A Great Ghanaian Scientist -Dr. Victor Lawrence

Read Article

Comments (23)

This article is closed for comments.

Read Comments Comments (23)

Kofi 12 years ago

The reasons why africans have not make a head way in science and technology is quiet simple and not language barriers,thsoe african scientist and inventors are just selfish and narrow minded. One can be great inventor but st ...
read full comment

The reasons why africans have not make a head way in science and technology is quiet simple and not language barriers,thsoe african scientist and inventors are just selfish and narrow minded. One can be great inventor but still be a fool. How could a particular race like that of ours been oppressed for so long, had and still have the Power to innovate but choice to still help those who oppress us to make their empires even more stronger while his or her race lingers in total darkness,so tell me how those africans are smart and great.We all know how knowledge sharing have lifted billions of people in other races out of darkness,we african had and still have alot of scientist and innovators but we are still in darkness,how have their knowledge empacted their people?,we can't just talk and talk for talking,where is the goings?.Do your research well and don't spew any gabage here.
naked 12 years ago

well said my brother God bless you for telling the truth.

well said my brother God bless you for telling the truth.
Prophet Osei 12 years ago

WE CANNOT DEPEND ON SCIENCE FOR AN ANSWER. FASTING, RAYER AND TITHE IS THE SOLUTION. DONT DEPEND ON MAN, GOD IS THE OLY WAY.

WE CANNOT DEPEND ON SCIENCE FOR AN ANSWER. FASTING, RAYER AND TITHE IS THE SOLUTION. DONT DEPEND ON MAN, GOD IS THE OLY WAY.
nicman@atl 12 years ago

prayer fasting and thithing will jot help you. if you are not thinking. you have to think and work period.

prayer fasting and thithing will jot help you. if you are not thinking. you have to think and work period.
Efo 12 years ago

The problem is not the scientists in Africa. The problem is leadership. Ther are very few institutions to support creative people. It is alsodofficult to be scientific in a society thatbelieves in witches, demons and mami wat ...
read full comment

The problem is not the scientists in Africa. The problem is leadership. Ther are very few institutions to support creative people. It is alsodofficult to be scientific in a society thatbelieves in witches, demons and mami wata.
Kojo T 12 years ago

Africa needs to unite so it can pool its resources together. R7D NEED resources ie money and people . We can do this as in the Egyptian times by pooling together our resources. If in Ghana 75% of revenue goes into wages how m ...
read full comment

Africa needs to unite so it can pool its resources together. R7D NEED resources ie money and people . We can do this as in the Egyptian times by pooling together our resources. If in Ghana 75% of revenue goes into wages how much can you put into R&D? However if we develop our markets and revenue increases more can be used Just read ,“Apart from understanding the universe, and perceiving new potentialities, science is an essential means of meeting society’s needs for food, water, transport and communication, energy, good environment, health care, shelter, safety and alleviation of poverty (“Hundred Ways to be a Scientist. Should we continue to neglect these and continue to drift backwards?
francis kwarteng 12 years ago

Kojo T,

You have made a good observation. We need to invest more in R&D.

Israel tops the list of countries that invests heavily in R&D per GDP.

Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, etc., do better than us, Africa. In fact, ...
read full comment

Kojo T,

You have made a good observation. We need to invest more in R&D.

Israel tops the list of countries that invests heavily in R&D per GDP.

Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, etc., do better than us, Africa. In fact, Asia and the West generally do better than us in that regard.

Clearly, there exists a strong correlation between investment in R&D and national development, innovation, improved life expectancy, standard and cost of living. Power and respect on the world stage are even related to investment in R&D.

Moreover, in Africa, Egypt, Uganda, Morocco, Botswana, Sudan, Algeria, Ethiopia, and Tunisia all beat Ghana as far as investment in R&D per GDP.

We need to work on that.
Gaius HO 12 years ago

It is true that selfishness is wht is retarding our progress as Africans.Look at apostle Kodzo Asafo,nobody is ready to help this man impact his great talents.how can we grow?

