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| Speaker of the House of Representatives, Mr. Aminu Tambuwal | credits: File copy |
The unveiling of free computer tablets, popularly called Opon Imo, for Osun State students in public senior secondary schools has been described as a “revolution” which will alter the face of learning in the country.
This was the view of Nobel Laureate, Prof. Wole Soyinka; Country Director, UNESCO, Prof. Hassana Alidou; Speaker, House of Representatives, Aminu Tambuwal; former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar; and a former Lagos State Governor Bola Tinubu, at the inauguration of the initiative on Monday.
Soyinka, who spoke through a Professor of Molecular Biology, Sola Adeyeye, said all tiers of governments must provide solutions to challenges confronting the country.
The Laureate recalled that the 14th, 15th and 16th centuries witnessed the blackman swimming in the backwaters of underdevelopment, adding that the blackman never fared better in the 20th Century.
He said the computer used when the United States landed the first man, Neil Armstrong, on the moon weighed three tones with five gigabytes, stressing that science and technology had evolved to produce handy mobile phones with 76 megabytes.
Commending Aregbesola for initiating the use of the computer tablet, Soyinka, who said he was “filled with envy,” described the innovation as a “groundbreaker”.
Soyinka said, “It is a pioneering achievement in the area of education development. The blackman is still behind. This is the challenge every president, every governor, leaders should face. Osun is developing, something tells me.”
Country Director of UNESCO said the computer initiative was a unique initiative that would galvanise learning and engender development.
Alidou, who was the guest speaker on the occasion, said Osun had inaugurated its students on the superhighway of information technology, stressing that the initiative would change the face of learning in the state and country.
Tambuwal described the inauguration of the initiative as “a remarkable day in the annals of Osun, in particular and Nigeria, in general”.
The Speaker commended the state government for providing the students with the device, adding that Osun had blazed the trail in education.
Atiku, who explained that ICT remained a veritable tool for learning
and development, stressed that the beneficiaries of the initiative pupils would be exposed to computer education.
He said, “This is unique. This is innovative. This is leadership. Digital learning is the way forward for this country.”
Osun State Governor, Rauf Aregbesola, said the public presentation of the computer tablets symbolised the breaking of the yoke of backwardness afflicting the Africa.
He said, “He who opens a school door, closes a prison door. We won’t look back in laying a foundation for education in Osun. We are saving N50.25bn, which won’t be used to buy 17 textbooks, WAEC, JAMB textbooks and 51 audio tutorials in the next 10 years. The device, which only weighs 1.1kg, contains a virtual library, e-classroom and 17 textbooks on various subjects.”
Source: Punch
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