Technology Widens Rich-Poor Gap by Philip Emeagwali

Technology Widens Rich-Poor Gap 

by Philip Emeagwali 

LETTERS LETTERS: LETTERS : The The transcript transcript of of this this this speech was reprinted in in hundred hundreds hundred 

s of general 

general 

circulation circulation press press. press . Below are random commentaries. 

Greetings Netters: 

This man's web presence preceeded all African known web presence. He has 

always been a trail blazer of ideas of global proportions. I have not always 

agreed with him, but, here, I think he speaks not only to Africans, but to the 

world. A voice worth listening to on this issue. Points to ponder... 

Adaoma - AfroCentrikWorld 

In a time when the United States is launching its newly restructured military 

command regime for Africa -- pointedly directed at providing Western access to 

oil and mineral resources -- friends of that continent fear the disparity cited by 

the author will only increase, not diminish. – New America Media 

One of mankind's most forward-thinking analysts drives home the point that 

natural resources alone do not dictate the ultimate accumulation of wealth 

among the world's family of countries. – The Awareness Center International 

The Euro-Americans, who amassed wealth beyond their wildest dreams through 

violent plunder of the rest of the world’s human and natural resources, continue 

the process through control of technology. Rather than a source of wealth for 

developing nations such as Nigeria, “oil has become the bane of our existence,” 

says the author. The dominant powers of the planet maintain their positions 

through technological wealth, which allows them to extract both the resources of 

mineral-rich nations and charge a 40-percent technology “tax” to carry away the

loot. The U.S. is the greatest beneficiary of this technological imbalance, 

empowering it to “accomplish a virtual economic colonization” of much of the 

rest of the planet. 

Black Agenda Report - http://blackagendareport.net/?p=326 

Developed Developed Developed Countries Countries Don't Don't Exhibit Exhibit Wisdom 

Wisdom 

To ascribe the rich-poor gap to technological superiority is a little too simple and 

leaves out a lot. There is no doubt that the materialistic, reductionist, Cartesian 

methodology of the West has led to an inhumane, atomistic view of existence. Its 

religions have also predicated a superior, exceptionalism—the inheritance of a 

'chosen people.' 

Nevertheless, the colonial impulse to subjugate “inferior” people and exploit 

their resources is not simply a factoid of history; it is, indeed, an ever-present 

aspect of the Western life of affluence, arrogance, and excess. Let’s call it neo- 

colonialism now, but it is just a different shade of lipstick on the pig. It was, 

originally, guns, germs and steel and the accident of geography. Now it is 

control of the world’s financial institutions, and nearly 1,000 military bases in 

over 130 countries that maintain the edge for such exploiters as the U.S. 

Sure, technology enables this imperialism to a greater or lesser degree, and the 

rules of trade and intellectual property and patents are all determined by the 

powerful. However, I would not ascribe this to wisdom. If there was any wisdom 

in the governments of the Western developed countries, it would manifest itself 

in a modest ecological footprint at home and an empathy with the poorer

nations of the world that would translate as a level of aid beyond the paltry 

hundredths of a percent of GDP each year, and a desire to help the actual 

people of the destitute country and not their masters who dance to the tune of 

their benefactors as they raid the people’s patrimony. 

To put the blame on technology is to, in a sense, blame the victims for not 

developing the Western biases and greed-oriented market fundamentalism. Oil is 

a curse, as many Middle Eastern scholars are coming to realize, and technology 

may soon be seen in the West as its own curse. We will never invent ourselves 

out of the mess we are making by adopting a short-term flawed philosophy of 

abstract rationality not grounded in a connection to the earth or its creatures. 

Russ Tyldesley - Santa Fe, NM 

http://baltimorechronicle.com/2007/021007Letters.shtml 

Cher aîné, 

Votre cheminement émet de longues ondes de réflexion à la surface de la 

conscience. Vos réalisations et votre façon d'être sont plus qu'un exemple pour 

l'homo africanus disséminé à travers différentes régions du globe terrestre. 

Merci d'avoir fait progresser l'humanité par le biais de la science. Merci de 

redonner espoir ... 

Emeagwali, you are more than wonderful and your name is a blessing. 

May Chineke, the Gods and our great Ancestors continue to bless you ! 

Thanks. 

