Etisalat, AAF partner on cultural heritage

Innovative mobile company, Etisalat Nigeria, is partnering with the African Artists’ Foundation (AAF) to promote the nation’s cultural heritage.

The partnership is African Artists’ Foundation (AAF) exhibition designed to promote Nigeria’s rich cultural heritage.

The chief executive officer, Etisalat Nigeria, Mr. Steven Evans noted that the exhibition uses the power of photography to address social issues in the country as well as capture the essence of Lagos State from a holistic and historical perspective.

Addressing participants at the opening session and private viewing of the Lagos Photo exhibition 2010 tagged “No Judgment, Africa Under The Prism” Evans said, that the exhibition strongly identifies the rich cultural heritage of Nigeria as presented by select photographers representing African sensibilities.

“The photographs at this exhibition tell a story of a country that is vibrant and full of optimism, two traits which Etisalat associates with,” he said, just as the sponsorship was not the end of the telco’s involvement with photography.

“Over the next few months, we will hold a photographic competition for amateurs that will give the wider population an opportunity to use their cameras and phones to record images of this large and vibrant country and win a prize for their efforts,” he said.

Mr. Evans reiterated Etisalat’s commitment to supporting noble causes which have positive impact on the lives of its customers and the wider Nigerian public.

“Etisalat is committed to giving back to the community and we are glad at the opportunity to support Nigerian arts which this exhibition brings,” he said.

He further expressed delight at AAF’s intention of taking the exhibition of photographs onto the street and displaying them in a number of prominent places around Lagos.

The African Artists’ Foundation, based in Lagos, has as its dual mission; the promotion of African arts and artists and the promotion of public health issues and awareness.

The Foundation is unique in Nigeria in that it complies, not only with all the requirements of a charitable foundation in Nigeria, but is organized and incorporated to be recognized as a non-profit charitable foundation in the United States as well.
 
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ITU takes regulators on tomorrow’s digital world

Global telecommunication regulator, the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) has concluded plans to host the 2010 worldwide-based Global Symposium for Regulators (GSR) and Industry Leaders Forum on “Unique platform for private and public sectors: Building tomorrow’s digital world.”

A press statement from ITU made available to ITRealms Online, last weekend, indicated that the forum has been scheduled to hold between November 10 and 12, this year, in Hotel Le Méridien Président, Dakar, Senegal.

ITRealms Online gathered that since its launch in 2000, ITU’s annual Global Symposium for Regulators (GSR) has provided a unique venue for regulators and policy-makers to meet and debate the key topics facing the ICT sector.

“GSR is the only global platform for the world’s regulators. The event is a unique platform designed to foster an open dialogue between government, the private sector, investors and consumers,” an official said.

The three-day event would be presided over by the Director General, Regulatory Authority for Telecommunications and Post (ARTP) of Senegal, Mr. Ndongo Diao.

The twin events organized by ITU’s Telecommunication Development Bureau (BDT) in collaboration with the ARTP, would facilitate a meeting of Regulatory Associations to be held in the afternoon of 9 November under the chairmanship of by Mr. Sylvanus Kla, Director General, ATCI (Côte d’Ivoire), and Chairman of the West African Telecommunication Regulation Association (WATRA).

On the Global Industry Leaders Forum (GILF), the organizers said, it’s an annual event which provides a neutral platform for members of ITU’s Development Sector to share their views with policy makers and regulators on major issues facing the ICT sector.

Particularly, GILF would emphasis on how to reduce barriers to ICT investment in developing and least developed countries.

Also, the Global Industry Leaders’ Forum and the Global Symposium for Regulators would examine the challenges for regulators to stimulate nationwide broadband deployment through adaptive and targeted regulations and out-of-the-box tools.

Just as discussions would cover the impact of broadband on and beyond the ICT sector as well as the driving forces of today’s and tomorrow’s Information and Communication Technology (ICT) markets, notably the migration from analogue to digital terrestrial broadcasting and the allocation of the digital dividend.