It is true that selfishness is wht is retarding our progress as Africans.Look at apostle Kodzo Asafo,nobody is ready to help this man impact his great talents.how can we grow?
KOJOVI 12 years ago

SO WHAT HAS HE PHISCALLY PRODUCED FOR AFRICA OR GHANA?

HIS DEGREES???

WE WANT PRACTICAL ITEMS NOT DEGREES!!!

SO WHAT HAS HE PHISCALLY PRODUCED FOR AFRICA OR GHANA?

HIS DEGREES???

WE WANT PRACTICAL ITEMS NOT DEGREES!!!
PAA JOE 12 years ago

THE ABSTRACT THEORIES THESE SCIENTISTS WORK ON IS WHAT YOU SEE AS TANGIBLE THINGS LIKE CELL PHONES, X-RAYS, COMPUTERS, AUTOMOBILES ETC.

THE ABSTRACT THEORIES THESE SCIENTISTS WORK ON IS WHAT YOU SEE AS TANGIBLE THINGS LIKE CELL PHONES, X-RAYS, COMPUTERS, AUTOMOBILES ETC.

KOJOVI 12 years ago

ABSTRACT THEORIES MY FOOT!!!
PUT THE STUFF ON THE TABLE FOR ALL TO SEE AND ENJOY.

ABSTRACT THEORIES MY FOOT!!!
PUT THE STUFF ON THE TABLE FOR ALL TO SEE AND ENJOY.
francis kwarteng 12 years ago

Dear Paa Joe, Media Mogul, and All,

Thanks.

I am having a problem trying to understand the reading abilities of some of our friends.

I can't understand why some readers accuse me of not saying things which are clea ...
read full comment

Dear Paa Joe, Media Mogul, and All,

Thanks.

I am having a problem trying to understand the reading abilities of some of our friends.

I can't understand why some readers accuse me of not saying things which are clearly in my essays.

Further, I can't understand why some readers also fail to see the connection between theory and praxis, a topic I and others have constantly talked about, as in articles like "Afrocentricity and the future of Ghana."

In fact, there are so many Africans (in Africa and abroad) doing great things in and for Africa, yet some readers who are obviously not in the know insult these men whose technologies they use everyday.

Because the technologies don't have the names of Dr. Victor Lawrence and Prof. Allotey boldly written on them. Sadly, some of these negative readers don't read, not to talk of reading well or critically. I fault our educational system partly for this.

Dr. Lawrence and African scientists are working on the ground to expand fiber optic connectivity in Africa so that access to internet services (and other similar technologies) can jump from 4% to about 20-30% in Africa.

In addition, these negative readers can watch Dr. Lawrence's interview which centers on his involvement with with African scientists (on Youtube). It's titled "Stevens Institute of Technology: Cablevision Features Prof. Lawrence."

This is why I don't directly, if at all, address such readers. Dr. Lawrence's work has improved internet connectivity, the same technology which these negative readers use to insult Dr. Lawrence and myself.

Yet, rather than these negative readers' going further to research some of these practical things going on in Africa, they sit behind the same computer whose software applications African thinkers like Dr. Lawrence has made possible or improved upon, to insult Dr. Lawrence, saying the likes of Dr. Lawrence has not done anything for Africa.

The same can be said of Dr. Thomas Mensah whose contributions to fiber optics make some of these computer software applications in medical theaters possible. Today, these technologies are used in Ghanaian hospitals, offices, cars, phones, and classrooms. Yet these negative readers insult them for doing practically nothing for Africa. You will know these things if you are a good or critical reader (as well as reading widely). But many of us don't.

What I put out here, my articles, are merely summaries. These summaries can't even begin to capture what Dr. Lawrence has done. This is why I give references so we can go further.

Media Mogul has made a cautious yet timely observation: Things are changing in Africa but at a snail's pace. We must take note of Media Mogul's observation. We are getting there though gradually. I have made this observation myself in one of my previous articles.

