by Alexander O. Onukwue

It is really true that Africa’s youth will not tech its way out of underdevelopment all of a sudden, but perhaps it can tech its elders into having a sense of responsibility.

The workings of technology, while easily adopted by the youth, remains very much shied away from by the older generations of Nigerians. It is the extension of the devil’s box for many of them. The Senate has introduced the use of social media in broadcasting its sessions. Yet, only a few individuals Senators – Saraki, Sani, Murray-Bruce – actually employ the tools of technology in communicating with their constituents and Nigerians at large.

Much of Nigeria’s older generation grew through eras where communication was mainly done through words of mouth, messengers, and the medium of letters. Secrets were more likely to be kept hidden away without a chance of being ever dug up. If there was something you did which no one had to know about, nobody would be able to prove it even if they knew you did it. But they seem not to know that time has flown by fast, and in 2017, you don’t get away with a sigh or belch.

According to data from the National Bureau of Statistics and the National Population Commission, Yobe state has a male literacy rate of 85%. Not child literacy, but of all male persons. It is not an isolated case. The same prevalence rate is found in the North East and some other remote regions in Nigeria. It is arguable that before any tech empowerment scheme can be embarked upon, the foundational education that needs to be available needs to first be put in place.

With the bloated budgets at their disposal, you would expect that the members of the National Assembly will have special advisers on media and communications that help manage their public duties. Perhaps Senator Ibrahim sent him or her away to enjoy his “private matter”, but on the evidence of him not being able to preempt the possibilities of him being recorded, he may have to be enrolled on a refresher course on the use and dangers of technology.

This is not to cover for the Senator’s quite shameful display of irresponsibility, but it does show that he, like many of his colleagues, are oblivious of the power of technology, both on the positive and negative sides.

Editor