Further, GSR would focuses on new regulatory models taking into account the need to keep up with the pace of convergence and integration of ubiquitous networks, in particular through adapting institutional structure and mandates, adopting cutting-edge best practices and embracing new tools such as innovative dispute resolution techniques.

In addition to the panel discussions and presentations, two interactive workshops would be held on ‘Building on broadband and National School Connectivity Plans’ featuring the ITU flagship initiative Connect a School, Connect a Community.

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NIG’s search for I4J candidates ends today

The Nigeria Internet Group (NIG) has would today close the search for Internet for Jobs (I4J) candidates, according to President, Nigeria Internet Group (NIG), Mr. Lanre Ajayi.

He also said that this is towards the realization of the goal of promoting the Internet as a platform for creating jobs.

Ajayi who made this known in Lagos at the weekend, said with the commencement of the search for a budding entrepreneur, the group would be considering for a grant of one million naira to each successful applicant for the development of an e-Commerce web portal and marketing of their on-line services.NIG boss and managing director, Pinet informatics, pointed out that all applicants must demonstrate capacity to run an enterprise whether existing or a start up.

“They must submit an abridged proposal of a business plan detailing the nature of the business, target market, projected sales and expenditure over a three year period, viability and sustainability, among others,” he said. Ajayi also said that the short-listed candidates would present their proposals to a committee at a business round table on October 29, 2010, being put together by NIG in Lagos.

The applications, he said, must reach NIG secretariat on or before Wednesday October 20, 2010, today.

He explained that the Internet for jobs initiative is actively supported by the Nigeria Communications Commission (NCC), National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) and Zenith Bank Plc to name a few.

ITRealms Online recalls that NIG launched this initiative in 2008. NIG founded since 1995, Ajayi said, has been flying the nation’s flag in the cyberspace while the seminar’s theme is on “Internet for Jobs: Creating Jobs by Promoting eCommerce.”

Chairman of the occasion billed to hold at Golden Gate Ikoyi-Lagos, would be the former Minister of Communications, Chief Olawale Ige (MFR), who doubles as the Chairman, NIG board of trustees.

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Alcatel-Lucent is leader in IP backhaul – Infonetics

Paris-based Alcatel-Lucent has enhanced its mobile backhaul solution to enable mobile network operators to seamlessly support ‘AnyG to LTE’ a service that facilitates radio access compartibility across the Second and Third Generations respectively as well as the Long Term Evolution (LTE) network technologies.

This is coming as Alcatel-Lucent moved into the number one market share position with 23 per cent of worldwide Ethernet cell site gateway and router revenue for the first half of 2010.

Regional Communications Manager, North, West & Central Africa, Alcatel-Lucent, Sherine Aziez confirmed this in a press statement made available to ITRealms Online, saying that the enhancement in its portfolio would boost ‘all IP’ wireless transformation.

This new capabilities, Alcatel-Lucent said, would equip operators with an unmatched end-to-end mobile backhaul solution to deliver high-capacity mobile broadband services.

Aziez quoted Infonetics recent data publication as indicating that Alcatel-Lucent recorded 231 per cent year-over-year growth.

“This combined with significant customer momentum gained over the last year, reinforces Alcatel-Lucent’s solid position in mobile backhaul, LTE and overall strength in wireless IP,” Aziez said.

According to Infonetics recent report tagged “Mobile Backhaul Equipment and Services,” informed that the booming growth in the mobile backhaul IP cum Ethernet equipment market and reports that Alcatel-Lucent leads for the second year in a row with router sales in this space.

Aziez noted that Alcatel-Lucent marked its entrance into this burgeoning market three years ago with the introduction of its mobile transport architecture, both anticipating the evolution to an all IP mobile infrastructure and the requirement to support LTE.