Media Mogul makes another observation: How China and India (Asia in general) work with their students studying abroad. Again, I have also raised this same issue in my article "The Sociocultural Mathematics of Growth and Development."

Other constructive readers have raised the issue of lack of cutting-edge facilities and leadership. Others have also raised the issue of corruption, etc.

I have raised all these issues (and more) in nearly all of my articles. Other columnists have done the same.

However, I did not raise them here because I did not want to sound monotonous. Plus, they are things we are all familiar with. I wanted to push the button beyond the pedestrian.

I am surprised others are saying I am praising our scientists! Why shouldn't I? In fact, everyone else, Europeans, Asians, Americans, etc., does. So why shouldn't I or us?

After all, you don't necessarily have to be in Africa to contribute positively to Africa?

Moreover, these negative readers may not have known that though Prof. Allotey's work on soft X-ray was primarily done in the West, the impact of his work continues to benefit the entire world, including Africa.

What I have chosen to do with these two-part series is to explore how best we can benefit the most from the work of our people! That's that.

Besides, there are many Chinese, Indian, Japanese, etc., in the West who are contributing positively to their native societies.

That said, let me add that the only major problem we appear to have is our failure to build stronger institutions and infrastructure to expand as well as to sustain the creative efforts of men like Dr. Lawrence in Africa. This is why selfless leadership makes perfect sense. We all know this.

I am happy Paa Joe has pointed it out to us that there is a strong connection between abstract theories and tangible results (though not always). But his is a general statement of fact.

What I see on Ghanaweb has forced me to concentrate on the problem of language and reading. Many of us don't read well.

Seriously, I have come to know we have a problem with reading, I mean, with critical reading. Some readers have to know that an author's ideas in a particular essay or book go beyond the immediacy of his/her bibliography and ideas.

That there are hidden depth, ideational layers, and connotations which authors don't necessarily or always make readily available in their works, is completely lost on many of our readers. This is painful and pathetic.

Our style of "prima facie" reading must stop. I personally observed this phenomenon when I took classes with many Ghanaians in New York. I also happened to get close to our humanities/liberal arts professors to learn of their impressions on our reading and writing abilities.

Besides, I still communicate with one of my former white biology professors (New York), where we discuss the writing and reading abilities of Africans who take his general biology and "anatomy and physiology" classes (he gave me the sources for my "genetically modified" articles). I have discussed this problem with some creative writes and English professors (Africans mostly).

I remember my own English/literature classes in secondary school. There is much we need to do in this area, critical reading and writing.

In fact, I have friends (and I hope you all do) who did so well in the sciences and therefore would have been great medical or physical scientists, but for poor reading and writing skills (though you have to read and write to pass science exams).

I see the poor reading skills in the comments readers make on Gnanaweb articles, not only mine on mine but those of other columnists.

Indeed, the quality of our reading abilities is a problem, brothers and sisters. Let's do more serious work on that.

And rather than insult positive thinkers and contributors to society, we must learn to write our own constructive critiques and post them on Ghanaweb, vibeghana, spyghana, myjoyonline and such media for the entire world to read and make something positive out of them.

For instance, the questions Media Mogul raises shows someone who has good critical reading skills. Media Mogul's thinking after reading the piece goes beyond the analytic immediacy of my ideas.

All the indirect conclusions Media Mogul drew upon reading the piece are implied in my essay. Yet Media Mogul has constructively taken issue with some of my ideas and writing style.

Paa Joe's comments and those of the others show good examples of readers who constructively go beyond the analytic immediacy of what a writer says. Nii Ashitey does the same thing. A good reader and writer.

This does not mean that they agree with everything I say.It also does not mean that I agree with everything they say. Yet we agree and disagree with each other in dignity and with respect. No insults.

Our educational system needs to work hard in this area, reading. Also, readers read one article and make their conclusions (when that one article is part of a series). How sad!

It's no wonder I did not see those who insulted me after reading "How Another Scholar Portrays Us In The West: Dr. Molefi Kete Asante-Part l."

