NIGERIA: NO CHILD LEFT OFFLINE
I was always for the albeit a few reservations. All my reservations were erased last Friday. I had a very important visitor in my office last Friday. Once he arrived he took over with a commanding tone and an attitude. He gave rather plausible explanations for his actions. At one point he got so animated that he stood on my chair. I left him by himself in the office for a few minutes. When I returned to the office. My computer was out of sleep mode, my browser was open, and he was running a google search for images. All the search terms were correctly spelt and the computer screen had 100% of his attention. All this was a big deal to me because my visitor is only four years old.
The most common place criticism for the OLPC has been that there are more pertinent issues affecting children in developing economies so that the acquisition of computer skills should not be a top priority. I think Negroponte says it much better than I can.
Why spend so much time and effort on laptops instead of basic human necessities like food, shelter, and peace?
Substitute the word "education" for the word "laptop" above and you will not ask again. (via FastCompany)
I think it is near sighted to consider the issues and therefore the solution tot he problems plaguing a country like Nigeria as a zero sum game. If not this certainly this. This is not immediately obvious to some of us. We see the wastage in the Nigerian government. The Nigerian government is not short of cash and if at all they are Yardie and crew are definitely not showing it. As cheesy as this may sound, I do not see how spending on laptops will influence spending on health care in Nigeria. In developed economies where accountability is tighter this may be the case, but in an economy that can afford to throw at providing electricity with no results to show for it. Tthere has to be room for experimentation.
I did not have a computer as a child and I did pretty well.
This is another common fallacy, and my repsonse to this is that I am pretty sure you wont be looking for a job in 2028, would you. Oh forget it, I am not going to hide this, this statment is a direct shot at my good buddy .
I am convinced that education can never be considered too expensive, in some cases it can be wasteful, but never too expensive. In the case of the OLPC in a country like Nigeria, the long term effect of the OLPC on a child more than pay for the cost of procuring this gadgets. I will stretch that further by saying that there would be even more gain if these gadgets are assembled on the continents in which it will beused. Should the OLPC ever need an evangelist for Nigeia, I offer my services for free.
