The BBC has interviewed some people who they have called “Digital Giants”. The list of names reads like a who’s who in the world of the Internet and Computing: Jimmy Wales (Wikipedia), Steve Ballmer (Current CEO of Microsoft), Martha Lane Fox (lastminute.com)…..and a certain Philip Emeagwali from Nigeria.

Now, before I get to the credibility of Philip Emeagwali, let us first listen to the man.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/in_depth/sci_tech/digital_giants/8561413.stm (will open a link to the video)

So two things he mentioned didn’t sit right with me, so I did a little research:

1. “Nigeria will become the 3rd most populous Nation in the world according to the United Nations” – This was a major surprise to me. So I did what the BBC should have done, I went to the United Nations website to check their population projections. The furthest date projected is 2050, by which they think the population of Nigeria will be 289 million people. Which is less than the USA (403 million), Pakistan (335 million), India (1.6 billion) and China (1.4 billion), putting Nigeria firmly into 5th place. In fact the current population of the USA(313 million)  is more than Nigeria’s population will be in 2050. So, this is an untruth.

2. “There will be more internet connections in Nigeria than in the USA in 50 years time.” Again, see point number 1. Even if Nigeria’s population managed to surpass that of the US (which it won’t), the penetration of the internet in Nigeria can never match that of a developed Nation. Unless of course, he is predicting that Nigeria will become a developed Nation by then. But if you’ve been reading the News headlines coming out of my beloved homeland over the last few weeks, then like me, you wouldn’t hold your breath. Basically, I don’t see how this will be achieved, even in 50 years.

So how did the BBC editorial process allow this interview to be published on their website?

Now, let us talk about the man himself.

In 2000, when I was in my final year in University in Nigeria, the internet was becoming mainstream in Nigeria, while my family had been using a dial up connection since 1995, my university was finally connected, and we used to go into the office of my friend’s dad (who was a lecturer) and browse at SUPER SLOW speeds. Around that time, we started to hear about a Professor Philip Emeagwali, who was meant to be “Africa’s Bill Gates”, “The father of the Internet” and apparently, Bill Clinton had called him “one of the great minds of the information age”. His website http://emeagwali.com/ was full of praise of the man  and contained claims like he was the “most searched for scientist in the world”. (I have visited it today after such a long time, and it has been toned down, but just a bit. However, there is already a link to the BBC interview under the heading “BBC Hails Emeagwali as “Digital Giant” “)

However, the Internet being the Internet, information is easy to come by. And soon we discovered that :

1. He could not be a professor because he didn’t have a P.hd. Emeagwali studied for a Ph.D. degree from the University of Michigan from 1987 through 1991. His thesis was not accepted by a committee of internal and external examiners and thus he was not awarded the degree. Emeagwali filed a court challenge, stating that the decision was a violation of his civil rights and that the university had discriminated against him in several ways because of his race. The court challenge was dismissed, as was an appeal to the Michigan state Court of Appeals.

2. According to Philip Emeagwali, the Gordon Bell prize he won in 1989 is the “highest honor in computing,” and he has referred to it as “Computing’s Nobel Prize.”  In fact, it is not, but I will leave that to others to discuss with you (see list of articles below).  However, he shared the prize with 9 other people that year. And I don’t see any of them bragging about it like he does.

I could go on and on, but I’ll just post links to certain articles which have all the facts:

On Friday, I got home to find out my Internet had been disconnected.

I then called BT, and for the next three hours, spoke to several people, and have come to the conclusion that I spoke to some of the least intelligent people on this planet that night.

The long and short is this:

1. A cease order was placed on my line. When I called BT with regards to another matter on Thursday, the lady did mention that it would seem that there was a cease on my line, to which I told her it was not possible, as I’d had the connection for less than a week.

2. BT tried to blame me for ordering a cease. The thing is, it takes 5 days for them to cease broadband. Since the connection only lasted for seven days, that means that a day or two after the broadband was connected, someone decided to cancel it.

3. BT refused to take responsibility for the ‘mistake’ to cancel my broadband, after screaming down the phone that I never asked for a cease, they changed their tone, saying that the broadband had been cancelled due to ‘technical problems.’ Of course, when I asked for further information on what these problems were, no one could give me any.

Anyway, I’ve decided not to continue with BT if only one week after using them as an ISP for the first time, they can decide to terminate my account and not tell me. I was offered a ‘dial-up connection’ while I wait another 5 days for them to turn the broadband back on, which I turned down.

The good thing about not having the internet for a while is that sadly, you get used to it.

I’m going to find a cheaper provider with hopefully, a better level of service.

And at the same time, I need to find out how to complain either directly to BT, or to the regulator for what I think is pretty rotten treatment to their customer, and blatant dishonesty for trying to blame me for the problem.

Finally, on Friday, we were reconnected to the Internet.

One of the things I’ve realised in the last few weeks is how much I depend on the web for a lot of things. Most importantly, a lot of my friends are ‘online only’, so without access to their blogs, or proper access to email or IM, I haven’t heard from a lot of people in weeks.

It’s scary.

I’ve spent the entire weekend ‘catching up’. I’ll start reading all your blogs this week.

It looks like a month is all it takes to lose my readers and online friends (sadly), but hey, I’m back now, and will start blogging regularly again.

It’s been a while since we were forced apart. 10th of April was the exact date. As I was getting ready for work, I sat down to have a quick ‘chat’ with you, to find out what was going on in the world, and to check on a few things.  I got back from work to find that, due to someone else’s mistake, you were gone. I hoped to get you back soon, but so far, all attempts to get you back have been met with frustration.

I never realised how much I depended on you. When I needed directions to get somewhere, you were there. When I wanted to find out how the football was going, you were there. When I needed to find out some obscure fact about some silly celebrity, you always knew the answer. When I wanted to chat with my ‘real-life’ and online friends, you hooked us up. When I wanted to take out my frustration on other people, you allowed me to play FIFA 08 with people from all over the world. When I had a job interview, and needed to do research on the company, or needed to brush up on my knowledge, you had all the answers after a few clicks. You were everything to me. As the saying goes, you never appreciate something/someone till they are gone. I’ve had you in my life for so long, I never realised how important you had become.

The last few weeks without you have been crazy. We moved house, and we didn’t have you to tell us where to find stuff in our new neighbourhood. I had no way of getting the latest podcasts to pass away the time. And I had to use my phone to talk to people, I mean, I had to actually speak to them !! With so much of my life online, I’ve found it hard to blog, study, keep up with internet gossip. My Playstation 3 is begging to be updated to the latest software. My PC reminds me everything I turn it on that it needs to update the security software. Windows XP Service Pack 3 is out, and I haven’t tried it out yet. Grand Theft Auto 4 is gathering dust on the shelf, and I haven’t played it online yet.

Mind you, we’ve managed to steal a few moments together. Before we moved, I went to a friend’s house to sit down with you for a few hours a week. And my mobile phone allows me to find out what is happening in the world of facebook. But it’s not the same.

Yesterday, I got a call from BT, telling me that they should have sorted out all the problems they were having, and that by next week Friday, we should be together again. 8 more days !! I have to warn you, Friday night, my wife and I will both be fighting for you, as we have both missed you very much. I suspect you won’t have a moment to rest till Sunday night when we go to bed.

Take care old friend. Till we meet again.