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On Wednesday the 19th of February, the Voice of Reason held an event at the Shell Hall of the MUSON Centre in Lagos. It was the first instalment of an annual lecture series in honour of the convener of the group, Prince Goke Omisore.\nThe Voice of Reason is a group of older\u00a0citizens\u00a0dedicated to\u00a0the progress of the peoples of the South-West of Nigeria in the context of the larger national entity. They have a rallying focus on the subject of Restructuring, believing that only a restructured Nigeria with power and economy organized on the basis of increased authority and responsibility for the \u2018federating units\u2019 could hope to liberate the energies of the\u00a0citizens,\u00a0reduce the scramble for \u2018national cake\u2019 and ensure real progress for all.
\nThe central event on the programme was a lecture by Professor James Ayinde Fabunmi, a Nigerian academic currently riding high on the wave of international acclaim. An indigene of Ile Ife, and a product of the Awolowo Free Education policy, Fabunmi is a man with a dazzling combination of skills. He is an aerospace engineer, a scientist, an innovator, and an entrepreneur. He obtained a Master\u2019s degree in Aeronautical Engineering from Kiev and a PhD in Aeronautics and Astronautics from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). He is on the circuit as a Consulting Scientist in Aerospace Engineering, Defence Technology, Artificial Intelligence, and Innovation-Based Economic Development.
\nHe\u00a0is\u00a0also\u00a0the author of a book\u00a0\u2018From Brain Power\u00a0ToEconomic Power\u2019\u00a0which offers\u00a0new insights into innovation-based economic development \u2013 shifting the definition of wealth from \u2018resources under the ground\u2019 to building the innovative, problem-solving capabilities of the people.
\nThe proceedings got off to a start with\u00a0a welcome address by the Chairman of Voice of Reason, Dr Olufemi Adegoke. It was followed by\u00a0an address from the Chairman\u00a0of the occasion,\u00a0Aare\u00a0Afe\u00a0Babalola. The nonagenarian, a very enthusiastic supporter of\u00a0Restructuring, was represented by the Provost of the Post-Graduate College\u00a0of his University. Aare\u00a0was firmly committed to Restructuring and the imperative for a new people\u2019s Constitution.
\nSoon it was time for the lecturer to get into his stride. He was a man of average build, in Buba and Sokoto, with his fila tilted to a rakish angle. He had soft and clear elocution, and as soon as he got into his pitch, you could tell he had the attention of the audience.
\nStatehood, he said, was a journey through a few simple stages, from Feudal to Pre-
\nWatching from the sidelines, you recalled you had first heard the term\u00a0\u2018Knowledge Society\u2019\u00a0thirty years ago on a visit to Malaysia. All along the route to the capital Kuala Lumpur, billboards at the roadsides proclaimed the vision of Mahathir Mohammed \u2013 the Prime Minister, and his\u00a0determination\u00a0to make his country into a \u2018knowledge society\u2019. He was trying to\u00a0galvanize\u00a0the ethnic majority, the local Malays to develop their human potential so that they could compete with the dominant Chinese majority who controlled the economy, instead of waiting for government quotas to protect their interests perpetually.
\nAs\u00a0the speech progressed, it was clear\u00a0that\u00a0not all of Nigeria was on the same page\u00a0regarding\u00a0the desirability of a \u2018knowledge\u2019 society.\u00a0Not only\u00a0Boko Haram\u00a0but\u00a0also\u00a0the people\u00a0who fostered a system where unlettered\u00a0almajiris overran the landscape and people who wanted nothing to do with knowledge held the commanding heights of power\u00a0as entitlement\u00a0were antithetical\u00a0to the idea.\u00a0\u2018Knowledge is used to empower and enrich people culturally and materially\u2026a society that creates, shares, and uses knowledge to improve its wealth and the well-being of its people\u2026focuses on the development of its people ahead of the development of \u2018things\u2019\u2026\u2019
\nThe lecturer\u2019s words represented a paradigm shift from\u00a0Nigerian\u00a0reality, where\u00a0all\u00a0\u2018wealth\u2019 and expenditure were focused on \u2018things\u2019, and where \u2018people\u2019 in a major part of the country that\u00a0almost always held\u00a0political power languished at the bottom of the Human Development Index.
\nHe showed\u00a0a map of the world based on investment in Science and Technology. Africa did not\u00a0appear\u00a0at all.
\nIt was\u00a0\u2018Knowledge\u2019\u00a0that converted raw materials into industrial output, he averred. The raw material vendor got a pittance, and the manufacturer built an empire.
\n\u2018\u2026a society that is not knowledge-based \u2026cannot be competitive economically in modern times\u2026it\u00a0risks being re-colonised\u2026
\nThe cornerstones of the Knowledge-Based Society were Healthcare (access and quality), Education (access, quality and relevance) and Innovation\u00a0–\u00a0across the board.<\/p>\n