The machines that power the world’s economies are designed and built by scientists and technologists trained in the art of applying complex scientific principles to solving real life problems. Nigeria seems to be lacking in this respect, and this accounts for its great reliance on imported items. The current difficulty it faces with a negative balance of trade alludes to this. Calls have rung from various quarters for this status quo to change. One man has decided to do more than just complain.
Obinna Ukwuani, a graduate of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) wants to build Africa’s first Science Technology Engineering and Mathematics-based school in Nigeria. In doing so, he has relinquished the almost certain life of comfort that comes with being a graduate of an ivy-league institution. His passion, he says, is to raise the standard of science learning in the country, because he thinks the future of Nigeria lies in its ability to train scientists, technicians, and engineers who have what it takes to spur a new revival.
“We import everything, and it comes back to education”, Ukwuani said in an interview with CNN. He sees a clear link between Nigeria’s flagging fortunes economically speaking, and the lack of domestic capacity in the fields of science and technology. What he wants to do is to tackle the problem from a basic level. He wants to help train the next generation of skilled scientists and engineers and equip them with the skills they need to be relevant in the modern world.
When he was younger, Ukwuani’s parents had sent him to Nigeria, because they wanted him to establish contacts with his roots. He returned to the United States and later met up with his peers from Nigeria in his undergraduate days at MIT. It was while interacting with them that he discovered a gulf in knowledge that existed between him and them- a gap he recognized as brought about by the disadvantaged position from which his Nigerian counterparts started off. He saw this as “an injustice”, and determined from that time to help set things right.
The first step for Ukwuani on the path to strengthening science education in Nigeria was the establishment of a training program, the Exposure Robotics Academy, in which 113 children from across the country were taught to code and build robots. Now, Ukwuani plans to open a STEM school in Abuja- Makers Academy – where his science training program will metamorphose into a full-fledged educational institution. With the help of a number of willing investors, he hopes to get the school ready to run by 2018 or 2019.
Obinna Ukwuani might well be the first of a large number of science education enthusiasts who will dare to raise the bar of science learning in Nigeria. This has to be the case. The country’s economic progress may eventually come to depend on the work of such specialized institutions.
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