Thayi K. - Douala, Cameroon

Dear Prof. Emeagwali, 

As mentorship has being highly sought for amongst youths globally, 

Nigerian youths were not left behind. Many worshiped Wole Soyinka, Sunny Ade, 

Chinua Achebe etc, but for I and my upcoming organization, we unanimously 

made you our great mentor and role model. But please, don’t allow the west to 

soil your mind as they’ve done to many African great minds. They knew their 

ways and must always strive to have it!. Together, we read your article on 

NIGERIA2DAY ONLINE about how petroleum has widened the gap between the 

rich and the poor, and with deepest thanks we congratulate you for taking the 

bull by the horn. Even though the west has made you by half, you are still bold 

in telling the Africans to stand up! 

Bernard Ikechukwu Nwachukwu, Port-Harcourt, Nigeria. 

Dear Prof, to that your article I hereby dedicate my poem……. 

THE WHITAKERS 

I once knew a nation 

That was built on hope 

And were filled with dreams 

But there comes the ‘Intruders’ from helter 

And put amidst them the plow of shatter. 


Studded with touts and talented 

Yet gleefully, they lived contented 

But there comes the ‘Intruders’ with laws 

And amongst them grew enmity claws. 


That argued with smiling face 

And after fighting sought peace 

But there comes the ‘Intruders’ for their wealth

Thence comes killer instincts to their heart. 

Oh! What a poor nation 

With clouds filled with fears 

Winds of chaos, rains of tears 

Rivers of blood and man-filled loam 

I shall be glad of another home. 

Bernard Ikechukwu Nwachukwu - Port-Harcourt, Nigeria. 

OUR DEAR PHILLIP, 

IT IS WITH PROUD TAPS ON MY KEYBOARD THAT I MAKE THESE ASSERTIONS: 

THAT NIGERIA, NAY AFRICA OWES YOU APLENTY FOR YOUR SINGULAR, 

MILLENIAL ACHIEVEMENTS. YOU DID NOT CARVE A NICHE FOR JUST NIGERIA 

BUT THE ENTIRE THIRD WORLD. THE ALMIGHTY HAS GIVEN YOU THE TALENT TO 

ENHANCE THE ENDEAVORS OF MANKIND 

Henry Omoregie - Port Harcourt 

Dearest Prof. 

You are in no doubt one of the world’s prominent inventor, innovator, 

accomplisher and to say the least, a moving scientific encyclopedia. You have 

however carved a place for yourself in the anals of world history, but remember 

to whom much is given much is expected, whether you like it or not, you owe it 

as a duty to the society that gave you life to create more Emeagwalis. 

My brother, for a person of your caliber to remain in another man’s country for 

more than two centuries is not a credit. Come home and help develop the Igbo 

land, on that posterity will write your name in gold “Obu aku lue uno,oburu 

ezigbo aku” 

Hon. Kelechi Ansel-Oliaku - Finland 

Philip,

I'm proud of you on your great achievements. However effort needs to be 

organized privately to share and spread this intellectual knowledge that comes 

easy to you. There are hundreds perhaps thousands of minds that can and 

should be molded toward productive activities in Nigeria and on the Continent as 

a whole. Keep the faith but more importantly, do something. 

Regards, 

Baba Ajose - Los Angeles, California 

YOU ARE GREAT!!!!!!!!!!!!! 

From your photo albums, I observed that you have not forgotten your root; You 

dress like them and identify yourself with them. I also believe that you are 

sponsoring Africans that will take over from you. Once again be aware that it is 

only through this effort that the spirit of Prof. Philip Emeagwali will not die. 

MAY YOUR SPIRIT LIVE FOREVER. 

Sheyin RBG - Abuja, Nigeria 

Technology Widens Rich-Poor Gap 

by Philip Emeagwali 

Oil has made us billions and fuelled our economic stability, but oil has also 

become the bane of our existence. For curse that has caused poverty and 

corruption, but for others it is an essential source of untold wealth and power. 

But as the gap between rich and poor countries continues some, it is a to 

expand, it is clear that intellectual capital and technology rule the world, and that 

natural resources such as oil, gold, and diamonds are no longer the primary 

determinants of wealth. 

Surprisingly, nations with few natural resources demonstrate greater economic 

growth rates than OPEC countries. Japan’s economic growth, driven by 

technological superiority, outpaces that of Saudi Arabia; South Korea is growing 

faster than oil-rich Nigeria; and Taiwan’s economy has moved well beyond that

of oil-rich Venezuela. The United States and Norway are also rich in oil, yet their 

staggering economic growth comes from intellectual capital. 

