THE RAM COLUMN
Special to USAfrica magazine (Houston) and USAfricaonline.com, first Africa-owned, US-based newspaper published on the Internet
Artificial Intelligence, more known as AI, is stumping confidently like a conqueror through all lands. And I begin to wonder: Is this not the Orwellian world we were warned as far back as 1954 would come. When the Soviet Union, that unnatural union of a nation, disintegrated, thanks to Gorbachev, we thought the prophecy of George Orwell had been fulfilled. There was not going to be any longer a Mr. Big Brother intruding into our lives. No more thought police. It was an end to newspeak. No more Hate Week when Adebayo Adelabu would just command a power outage and the electricity supply would be cut off such that you miss an early morning presidential broadcast. The terminal date was supposed to be 1984. How mistaken we all were. The emissary of the Ministry of Truth is here. He is Mr. AI. It is advancing technology to undreamt of dizzy heights.
The modern man is dazed and he cannot wait to see Mr. AI achieve its goal of totally overhauling our lives, of breaking down and rebuilding, of discarding old beliefs and practices and replacing them with the new. It can pick your thoughts and prepare a seminal paper for you, according to Isa Ali Pantami. Former Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Prof. Pantami, is in his elements when he talks about technology and the AI its offspring. He is the chief salesman and the seer, looking into what my colleague, Martins Oloja, is wont to describe as the seed of time. Pantami is asking us to fix our gaze onto the future and what technology has in store for us. For him, it is leading to Eldorado. Although many see Mr. AI as attempting to even take the Creator out of our lives. Is there anything AI cannot dare and do as of now? Pantami does not share such concerns, predictably, knowing as Nigerians do, how unwavering, indeed bordering on fanaticism, his hold on the spiritual values he professes.
AI is transforming lives. Technology, its father, is showing the way. It is facilitating life. In my reflection on the subject with friends, to demonstrate how wonderful the arrival of Mr. AI has meant to human societies, the question was posed: When last were you at the post office? Does it still exist? The days of Money Order are long gone. In the newsroom, there are no news takers any more: “A for Aba.” “K. for Kotangora!” All that is over. Within split seconds, reports reach the newsroom! When last were you in your bank if it is not to renew your credit card? Where are typewriters? Technology has packed them off to archival halls of non-retrievable materials. What of the gramophone in these days of audio videos? Artistes are struggling hard to keep arts theatre alive for the sake of the Davidos of this world. For instance, Wole Soyinka Arts Theatre at Iganmu has just been given a wonderful facelift. But many would still prefer to watch Richard Mofe Damijo, Kosoko, Joke Silva, Genevieve Nnaji, Ramsey Nouah, Mercy Johnson, Desmond Elliott, now the Honourable, Omotola Jolade Ekeinde, Funke Akindele, Ini Edo, Rita Dominic, Ireti Doyle and many more, from the comfort of their closets. No unpleasant thoughts and stress about the pump price of Premium Motor Spirit alias petrol.
The impact of AI is mind-blowing, in fact, more on the financial system. There is hardly anything that cannot be done online today. Mr. AI has been seen directing traffic.There is pressure directed at education authorities to begin to look at school curriculum from primary to secondary up to the university with a view to focusing more on acquisition of skills and self-employment goals. Pantami has spoken to NUC by his own admission. And he went on: “I have always stressed that practical skills –not just degrees –drive success. There is a need for personal development, continuous learning, and upskilling to remain competitive in today’s rapidly changing job market. Essential skills include social abilities rooted in empathy, emotional intelligence, and communication alongside digital skills such as AI, programming and critical thinking. Staying updated on industry trends and technologies is crucial.”
Pantami did add: “While degrees are valuable, skills are equally important. Pursue formal education, but prioritize practical experience and continuous learning to succeed. In the coming years, millions may face job losses as AI takes on various roles. However, it’s important to understand that it won’t be AI itself eliminating jobs, rather individuals proficient in utilizing AI technologies. AI is ultimately a product of human innovation: it doesn’t function or evolve autonomously. Mentoring bridges the gap between theoretical knowledge and practical skills. While education provides the foundation, applying theoretical concepts effectively demands hands-on experience.”He said while tertiary/university education provides theoretical framework, practical skills are acquired in the private sector in most cases. In his familiar revolutionary thoughts, Pantami said expertise in technology does not require formal education in computer science. “Similarly, you don’t need a Mass Communication degree to become an award-winning journalist or an accomplished public relations expert. This revolution focuses on personal development and continuous learning.” Pantami would like to see only Ahmadu Bello University, University of Ibadan and University of Nigeria. Nsukka continue with every aspect of learning. The remaining higher institutions which are more than 200 should point the gaze of their students towards the future by placing emphasis on technological trends and imparting to them practical skills to make them self-employed and also employers of labour. He spoke while receiving participants in Young Communication Fellowship in his office last week.