This, the manager said, paved the way for Alcatel-Lucent to introduce the 7705 Service Aggregation Router (SAR)-18 to its extensive mobile backhaul portfolio, along with robust end-to-end, unified network and policy management from the Radio Access Network (RAN) to the packet core, for simplified network integration, trouble shooting and rapid service deployment.

“With these enhancements, Alcatel-Lucent is continuing its innovation and technical leadership, enabling mobile network operators to cost effectively manage exploding subscriber data traffic brought on by smartphones and the thousands of applications and video content running on them,” he said.

Also, Aziez pointed out that Alcatel-Lucent understands the challenges faced by mobile network operators and has enhanced its solutions with ‘Any G to LTE’ capabilities to ensure service providers are not caught in an expensive transport bottleneck trap as they upgrade 2G systems to 3G/3G+ in advance of LTE roll outs.

The Alcatel-Lucent mobile backhaul solution is part of the company’s High Leverage Network (HLN) architecture which enables service providers to leverage their network assets to deliver new revenue-generating services, while also reducing the cost per bit for basic transport.

As a leader in both IP routing and wireless access, Aziez said, Alcatel-Lucent is ideally positioned to assist mobile service providers in building highly scalable and reliable IP networks that enable new business models and profitable mobile services delivery.

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Aviat assures on local support

Head Business Development of global Internet Protocol (IP) Back-haul solution provider, Aviat Networks, Mr. Patrick Martini, has assured of total local support for its customers in Nigeria.

Martini who was in Lagos penultimate week, said that the rationale behind massive financial and technological investments in markets without the necessary logistics and support plan by some telecommunication operators has called for concern.

According to him, the global economic situation that presently exists makes it imperative that telecom operators considering their various choices in network enhancement deployments must consider the availability of adequate local logistics and support that can be offered by the competing solution providers before they make their choice of solution providers.

“Technology alone won’t get you were you need to go. To be the leader in your market, you also need the very best in logistics, support and services to actually get the full return on technology investment” he said.

Martini described support as the most important consideration before any technology upgrade, acquisition and deployment, stressing that any technology solution provider that does not have the capacity to provide the very best in logistics, support and services in the Nigerian market, does not have the development of the country’s telecommunications sector at heart.

“The length of time and the evidence of what has been achieved by any solution provider, especially within the Nigerian telecommunications sector, must also serve as an evidence of it commitment and readiness to play in Nigeria” he said.

Further, he described Aviat Networks as the ‘most strategically positioned’ solution provider for the telecom sector in Nigeria today.

Mr. Martini also defended the claim based on the fact that this global leader meets all the criteria to prove their seriousness in the local market. He explained that, “we have a long-standing presence in Nigeria, from the times when CDMA operations was the rave till now, and we are staffed by indigenous experts who understand what it takes to get things done the right way”, he concluded.

Aviat Networks, which was formerly known as Harris Stratex, is currently rated as experts in wireless advanced IP network migration, and also building the foundation for the 4G/LTE broadband future and enabling wireless transformation around the world. Nigeria currently ranks as Aviat Networks most important market.

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Bomb blast: Ekuwem advises govt to use advance tech detectors

Information and Communication Technology (ICT) expert and Chairman, Technology Development Company Limited, Dr. Emmanuel Ekuwem has called on the government of President Goodluck Jonathan to ensure that they deploy advanced detectors in effort at curbing the effect of the recent bomb attack on October 1, this year.

Ekuwem who spoke in Lagos, told ITRealms Online that the growing insecurity in the country is as a result of government’s inability to sufficiently appreciate the urgent need to deploy advanced technologies that could enhance effective security surveillance, monitoring and policing across the nation.

While decrying the recent bomb blast that rocked Abuja on Nigeria’s 50th independence anniversary celebration, Dr. Ekuwem, described the incident as a national shame and serious embarrassment to the government and good people of Nigeria.

Ekuwem also said that all well-meaning Nigerians should be ashamed of this disgrace especially as the ugly incident took place on a day the country marked her golden jubilee of nationhood and many international dignitaries were in Abuja for the celebration.

