Google’s CEO, Sundar Pichai, is Indian

Nokia’s CEO, Rajeev Suri, is Indian.

Adobe’s CEO, Shantanu Narayen, is Indian.

One of Amazon’s directors, Indra K. Nooyi, is Indian.

MasterCard’s CEO, Ajaypal Singh Banga, is Indian.

Microsoft’s CEO, Satya Nadella, is Indian.

Reckitt Benckiser’s CEO, Laxman Narasimhan, is an Indian.

Pakistan’s income through IT is approximately $1 billion/year while India earns approximately $142 billion/year on same.

Nigeria earns less than $25 billion from oil annually, and merely mouthing diversification of sources of national income with no real workable plan.

The country which is more advance in technology will win the future, just like the historical example of when British conquered the sub-continent because they were technologically superior.

While India is fast becoming the world's IT hub, among others, and attracting inventors, Nigeria is barely and still lamely teaching our children obsolete job-seekers’ courses with archaic academic and educational curricula.

We seem to be very busy doing nothing but fighting over RUGA, shedding innocent human blood across the country and, now, teaching our children that it is better to swear to false affidavit than obtain academic and professional qualifications by judicial fiat.

Most of the books on the courses we are teaching in our colleges and universities are since outdated and, are, increasingly becoming useless with little real world, real time applications.

The way forward

Let’s start working positively on our nation’s youths now by teaching them the virtues of hard work; encouraging them to pursue real academic and professional excellence; show them leadership by example, and stop brandishing ill-gotten wealth.

Let them also know and see the consequences of bad behaviour.

Let diligence, honesty, creativity, brilliance, innovations, patriotism and such like, being openly conversed and adequately rewarded.

Let our youths know that learning is better than houses and lands.

Let our news and entertainment channels telecast programmes on information technology solutions and educational competitions, rather than ‘Celebrities’, sex, and other irrelevances.

We need to reorient the next generation to value real integrity factor and the virtues of good character, good name, wisdom, hard work and innovation rather than Wealth without work.

Let’s face the reality of the world we live in today and stop all these wrong and evil indoctrinations ensuing from “holy” places that seems to reward indolence over diligence.

Let’s set achievable targets of where we want to be in future and jump-start it by laying the right foundation now.

This was freely given to us by God Almighty to benefit humanity. Let’s use it rightly!

•Prof Onyebeadi writes from Abuja.

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