I know these negative readers changed their monikers in order to read the Part ll. In part l I didn't say anything about Dr. Asante's positive contributions to our lives and race relations. Once they, the negative readers, saw his good works in Part ll they kept quite. How come I didn't get the same insults as in Part l? Why not read articles in their entirety before drawing conclusions? Who are the bad teachers in our midst teaching us to read poorly?

Anyway, I have corrected the typos/grammatical errors (a lot in Part ll, which I already submitted to Ghanaweb with Part l for publication same day). Let me know if there more (I give this assignment to the negative readers)!

Readers can read the edited versions on Modernghana. I tried to edit the two parts on Vibeghana but the corrections haven't registered yet.

I am hoping a reader volunteers to read my pieces before submitting them for publication.

Thanks.
Joe Essuman, Esex 12 years ago

COULDN'T SAY IT BETTER, BRO.

COULDN'T SAY IT BETTER, BRO.
Kawaanopaado 12 years ago

Great article, Francis. There is original genius in Africa but we lack quality leadership to tap that talent. Our institutions are so corrupt they stifle ingenuity.

Great article, Francis. There is original genius in Africa but we lack quality leadership to tap that talent. Our institutions are so corrupt they stifle ingenuity.
Media Mogul 12 years ago

Well, this piece is using the scholarship and industry of one Ghanaian, Lawrence, to raise bigger issues of Africa's (the black man's) place in knowledge production in the world.

We can't produce such scientists at home f ...
read full comment

Well, this piece is using the scholarship and industry of one Ghanaian, Lawrence, to raise bigger issues of Africa's (the black man's) place in knowledge production in the world.

We can't produce such scientists at home for the simple reason that we don't have the infrastructure. Our resources are far inadequate to sustain such scholarship and build on it. Our brilliant brains must still seek facilities elsewhere to fully develop their talents. In Africa, only South Africa has something anywhere near what Europe and North America has. Yet they are also behind.

The gap between them and us is huge. We are closing it but at a snail pace. These things take time. But some of us think we can get there one day. It won't be tomorrow but one day. It won't be during our life time but we shall get there.

It's different with things like literary production where we can still produce some good writers who are basically home grown. Even those ones made abroad (Taiye Selasi and, to some extent, Esi Edugyan) draw on their African background in their creative work). The case of literary production is not much of a problem. We only need to learn to read more in Africa and we can catch up.

The problem is the sciences and technology! That is why all those you mentioned in your piece are important. How much do they benefit us back home when they have attained all the knowledge abroad? Why have we not reached the position of India and China which are making brutal use of their Western trained scientists who return to the motherland? Even those who don't return are heavily involved in activities there. The trickle of African talent back to the homeland is a joke.

There are so many questions. The bottom line is that the African (black person) is not stupid and can reach any heights the Caucasian has reached. The particular human beings with the genes to excel are randomly distributed among all the peoples of the human race. We, too, have our fair share in all aspects of human endeavour.

Some other questions I have are:

Is there not a bit of an obsession to reach out to our glorious past? I mean, are we not exerting ourselves too much to assert our worth? Remember Soyinka's comments about negritude: a tiger does not need to show its tigritude!

You lump the whole Africa into one. Those ancient scholars who talked so well about Africa didn't mean Africa South of the Sahara. They didn't even know a place like that existed. The farthest they knew was Ethiopia. Now, is Anta Diop arguing that the Egyptians were really black like you and I? What do you say about his evidence?

An aside: make sure you leave two paragraph spaces between each of your paragraphs. If you don't do that, ghanaweb will post the article in one long paragraph. Not reader friendly.

Since you have a second part coming, I reserve my other concerns...
Efo 12 years ago

Now, is Anta Diop arguing that the Egyptians were really black like you and I? What do you say about his evidence?

THE ANCIENT EGYPTIANS WERE BLACK LIKE ALL AFRICANS. WITH TIME THEY BECAME MIXED WITH OTHERS LIKE THE HYSKOS ...
read full comment

Now, is Anta Diop arguing that the Egyptians were really black like you and I? What do you say about his evidence?