“The simple fact that the security agencies could not detect the movement of the bomb devices into Abuja and near the Eagle Square where the ceremony took place, is a clear indication that much still need to be done to improve our security surveillance, monitoring and policing operations,” he said, stressing that government should appreciate the enormous power of ICT and leverage on it for national security operations.

There are modern technologies like Vehicle and Cargo Inspection System (VACIS), that enable the scanning of every piece of cargo, container, truck and vehicles that enter Nigeria at the seaports, airports and inland border posts.

“They can capture the number plates, biometrics of the driver as well as photographs and video clips of each port/border crossing into Nigeria by any cargo, container, truck, tanker or vehicle. They can scan on specific highways, roads, check-points, inland waterways, etc. contents of cars, trucks, tankers, boats and ferries as the case may be,” he said.

Ekuwem elucidated that the scanned bulk material data, the image and video could be monitored in-situ, remotely with the same outputs, which could be stored locally and remotely while stored data, could be accessed remotely on a password-restricted basis.

He maintained that if such security surveillance and monitoring facilities were installed in Abuja and other major cities prior to the latest incident, the security operatives would have been able to detect, intercept the bomb and apprehend the criminals.

According to him, there are fixed and mobile scanning devices that could be installed at strategic locations to monitor vehicles and persons with a view to checking the movement of arms and ammunitions including all sorts of dangerous weapons.

Dr. Ekuwem pointed out that mobile VACIS scanning systems would patrol streets and parking lots and detect bombs, explosives, arms, ammunitions and weapons hidden or welded inside the body or chasis of parked vehicles.

He advised security agencies in the country to avail themselves of advanced security-based technologies ranging from intrusion sensing, detection, national identity data capture and management, biometrics data capture and storage, password-restricted access to stored data for both local and remote access, village-wide, town-wide, city-wide, state-wide and nation-wide surveillance (video with bi-directional audio) with local/in-situ, distributed and central/national storage/archiving with password-restricted access as well as with date-and-time-specific playback devices for criminal investigations.

As said by him, Nigeria’s ICT industry could help the nation check the growing insecurity by establishing criminal databases with exciting agency-specific graphical user interfaces for use by law enforcement agencies.

Further, Ekuwem said the government has no reason to appear helpless at this time of serious national security crisis when there is robust ICT sector that could be relied upon for effective preventive remedies.

He insisted that ICT could help with enabling legislations by the National Assembly, to intercept criminal discussions and conversations in ICT networks by criminals prior to or during or after crimes.

“We can enable the retention by telecom operators and Internet service providers of call data and catch word-specific Internet and Intranet content for a reasonably long period of time to aid criminal investigations when queried by appropriate software engines,” he said, noting that this would check crimes at the planning stages and place security operatives ahead of criminals’ activities.

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FG, CNP to collaborate on SoTNE’s1,000 entrepreneurs

The Federal Government has said it would collaborate with the Computerize Nigeria Project (CNP) in achieving its aim of creating 1000 entrepreneurs through wealth with integrity among Nigerians within the shortest possible time.

This is coming as FG said its National Action Plan on Employment Creation (NAPEC) recently adopted by the Federal Executive Council (FEC) is targeting about 5 million jobs beginning from the next two years.

Minister of Labour and Productivity, Chief Emeka Wogu, disclosed this during a one-day seminar on Spirit of the True Nigerian Entrepreneur (SoTNE) with the theme ‘Creating Wealth with Integrity in 21st Century Nigeria’ which held in Abuja over the weekend.

Wogu said, all contracts under consideration by the Federal Executive Council must henceforth indicate its local employment content under a new contract policy adopted by the government.

He reiterated the readiness of the Federal Government through his office to ensure that the objective of the conference is met.

“We are ready to collaborate with the SoTNE team to achieve this laudable objective of creating wealth with integrity,” he said.

