by Adedeji Ologbenla

Giving the laptops or tablets to every child is not a bad idea but of what direct and indirect impact does it have on the child’s mental development. As beautiful as the idea of free laptop for all, it is like giving knife to an ignorant child to slice an onion which will sooner or later harm the child. The change we so much desire can let us down if implemented wrongly.

Free laptops for all have been tried in almost every quarter of the developing country and I believe also that it can bring reform into our education sector but it is just one of the major reforms that work together in achieving a groundbreaking reform. Most of African reforms have been blinded by political propaganda and the likes. Thereby not allowing such reforms to maximally achieve what it was designed for.

Information is the pill that heals ignorance which is the origin of negative things like poverty and its associated problem, if the right information can get round, the people’s orientation will change and development in such a country will be speedily worked towards. Computers as we all know can be used as a store of great information depending on the specifications of the user but to serve its purpose to the fullest I will propose a portable, sleek and slim laptop, and what can make it slimmer and slicker if not a tablet. With a tablet information can be made accessible not only anywhere but also any posture and any environment. When the rich want to control the world they limit the people’s exposure to information but since the influx of cheap and accessible computer products, every man can now send an SOS to the world about any occurrence in his neighbourhood thereby making the world a better place to be as the most gruesome of all oppression are quickly kept in check once the new found media is used. This is a step to change, but the name change itself has so many challenges as it is more than a word but a step-to-step decisive action towards actualizing it.

Change doesn’t only come from doing only what will bring it but by critically analyzing all those things that it depends on or what depends on the change. So many initiatives have come and gone while some are under achieving what they were established. All these initiatives are one of what is needed for a better future but now with the influx of cheap tablets we all can now afford to carry a system all about the way we carry our mobile phones. Mobile phones could have brought the much desired change but the inability to load desired software on it is the limiting factor that tablets have solved. The world is now a better place to live than before and with the advancement of technology it can only get better.

The Nigerian government has longed sensed the importance of laptops in the development of the nation starting from the federal government launching of the Computer for All Nigerian Initiatives by the then president Olusegun Obasanjo and series of state government projects like the One Child One Laptop by the former Ekiti state governor Segun Oni and Aregbesola’s Opon
Imo which was and will be tainted by the hidden political agenda that spurred the initiative in the first place or by a lack of policy continuity.  As it is all a general phenomenon especially in Nigeria that anything involving the government initiative starts with all the glamour you can think of and ends with just a sigh. Providing free laptops for the populace as beautiful as it sounds to the ears still leaves a lot of question unanswered and sour taste to the lips. We are in a world where poverty is the order of the day and as much as we need these computers to help enlighten the populace, we only make matters worse by giving them free to everybody.

I will want to highlight why free computer system for all has been a failure in the international stage, African scene and in Nigeria.

•         Inability to maintain and repair the computer by the users due to the high level of poverty in the developing world.

 

•       Most laptops are not pre-loaded with the required software for human development but rather require an internet connection to be able to get such softwares or buy software CDs and the likes to have such software on the laptop.

 

•         The misuse of such gadgets – There is a higher tendency of a general misuse.

 

•       Lack of formal training on operational usage – Most free laptops are given to the people without formal orientation and instruction on how to use such gadget

 

•         People fail to see the long term and short term profit they stand to gain by using  a laptop or tablet.

Most of these computers (laptops and tablets) are supposed to put into consideration the target environment and user as to what will benefit the users directly. Full analysis and evaluation of the differences should be in place before moving the tablets to a targeted environment. Most designs of laptops are of the foreign initiative, thus the local  not being able to maximally utilize the gadget effectively. What we should look into is the laptop and tablet that are made exclusively for the Nigerian market and African market at large.

Trainings should be in place for the users as to how to go about using the tablets effectively, as in this part of the world most people are not exposed to computers until the later part of their life and thus they are unable to understand or see the short term goals and long term goals of computers in their life. So giving users training on how to use the gadgets and the impact of such system on their day to day activities would have created a lot of interest from the populace.

Preloading the system with easy to use software that will help with day-to-day planning or execution of the users work and also in a way empower the young, would have been an advantage towards maximally achieving the reason the sleek computer and tablet were created and most especially the ability to use those softwares offline.

For students, computers should include educational software and training software for not only the student but also the teachers and parents in general. Parents should be able to handle such devices so that they can monitor the students’ usage on a day-to-day activities. There is a need for adults to know the usefulness and how to give strict guidance to the usage of the computer system. So the computers should not only be placed in the hands of students but also in every home.

Giving the laptops or tablets to every child is not a bad idea but of what direct and indirect impact does it have on the child’s mental development. As beautiful as the idea of free laptop for all, it is like giving knife to an ignorant child to slice an onion which will sooner or later harm the child. The change we so much desire can let us down if implemented wrongly. Let us study change itself so that the implementation will not do more harm than good to the general populace.

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Op-ed pieces and contributions are the opinions of the writers only and do not represent the opinions of Y!/YNaija.