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Can Nigeria Leapfrog into
Since delivered on August 30,1997, the central ideas of this 40-page speech were widely debated and discussed and finally gave birth to the new:
For a better understanding of where we are going, we need to retrace our steps. About 10,000
years ago, Africans in the valley of the River Nile entered the Agricultural Age when they
discovered that cultivating the soil for crops and shepherding herds of animals would provide
more food than just hunting animals and gathering fruits. This leap into the Agricultural Age
motivated Africans to develop mathematics, chemistry, astronomy and medicine as tools for the
new age. Our advanced technological knowledge enabled us to build majestic pyramids, the tallest
buildings in the world for 3,700 years. These pyramids withstood all types of desert storms and
still stand today, like the Rock of Gibraltar.
Europeans learned our technology, used it to enter the Industrial Age and became more
prosperous than we are. They learned to put capital together and mass-produce consumer goods.
Unless Africa leapfrogs into the Information Age, the economic gap between Europe and Africa
would widen because Europe is about to enter the age. In other words, to catch up, Africa must
take two steps for every step Europe takes.
Many Nigerians believe that our country takes one step backward when other countries such as
South Korea, Malaysia, and South Africa take one step forward. This belief is substantiated by the
World Bank which now ranks our oil-producing nation as the 13th poorest country in the world;
and has declared that the standard of living in pre-independence Nigeria was higher than what
exists today. We have indeed, taken several steps backward. While acknowledging that we
squandered and mismanaged our petroleum revenues and that we are no longer the "Giant of
Africa," we must accept that now is the time for a new Nigeria.
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