According to him, who was the guest of honour at the conference, under the latest NAPEC, it has become mandatory for all contracts or programmes by Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) to indicate their local employment content.

“Overall, the NAPEC will ensure that Nigeria meets her employment challenges by creating 4 to 5 million new jobs in its first two years of implementation,” Wogu said.

Wogu assured that the President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan administration is committed to ensuring gainful employment for every Nigerian in the labour market and is ready to collaborate with SoTNE, noting that government’s recognition of the strategic role of the private sector in employment generation, stressing that government is mindful of its responsibilities under the various Public-Private-Partnership arrangements.

Chairman of the occasion and former Minister for Commerce, Chief Charles Ugwu, lauded the conveners led by chairman of Zinox, Dr. Leo Stan Ekeh, whom he said, despite his success was very willing to show the way to other Nigerians.

He, therefore tasked participants to make good use of the opportunity by remaining attentive throughout the SoTNE conference.

“As we discuss the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) value chain remember that there are other value chains. Nigeria needs entrepreneurs and there are many opportunities begging to be explored,” Ugwu said.

The Vice-President Namadi Sambo was represented by his aide Dr. Baba Jubril, alongside Director General of the National Information Technology Development Agency (NTIDA) Prof. Cleopas Angaye, Director General of National Productivity Centre (NPC), Dr. Paul Bdliya and had the Chief Executive of Zinox Computers, Dr. Leo Stan Ekeh to name a few.

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Mobitel names Tom Davies, COO

Mobitel Limited has named Mr. Tomi Davies as its Chief Operating Officer (COO) for the company.

Mr. Davies is a senior Information Technology (IT) executive with management experience from FTSE 100 level companies and governments in the United Kingdom (UK), United States (US) and Africa.

Davies joins Mobitel with diversified experience, having worked as Director of Strategy for Sapient Inc. He assisted with Siemens reorganisation of the Wireless Engineering Division to adopt Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS).

Before then, Davies was Head, IT Research for Marks & Spencer, which developed the UK Governments award winning DirectGov website and was Project Director for the World Banks Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System (IPPIS) project for the Federal Government of Nigeria’s Bureau of Public Sector Reform (BPSR).

President of Mobitel Nigeria, Mr. Johnson Salako, said that he was pleased to have Mr. Davies on board.

“He is a strategic addition to the Mobitel family and comes to further strengthen the team to enable us to keep the promises we have made to the Nigerian people to deliver quality products and services,” he said.

According to him, Davies specializes in the development and implementation of eGovernment and eBusiness Information Systems.

He is a systems analysis expert with vast project management experience, who works with individuals and teams to “maximize the creation of social and economic value using digital technologies”.

Prior to his appointment as Chief Operating Officer of Mobitel, Davies was the chief executive officer, TechnoVision Communications, a Nigerian ICT services organisation.

He is a Prince 2 practitioner and belongs to various organizations and institutions including the Institute of Directors (IOD), Project Management Institute (PMI), Computer Professionals of Nigeria (CPN), Nigeria Computer Society and Nigerian Institute of Management (NIM).

His blog “Thoughts from Tomi” has been nominated for a number of awards. A Lagosian, Mr. Davies is the publisher of SupaStrikas a fantasy league football comic which is Africa’s largest publication.

A graduate of the University of Miami, he lives in London, UK and is married with children.
ITRealms Online recalls that Mobitel is a pioneering provider of telecommunications services in Nigeria.

A wholly acquired by a consortium lead by Omni Ventures in 2008, Mobitel plans to offer fixed and wireless voice, data and value-added services focusing on small-to-medium enterprises (SMEs) and high-end consumers across Nigeria.

Mobitel possesses nationwide frequency spectrum allocations and a set of licenses that could be converted into a unified access service license.

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164 winners emerge in Verve card promo

A total of 164 electronic card users in the country have emerged winners of various prizes in the second and third weekly draws in the on-going Verve Card promo by Interswitch Nigeria Limited with over 18 banks nationwide.

