrastructure, security, economic progress etcetera etcetera. I will pick several, that I will focus on, that will be forever changed in the annals of the history of that country Nigeria, because I am presido.

 

However, I wouldn't randomly choose , first you need to understand each and everyone of these issue. Second, define what success looks like that everyone could agree to and third prioritize.

 

This simple analysis, will help to deduce, what the four years of my administration will mean to Nigerians. What to focus on.

 

So what has Musa decided to do? Well for clues we will need to read his victory speech.

The clues point to reconciliation, reform, jobs and electricity.

He expnaded on some of this to mean no division between North and South, Christians and Muslims. " There will only be Nigeria. One Nation. One people. One future. One destiny."

Hope and Profit in Africa -MTV

How do you build consumer markets and fight AIDS in a broken land? MTV banks on music videos and local talent.

http://www.forbes.com/free_forbes/2007/0618/092.html

 

 

Africa by the numbers

Where much of the world sees destitution, corruption, and disease, MTV sees a growing audience in Africa. Angola, for example, boasts 6 television stations and over a million cell phone users, despite its 70% poverty rate

http://www.forbes.com/2007/05/31/africa-map-poverty-biz-cz_lg_africamap.html?boxes=custom

 

 

Let Freedom Ring (Prepaid) – Mohammed Ibrahim, CelTel

Mohammed Ibrahim changed the lives of millions of Africans, and earned his investors billions of dollars, with his cell phones. Now he wants to change a few of their leaders

http://www.forbes.com/2007/05/31/africa-mobile-ibrahim-biz-cz_qh_0531africaibrahim.html?boxes=custom

 

The website  "Sade & Shola", http://www.pictage.com/309884
 http://www.costcophotocenter.com/share/p=82201182372488426/l=12079217/g=41601320/cobrandOid=1008/otsc=SYE/otsi=SALB

 

Recently, I am discovering that my thoughts about certain things are changing. In a sense, I feel like I am maturing, however, I also feel like experience is molding me to become a more mature person, while at the same time, I am loosing the simplicity and clarity of my youthful years.

 

Do I like it? I don't know. Can I change it? Probably, but why?

 

For example, one of the topics my worldview is changing on is diversity. It seem to me either people are self deceptive or this is such a politically sensitive subject, that you can't really get people to tell you the truth.

 

Research is pretty conclusive, that people like to work with, associate with people who are like them. Hence this natural affinity make people bunch into groups since time immemorial and creates conflict between the groups. You can clearly see this pattern in history and this is mostly what I attribute racism, tribalism, nepotism, feminism and other divisive societal ills to in general.

 

For must people, it is not a conscious effort to keep the other people down, at least not initially and not in the benign form. [Slavery in the broad sense, may be an exception]

 

In a recent dialog, with close females friends in terms of being female in the workplace etc. When faces with the question, do you think being "female" (Insert any other minority group) has affected your experience in the workplace. They general reply is No, because I can't tell whether the behaviour is because I am female or any other reason, hence I don't attribute.

 

This is astounding to me, since no one is goign to ever tell you I am doing this because you are female or because you are black or whatever, following this logic to conclusion means that discrimination against women in the workforce doesn't exist because we can't prove it conclusively.

 

This excerpt of an interview of a female architect, is a prime example of this thinking. Notice how she talk of her experience versus experiencing resistance. How did she know the Professor stopped dead because she was a female?

 

You can't eat your cake and have it.

 

 

Magazine: What’s it like to be a woman in such a technical career at Microsoft?

van Ingen: M is one of more balanced places I’ve been. I’m old enough that when I walked into one of my classes as an undergraduate, one of the professors stopped dead because he’d never seen a woman in class. In many respects, it’s been an advantage … because people know me in part because I was the only woman in the room. Having women around is a new thing for me in the last 10 years, and I think it’s great.

Inside Track: Have you experienced resistance from your peers because you’re a woman?

van Ingen: I can’t tell. How do I tell if the resistance is because I’m a woman, because I’m smart, because I’m obnoxious, or because I’m driving a particular car? I don’t attribute that sort of thing to gender. I don’t worry about it because I’ve always … taken no nonsense.

That being said, I see a change. I’m actually fairly patient; I didn’t expect such a rapid change, and there’s been much more change than I expected. There are women in the middle ranks. When I was very young, there were only exceptional women [in technology] because you had to be exceptional. Getting to the point where women don’t have to be exceptional is very, very important.

 

I was just going through my day yesterday, when I experienced what could only be described as cosmic boredom. The interesting thing is not that I wasn't busy but rather, that the "busyness" [business] is not targeted at any specific goals at a sublimal level.

 

This is one of those times, I tend to ask the existential questions hoping that I am not confusing activity with progress.

 

Since I (like most people) am a prisoner of my own paradigm, the paradigm needs a kick in the butt from time to time.

Well, I am trying the microblogging phenomenon - so if you want to see what I am up to when I upload - go to http://twitter.com/mcShola

 

This is based on a lecture by physicist Mark Buchanan based on his book of the same name. His thesis is on the importance of patterns that can can be studied as a way of understanding randomness.

 

The organization and the pattern in the organization is more important than the individual element. Hence who you are or who you become is less a function of yourself and more of a function of the people or organization you hang out with.

 

Patterns are self reinforcing, hence if you hang out with upwardly mobile folks for example, you have a tendecy to become upwardly mobile yourself.

 

Social science is as much about patterns as people, hence social science is a little like physics.

 

What would the great philosphers - Plato, Hobbes, Weber etc. - be doing if they were alive today?

Exploring "what ifs"? with computation not long essays.

 

 

Reminds me a lot of the New Science by Wolfram and some of the theoretical underpinnings.