My friend, a revered Professor finds the prospect of ubiquitous presence of Mr. AI in our lives and in nearly every direction one turns “quite frightening”. “Honestly”, he says, “I do not know how humanity can confront it. AI is a technology that will impact everyone in the future whether we like it or not.” Professor Pantami’s points on the trends of technology are unassailable; they were well delivered. And Nigerians in particular should be prepared for it.
My take, however, is that much as we lay emphasis on the new trends, we cannot afford to downplay the place of humanities. The new trend and humanities are not mutually exclusive. While the quest and drive for skill acquisition may be crucial, it does not prevent grounding first in humanities. Exposure to humanities expands the horizon which helps outlook on life, and helps to form character. It lends the way to critical thinking. Technology and AI and nothing else will be too restrictive in the future, driving mankind on the path of straight-jacketedness. The art touches the soul. If there is no character solidity, technology will do harm. It may be tantamount in certain cases to arming a mentally challenged man with a loaded gun.
In a debate on the humanities and science, history and religious studies are usually the first casualty. Literature is only tolerated. Come to think of it: Hardly is it known or remembered that Professor Wole Soyinka, the first African Nobel Laureate in Literature had a younger brother who was a Professor of Medicine at OAU Teaching Hospital in Ilesha. While Soyinka’s rays beam to the whole world, his younger brother, a scientist was hardly known. Soyinka also had a first cousin, also a professor of medicine, Professor Olikoye Ransome-Kuti. Fela Anikulapo Kuti was a musician and social critic, and more renowned than Olikoye his elder brother. Professor Bolaji Akinyemi read Political Science and International Relations. His brother was a Paediatrician. When he was once asked if he realised that he was a split-image of his brother, he retorted that Bolaji looked like him and not he looking like Bolaji, because he was the elder brother. But who of them was better known within and without the shores of Nigeria?
Something settles on the soul when the pictures of Wole Soyinka, Chinua Achebe, T. M. Aluko, little known as Lagos City Council Engineer of old, but a novelist; Vincent Ike and Cyprian Ekwensi, flash through the mind. Could our world have done without them? How would I have known about Ijaiye War without Ola Rotimi, about Lagos history without Prof. Banji Akintoye, Prof. Mabogunje, Prof. Jide Osuntokun, Akinsemoyin, Dr. Patrick Dele Cole, Jacob F. Ade Ajayi that the Aworis, led by Olofin Ogunfunminire founded Lagos? All mankind could not have faced only one direction in their application to the development of our world. All have different talents and abilities they seek to unfold for the enrichment of life.
Without history how would we have known that by 1901, there was heavy vehicular traffic on Lagos Island which necessitated the building of Cater Bridge by the colonial governor of Lagos? Reno Omokri wrote: “As of 1901 there were more cars in Lagos than in the rest of Nigeria put together. When Carter Bridge was completed only Lagos, Ibadan, Lokoja, Kano and Benin had sufficient municipal administration, population density and infrastructural development to be called cities. Almost everywhere except for Sokoto, Ile-Ife, Port Harcourt, Warri and Abeokuta were little more than large villages.” Without Professor Ayo Ojeniyi setting the record straight, how many could have remembered that the first storey building was in Badagry.”By 1848, Madam Efunroye Tinubu was a politically and economically influential figure in Lagos. The landmark Tinubu Square in Lagos was named after her and it also has a statue.”