For the second week, the 96 winners were selected from the raffle draw held for users of the Verve card, while 68 emerged last weekend during the third draw.

Some of the winners, for instance, from First Bank Plc, include Iheano Chukwugozie Ignatius; Ibrahim Adamu Babagida; Briggs Theodore Ibinabo and Taiwo Rebecca Oyenike who took the star prize.

Affirming this at the weekend, Divisional Head, Verve Business, Interswitch, Mrs. Tobi Boshoro, said the promo is to give the winners the opportunity to win and own various items such as the Liquid Crystal Display (LCD) Television sets, Flash drive, Media Player (Mp3) among others, as well as the chance to migrate to Verve cards.

She noted that Verve Use and Draws promo which commenced in September would end in December this year and is to give lucky people the platform to win and still enjoy their Verve cards.

She further said that the promo was in association with over 16 banks in the country, which include Afribank, BankPHB, Ecobank, GTB, First bank, Fidelity bank, FCMB and Fin bank.

Others, she said, include Intercontinental bank, Oceanic bank, Sterling bank, Sky bank, Spring bank, Stanbic bank, unity bank and Wema bank.

Equally, she said that the promo is unbeatable, stressing that the essence is to secure the funds of the customers.

“You can pay your electricity and Digital Satellite Tv (DSTV) bills using the Verve card,” she said.

Mrs. Boshoro also said that the focus of this promo is to reward all the Verve card holders.

“You can still participate by doing transactions through the Automated Teller Machine (ATM)” she said, implore customers to migrate from magnetic stripe cards to Verve cards, “because it is more secure.”

Also speaking, Deputy Director in charge of South-West zone at Consumer Protection Council (CPC), Mr. Ola Rahim, described the promo as a package capable of reducing crime rates in the country.

One of the winners, Mr. Sunday Amos, described the promo as a great one. Yet, another winner, Mr. Nathaniel Joshua Friday, said he never expected to win, stressing that it has been a great luck to him.

Equally, a winner, Mr. Abdullahi, appreciated Interswitch for its effort towards the promo, adding that he was extremely happy when was informed that he won LCD TV.

According to Spring Bank representative, Mr. Mike Onwu, they recorded recently high increase in number of users, saying that great numbers of customers are now using it.

His counterpart from Sterling Bank, Mr. Ademola Ajaye, said that customers demand more of verve cards.

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Nigeria @ 50: Emeagwali on Memories of Colonial Africa (2)

I was born in 1954 in colonial Africa. One of my most cherished mementos from the colony of Nigeria is one of the pennies I received for my school lunch allowance. The coins bore the likeness of Edward VIII, who became King of England on January 20, 1936, and were minted in anticipation of his reign. However, Edward abdicated the throne on December 11th of that year before he could be crowned. He gave up the British kingdom to marry the love of his life, an American divorcee.

In 1960, a typical day in my life began at our compound on Yoruba Road, in Sapele. Our compound was adjacent to the Eagle Club, a night club where I ran errands for music legends, such as master trumpeters E.T. Mensah, Eddy Okonta, and Zeal Onyia. They would give me a penny to buy two sticks of cigarettes and I would bring back their half-penny change.

Some mornings, my mother would give me a penny with the instructions: "Buy rice with a farthing, beans with a farthing, and bring back a half-penny change." When I told this story to my son, Ijeoma, he interrupted, saying, incredulously "Daddy, you can't get change for a penny!" I then show him my souvenir: a British West African central-holed coin, bearing the head of King George V and minted in 1936 with the inscription "one tenth of a penny." The central hole was for stringing the coins together, to carry them. The world has changed greatly since my youth!

Nigeria has existed for 96 years and has been independent for 50 years. Nigerians must look back to the first 46 years, spent under colonial rule, to understand the 50 post-colonial years of their self-rule. Looking backward, like the Sankofa, is a prerequisite for understanding the way forward.

