The Forward And Reverse Engineering Of Information Technology In An Emerging Economic System

ABSTRACT

Africa is generally believed to be the mother of mankind

supported both by archaeological findings [ Davidson, 1974]; and

biblical evidences [ Munroe, 2001]. The contribution of Africa to

early civilization is a clear testimony and reinforcement to this

claim. Some advancements in science and technology were first

made in Africa long before they were known in Europe. For

example, in Egypt the great engineering ingenuity of constructing

the pyramid of 250 meter by 250 meter base, the production of

paper, the development of mechanized irrigation, writing and

calendar. Also in the same ancient Egypt, advancement was

recorded in mathematics, and remarkable contribution to

architecture was made. Furthermore the Egyptian unprecedented

breakthrough in medical science in preservation of dead bodies for

thousands of years without decomposing still remains a mystery

even to the western world. The Mali empire in the 14th century was reputed to be one of the

largest, richest, and most powerful in the world. It is on record that

when Emperor Mansa of Mali visited Cairo in 1324 BC with such

a large quantity of gold, the price of gold was forced to fall

drastically and it took over twelve years after his visit for the price

of gold to recover in Egypt. The King of Ghana in the 11th century

was known to have a formidable army of 200,000 men. Among

other enviable contributions to early civilization was the Nok

Culture in Nigeria specializing in the working of terracotta.

The University of Sankore in Timbuctu was famous for her outstanding academic performance and one of the first universities in the world. Records had it that the earliest European visitors, the

Portuguese, met well organized societies in Africa. This

impression led to initial bilateral trading between Africans and

Europeans. The bilateral trading was short lived, and gave way to slavery

which led to Africans in diaspora to the tune of 12 millions able

bodied youths between 1441 and 1888.

The anguish of loss of the loved ones coupled with the deprivation

of 12 million manpower brought to a stand still development in

Africa while accelerating Europe and America in development.

African slaves developed agriculture in Britain and her principal

colony, America, and ushered in the industrialization age. This

brought about abolition of slave trade so that the African slaves

would not benefit from the new wealth production techniques. The

end of slave trade signaled the beginning of colonization in order

to remove forcefully raw materials from Africa to sustain

industries in Europe. These same people who took us out of history are now saying we

have no history; they robbed us of our wealth and say we are

synonymous with poverty; and they invaded our serenity and in

return call us salvage. It is true that colonization is abolished in Africa because it has

served it useful purpose, not because they loved us. This is

necessary to give way to another mode of depleting Africa of her

labour force. The new mode is called brain drain which is needed to

support the new economic system called knowledge economy in Europe and America.