Professor Ojeniyi adds: “In 1852, a Post Office was established in Lagos. In 1856, the Cable and Wireless Company of the UK commissioned a submarine cable link between Lagos and London. In 1859, the oldest secondary school in what became Nigeria –CMS Grammar School, Bariga Lagos—was founded by the Church Missionary Society. In 1872, Lagos was a cosmopolitan trading centre with a population of over 62, 000 inhabitants. In 1876, imports were valued at #476, 813 and exports at #619, 260. In 1886, telecommunications started. By 1893, offices in Lagos, Jebba and Ilorin had been provided with telephone services. In 1886, electricity generation began in Lagos. In 1894, Standard Bank which after indigenization became First Bank, in what became Nigeria’s first bank, was established in Lagos. In 1898, there was electric street lighting in Lagos, with the use of generators to provide 60kw. In 1903, the first set of films shown in what became Nigerian theatres was Glover Memorial Hall in Lagos. A Lagosian named Thomas Jones, famously known as Tom Jones, became the first Nigerian to drive an automobile before 1913. In 1913, Olayinka Herbert Adeyinka Macaulay, another Lagosian, was the first to own a car—all these before the amalgamation of Nigeria in 1914.
“In 1913, Tom Jones donated the first public library to Lagos. In 1923, what became the Nigerian Electricity Supply Company was established as the Electricity Utility Company for the commissioned electricity power station at Ijora, Lagos. At its commencement, the power plant had a generating capacity of 20 Megawatts. In the same year, Olayinka Herbert Macaulay formed what became Nigeria’s first political party, the Nigerian national Party (NNDP). In 1930, Onikan Stadium, Lagos, was built which is why it is the oldest stadium in Nigeria. In 2019, it was renamed Mobolaji Johnson Arena. In 1930, Abibu Oluwa was one of the first music performers in Lagos. In 1946, the father of what became the Nigerian theatre, Herbert Ogunde, featured at Tiger’s Empire in Lagos Theatre.
“In 1947, Yaba College of Technology, popularly known as YABATECH, was founded at Yaba, Lagos. In the 1950s, popular music was flourishing in a wide range of styles with Tunde Nightingale, Bobby Benson, Victor Olaiya, Rex Lawson, J.O. Araba, C.A. Balogun, etc; while Ayinla Omowura started playing a form of Apala different from that of Haruna Isola. It was called Olalomi. Later in 1971, Omowura came with a high tempo Apala and became extremely popular.
“By the 1950s, Olabisi Ajala, a Lagos socialite and a globe trotter who saw the world, had toured about 87 countries on a motorcycle but died back home at the age of 65 years. In 1952, Akintola Williams was the first Nigerian chartered accountant. He founded Akintola Williams &Co., Nigeria’s first indigenous accountancy firm. The point is: Lagos was a prosperous city-state long before Nigeria came into being…” Such a refreshing historical account can’t but give psychic satisfaction and boost. How is Mr. AI to fit in here regurgitating with the same enthralling human touch and ambiance? Yet it is coming with unrelenting sweep. The account could equally trigger salient questions that should lead to an awakening to rebuild. Peter C. Lloyd, writer and explorer had long written that the Yoruba were the most urbanized in the whole of Africa when he came visiting, and even more than many places in Europe. Given the nature of man, where there is urbanization there will be market and where there is market there will be attendant pull leading to further rise in population and crowding! What led to the slumber and the obvious decline in the hitherto giant strides and in crucial areas of their life? That is what history does, for example.
There could be dry education which has its origin in humanities, too, and which leads to nowhere and even in science as well. Of what use, for instance, is a research into when a wall gecko or fly came into existence and when they are likely to be extinct! There could be over-cultivation stuffing the brain, the frontal brain with what it does not need and in consequent tilting of the balance between the two brains, the cerebrum and the cerebellum. The latter which is the spiritually receptive part of the brains gets paralyzed. When that happens man relies solely on the frontal brain, the seat of the intellect which being material cannot go beyond time and space. It is lacking the radiating influence of the spiritually receptive hind brain. The man would be sharp and erudite, yet hollow!
Above all, when all is said and done, for me, it is only when we connect education to the Holy Will of the Almighty Creator will we be correct.
Artificial Intelligence (Mr. AI) may soon be seeking to seize control of free will and initiatives from human beings! It will seek to sever man’s connection with what is high and noble, with that which is lofty. Yet, as The Grail Message states: “So inadequate is the activity of a brain, the basis and instrument of science, and this limitation naturally also affects what it produces, hence all science itself. Thus, science does indeed subsequently help to elucidate, classify and arrange all that it receives ready-made from the creative power which precedes it; but when it seeks to assume leadership or offer criticism, it must inevitably fail so long as it binds itself firmly to the intellect, that is to the perceptive capacity of the brain, as it has done hitherto”. It is in this mankind is inexonarably placing their destiny!
Pray that in the very near future we do not have a population that is without content! That is without character!