With self-rule came responsibility. We're now being held accountable for our actions and inaction, our coups and corruption, and our civil wars in Biafra, Congo, and Rwanda.

Looking backward 96 years will enable Nigeria to understand when and where it's train derailed and how to put it back on track. I believe our train derailed because, although the 46 pre-independence years were a brain-gain period, the 50 post-independence years have been marked by the largest brain drain since the Atlantic slave trade.

Looking forward 50 years, I foresee that nations delivering information and communication technologies will indirectly rule Africa. I see the cellular phone, the computer, and the internet enabling Africa to replace selection with election. I see the internet enabling citizens to become reporters, decentralizing the media. I see technology enabling freedom of the press and democracy in Africa.

Kwame Nkrumah said, "Socialism without science is void." I say, "Democracy without technology is void."

A scientist can be famous yet remain unknown. The grand challenge for scientists is to focus on discoveries that reduce poverty rather than on winning prizes. To focus on the prizes we have won, instead of the discoveries we have made, would be akin to dwelling on a hero's medal and ignoring his heroism.

Discoveries and inventions that increase wealth and reduce poverty are the "heroes" of science and technology and one hundred nations have printed their revered scientists' likenesses on their currency. This elevated those scientists as exalted bearers of their people's best vision of themselves.

Please allow me to answer a question I was asked: What did I contribute to science and technology? I reformulated and solved nine partial differential equations listed in the 20 Grand Challenges of computing.

The equations I invented are akin to the iconic Navier-Stokes equations listed in the Seven Millennium Problems of mathematics. Those Seven Millennium Problems are to mathematics what the Seven Wonders of the World are to history. To be accurate, the equations I solved were not exactly solvable, but were computably solvable. That is, I digitally solved the grand challenge version, not the millennium one that must be solved logically.

A novelist is a storyteller, and a scientist is a history maker. A novelist creates a fictional world, but a scientist discovers factual stories about our universe. I am an internet scientist who discovered factual stories. I reprogrammed and reinvented an internet to tell 65,000 factual stories to as many subcomputers.

The internet—meets humanity's fundamental need to compute and communicate—and spreads like bush fire, and resonates decade after decade, and maybe century after century. The internet is a technology that both connects people and connect with people in a way that will forever remain deep and enduring.

I am the artist that told stories about how the Laws of Motion gave rise to the eternal truths of calculus; timeless truths that will outlast the changing opinions of all times. My restated Second Law of Motion became my footprints; my reformulated partial differential equations became my handprints; and my reinvented algorithms became my fingerprints on the sands of time.

I'm the physicist and the mathematician who told a story in which a new technology came alive through three boards: a storyboard, a blackboard, and a motherboard.

My story has been retold from boardrooms to newsrooms, from classrooms to living rooms. It all began as a dialogue between a supercomputer programmer and his 65,000 subcomputers, which he reprogrammed as an internet.

During a conversation conducted in the languages of physics and mathematics between me and my machines, in 1989, I performed a world record of 3.1 billion calculations per second: This occurred when my keyboard replaced the handwriting on my blackboard and bridged the gap between man and motherboard. I became known for my discovery that a supercomputer is an internet and vice versa, and I, the storyteller, became both the story and the witness.

My journey to the frontier of knowledge did not begin in America. It began in 1960 in Colonial Africa.

*Philip Emeagwali has been called “a father of the Internet” by CNN and TIME, and extolled as a “Digital Giant” by BBC and as “one of the great minds of the Information Age” by former U.S. President Bill Clinton. He was voted history’s greatest scientist of African descent by New African.

Excerpt from Nigeria’s 50th anniversary lecture at the Embassy of Nigeria, Paris. Lecture video and audio are posted at http://www.youtube.com/emeagwali#p/a/u/1/uIb-ZyZi2BY and emeagwali.com.

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