THE ANCIENT EGYPTIANS WERE BLACK LIKE ALL AFRICANS. WITH TIME THEY BECAME MIXED WITH OTHERS LIKE THE HYSKOS.
IN EVERY WAY THEIR CULTURE WAS AFRICAN.

IF NORTHERN EUROPEANS SEE THE GREEKS AND ROMANS AS WHITE, DESPITE THE DIFFERENCE IN THEIR SKIN SHADE, WHY SHOULD ANCIENT EGYPTIANS BE SEPERATED FROM THE REST OF AFRICA?
Jac 12 years ago

well done but i want you to decide and do something that shows inspiration than talking about them. After all those great achievement, what are going to do now? tell us

well done but i want you to decide and do something that shows inspiration than talking about them. After all those great achievement, what are going to do now? tell us
Derick Asamani 12 years ago

go to our shs and ask even the brightest students what they want to be and they will say that they want to be doctors why because it will offer them more enough money than they can spend but all you need to be a mathematician ...
read full comment

go to our shs and ask even the brightest students what they want to be and they will say that they want to be doctors why because it will offer them more enough money than they can spend but all you need to be a mathematician is a pencil and paper and you can change the world so to be frank we can never be like the westerners because of our selfish nature
raphwoko@gmail.com 12 years ago

PLS MR. FRANCIS KWARTENG, GOOD JOB BUT KINDLY GET IN TOUCH TO HAVE AN INSIGHT INTO YET ANOTHER GHANAIN WHO FOUND SOLUTION TO THE PROBLEM OF INTERMITENCY IN WIND ENERGY TECHNOLOGY. A GHANAIAN BORN IN GHANA, SCHOOLED IN GHANA A ...
read full comment

PLS MR. FRANCIS KWARTENG, GOOD JOB BUT KINDLY GET IN TOUCH TO HAVE AN INSIGHT INTO YET ANOTHER GHANAIN WHO FOUND SOLUTION TO THE PROBLEM OF INTERMITENCY IN WIND ENERGY TECHNOLOGY. A GHANAIAN BORN IN GHANA, SCHOOLED IN GHANA AND STILL DOING EVERYTHING IN GHANA.
francies kwarteng 12 years ago

Hello,

How are you doing?

That's not a problem for me. I know some of our thinkers who have done quite well in Africa (and who have been educated in Africa) and never traveled outside Ghana or Africa.

In fact, some ...
read full comment

Hello,

How are you doing?

That's not a problem for me. I know some of our thinkers who have done quite well in Africa (and who have been educated in Africa) and never traveled outside Ghana or Africa.

In fact, some of my mates in Ghana are doing exceptionally well in the area of software/hardware technologies.

Some of these have not stepped foot outside Ghana. If we have enough of these, why are our leaders saying educated Ghanaians (and Africans) should come home to help?

In some of my previous articles, I have alluded to the need for government and the private sector to assist with the harnessing of local ingenuity/talent (See Part ll of this series).

Let me ask you this: How many people in Africa have access to internet services as opposed to those in the West, say?

In Africa it's less than 4%. Dr. Victor Lawrence (and his team of African scientists) says he wants to increase it to 20-25%.

In other parts of the world the percentage is 60 plus. What explains the difference?

Again, how many people in Ghana have access to electricity as opposed to people in America? How many people can the wind technology invented by this Ghanaian serve? What is the wind technology's strength or durability? How effective is it? Does he/she have the infrastructural technology or resources to mass-produce it?

What percentage of technologies does Ghana (or Africa) produce relative to the world?

My friend, I am not talking about isolated cases like you mention here. Neither am I denigrating Africa nor underrating local talent/ingenuity--far from it.

I personally know some brilliant people in Ghana (and Africa) who have done some useful things.

For instance, the first African software company, Dropifi,moved to Silicon Valley, California. In fact, the three founders who created the company are Ghanaians primarily educated in Ghana. Why did they move the company to America? Couldn't their company have done well in Ghana, South Africa, or Nigeria?

