If the technologically-advanced countries of the developed world were to introduce stringent trade agreements against countries, which do not have the technological knowhow to power their economies, what would become of countries on the continent of Africa which depend so much on these advanced countries for its technologies?
I pray that such does not happen because majority of countries in Africa would be thrown back to the lowest rung of the economic ladder. Africa is a consumer and not a producer of technology. Most of the technologies we use to power our ‘developing’ economies are imported from the developed countries. In fact, Africa won’t exist again when it comes to world technology.
It dampens my spirit to know that there has been no meaningful, sophisticated, widely-acknowledged technology that my fellow African created. How do we, then, change the notion that our continent is the dumping ground for faulty technology? What do we do to develop our own technological identity in this scientific epoch?
Pundits have suggested various measures, which governments in African countries can execute to enhance the development of indigenous expertise. Some people have accused African governments of not showing interest to support individuals who have shown ability to invent simple gadgets. It is often said that such gifted individuals are usually discovered by the whites, who provide them with resources in abundance to produce high-tech gadgets, which, in turn, will be sold to Africa at higher cost.
However, it should be known that there are many whiz kids in our continent, who are ready to shock the world with their skills and invents. But the fact that many of them did not go to school or understand English language limits their capabilities to bring out innovation in them.
It is no news again that one of the basic problems that bedeviling the continent of Africa is language. Language, as has been seen in certain countries, is the basis of development. The language of instruction in most African countries is a European language. This is likely to create problem for many pupils, who may have wanted to be taught in their mother tongue.
Professor Babs Fafunwa, in his research, was able to prove that a child learns better when taught in his or her first language. His discoveries were considered by the Federal Government and were incorporated into the curriculum for primary school pupils. According to National Policy on Education (NPE), pupils should be instructed in the first three years of their education in their mother tongue or a language of wider coverage in their area of domicile.
This policy is not effective, especially in private schools where the teachers always instruct pupils in English language. In such schools, pupils are even compelled to communicate with one another in English; students who are caught speaking vernacular (as Nigerian indigenous languages are often referred to) are punished. Some public schools also engage themselves in this reprehensible practice. This is usually done in order to make sure that the pupils are able to speak English fluently, thereby increasing enrolment in such schools.
Most students do not understand theoretical ideas explained to them by teachers in school. They only cram them to pass their exams and this is the reason why they cannot use the knowledge to produce any meaningful thing. The ideas of how to develop meaningful technologies of our own are with us on this continent but we have not yet adopted them.
How do we make students understand ideas coded in foreign languages and use them to invent meaningful technologies? How do we make the ideas incorporated into our various cultures? How do we blend complicated foreign ideas with ours, which would make us to create beautiful things? The road to this end is language.
Many have argued that African languages cannot express scientific ideas, claiming that the majority of the ideas are not found in Africa. These people often claim that most of the terms used in the science do not have equivalents in African languages.
To me, as a student of language, this argument does not hold water. First, ideas do not need to be found in a society before they become part of it. Secondly, words of a language do not need to have equivalents in another language before they become part of it. Words like ‘algebra’, ‘alcohol’ (both from Arabic), ‘afara’ , ‘agogo’ and ‘fufu’ (from Yoruba) were not rooted in English lexicography. But now, they have been adapted and incorporated into the English dictionary.
All of the terms used in the sciences could be made to have equivalents in African languages, if the leaders of the continent are ready for this daunting challenge. It has been proven in linguistics that there is no one-to-one correspondence between language and what it expresses. If this is true then we can use any word to refer to anything. So, the ideas that African languages do not possess equivalent scientific terms in English should be dropped.
To make African students understand science in African languages, both the African governments and the people, especially academics have crucial roles to play. Lecturers in tertiary institutions, especially those in language discipline should focus their researches in this area.
The governments should also make necessary efforts to make every student learn their indigenous language at every level of education. African languages should be included in the curriculum of education. In my opinion, it is only when scientific ideas are effectively adopted in our culture that we can begin to make progress in indigenous technology.