So, you see, your isolated example does not address the bigger picture.

In fact, Africa's under-representation in producing technologies is why the BBC, for instance, hosted the "BBC Science Festival" in Africa, Ugadan, Makerere, this year.

Indeed, BBC (and the West) wanted to bring the relative lack of technological ingenuity on the part of Africa to the attention of African leadership, students, school administrators, and policy makers.

Moreover, the problem of wind energy, for instance, has also been addressed by a farmer in Southern Africa (I think in Zimbabwe or so; please Google CNN's "African Voices" or BBC's "African Faces." This farmer has also introduced some wonderful improvements to water closet.) He does not even have university education. These are isolated cases, however.

Finally, the relative absence of Ghana (and Africa) in the creative fields of technological production and science (knowledge economy, information technology, etc) are what my article attempts to deal with.

But those, the isolated cases, are not my headache. Most of the technological and scientific breakthroughs achieved by our men and women are done in the West. This is what I want to bring to our attention.

Why can't our institutions produce the likes of Ave Kludze, Ashitey Trebi-Ollenu, Victor Lawrence, Prof. Allotey, Thomas Mensah, David Adjaye, Wole Soyinka, etc.

This is the question I want you to help us answer! I shall send you an email.

Thanks.

raphwoko@gmail.com 12 years ago

Franc, my contribution here was not to portray your article as the 'African minus the West' cannot make it work.NO! It was only to add/emphasize on the fact that even all within Africa here, it can still happen well. Correct ...
read full comment

Franc, my contribution here was not to portray your article as the 'African minus the West' cannot make it work.NO! It was only to add/emphasize on the fact that even all within Africa here, it can still happen well. Correct leadership had been our problem which needs to be looked at seriously. You will sooner than later understand what is meant by the correct leadership. More of your articles is needed for inspiring/educating the rest who do not know yet the full potentials of the African. Many thanks.
francis kwarteng 12 years ago

My Good brother,

I am sorry if I misunderstood you point.

I have clarified my person in my email to you before I read your second response here.

In fact, my first response to you was not to disagree with you in pri ...
read full comment

My Good brother,

I am sorry if I misunderstood you point.

I have clarified my person in my email to you before I read your second response here.

In fact, my first response to you was not to disagree with you in principle. I only wanted to know how we could harness local talent with the right leadership.

My other point was how we could qualitatively mass-produce local technologies so that the masses can benefit from them.

Contrary to what you may have thought, I understood your position not to be one of Africa/West dichotomy.

You never said so or implied that. If that was my understanding in your estimation, then, again, I am sorry.

Let us support local innovation. Please, if you can, on the question of leadership crisis, Google all my Ghanaweb articles.

I have spent a good chunk of space and ink dealing with leadership crisis in Africa and how that is pulling us down as a people.

Please, finally, feel to communicate privately with me any time you have questions (disagreements, etc). We can as well communicate on Ghanaweb.

That said, I think you and I agree that we are on the same page.

Take care.

Thanks.
raphwoko@gmail.com 12 years ago

Akuna Matata, My brother. Welcome onboard. Let's work in our own small way to make Africa take its proper place as God has ordained us to be.God bless you for your good works. There is hope for the future with ppl like you on ...
read full comment

Akuna Matata, My brother. Welcome onboard. Let's work in our own small way to make Africa take its proper place as God has ordained us to be.God bless you for your good works. There is hope for the future with ppl like you onboard.

23 Comments

Welcome,

SIGN IN

Welcome,

RESET PASSWORD

Hello,

Terms and conditions

REGISTER

A Great Ghanaian Scientist -Dr. Victor Lawrence

Read Comments .st0{display:none;fill:#14BDD3;} .st1{display:none;} .st2{display:inline;fill:#FC0F0F;} .st3{display:inline;fill:#FFFFFF;} .st4{display:inline;fill:none;stroke:#000000;stroke-width:6;stroke-miterlimit:10;} Comments (23)

Read Comments Comments (23)