In reality, it is not money but intellectual capital that drives prosperity. More 

important, perhaps, is the reality that poverty is driven and sustained by a lack 

of intellectual capital. The intimate relationship between intellectual capital and 

economic growth is as old as humanity itself, and is well illustrated by this 

parable from ancient Babylon (modern-day Iraq). A man asked his children: 

“If you had a choice between the clay of wisdom or a bag of gold, which would 

you choose?” “The bag of gold, the bag of gold” the naïve children cried, not 

realizing that wisdom had the potential to earn them many more bags of gold in 

the future. 

Seven thousand years later, Iraq — the cradle of civilization — has its own 

private bag of gold as it sits perched atop the world’s third largest oil reserves. 

Meanwhile, Israel, tucked away in the hostile terrain of a barren desert, has the 

clay of wisdom — the weightless wealth of intellectual capital embodied in the 

collective mind of its people. 

The striking economic gap that persists between rich and poor nations has 

increased sevenfold over the past century to what is now an all-time high. The 

accumulation of intellectual capital by rich nations has helped broaden this gap 

because it has enabled them to control technology and collect hidden taxes from 

less affluent nations. For instance, Nigeria pays a 40-percent “royalty” tax on 

its petroleum revenues to foreign oil companies that are ripping out its family 

jewels — the huge store of wealth in its oilfields. These oilfields started forming 

when prehistoric, dog-sized humans — our common ancestor with the apes — 

walked African grasslands on four legs. 

It’s a shocking reality, but the deep oil reserves laid down by Mother Nature 

millions of years ago and nurtured through the millennia in Africa have been 

whittled away within decades. And, for the dubious privilege of surrendering its 

natural resources forever, Nigeria is required to pay half its petroleum revenue 

in the form of “royalties” to the rich kids on the global block, the United States 

and the Netherlands. That oilfield has been exchanged for a bowl of porridge,

and the black gold that should serve the underserved in Nigeria is helping 

wealthy Westerners get wealthier. 

Today, half the world’s population — three billion people — live on an average 

of $500 a year. In contrast, Bill Gates earns $500 every second. By controlling 

technology and taxing computer users, Gates has become wealthier than each of 

the 70 poorest nations on earth and using his financial might has conquered 

more territory than Genghis Khan, Julius Caesar and Alexander the Great 

combined. 

While Bill Gates is the new millennium’s Prince of Technology, he is by no means 

the first to have taken on the huge potential offered by the realm of technology. 

The Romans used roads and military technology to expand their empire. And, for 

centuries, Britain ruled a quarter of the Earth due to its unparalleled ability to 

command maritime technology and conquer the Seven Seas. 

Britain undoubtedly established itself as the world’s first superpower through its 

rapid and ruthless colonial expansion program. The British raised the Union Jack 

over Canada and Australia, India and Hong Kong, Egypt and Kenya, and 

countless other countries — even the United States. The Union Jack cast its 

shadow in every global time zone, giving rise to the saying, “The sun never sets 

on the British Empire,” a fact that was cold comfort to the colonized nations. 

In the same way, the United States has embraced its technological supremacy, 

both offensively and defensively, to build its own global empire without a 

physical presence in any of its “colonies.” The sole remaining superpower is at 

the forefront of every major technological advancement, which it has used to 

become deeply embedded in three-quarters of the globe. The US has 

accomplished a virtual economic colonization manifesting its presence 

throughout the globe by harnessing the power of technology and capitalizing on 

its clay of wisdom. 

Africa’s inability to realize its potential and embrace technology has left it at the 

mercy of the West. The time has come for Africa to seize the day and resist the

efforts of America and others to leave their imprint and plunder its natural 

resources. 

Numerous examples throughout history support the idea that technology can be 

used as a tool of oppression. And there’s little doubt that America’s 

technological advancement has allowed it to exploit natural resources around 

the world. This is particularly evident in Africa, where the US is exploiting oilfields 

beneath the pristine rainforest — and being rewarded with a 40-percent tax at 

the expense of the African people. This lends credence to history’s assertion 

that those who control technology oppress those who do not, eventually 

enslaving them and, finally, wielding power around the globe. 

Excerpted from a keynote speech delivered by Philip Emeagwali at the African 

Diaspora Conference in Tucson, Arizona on September 29, 2007. The entire 

transcript is posted at emeagwali.com. 

Nigerian-born Philip Emeagwali won the 1989 Gordon Bell Prize, the Nobel Prize 

of supercomputing. He has been called “a father of the Internet” by CNN and 

TIME; praised as an “unorthodox innovator [who] has pushed back the 

boundaries of oilfield science” by a leading European oil and gas industry 

journal; extolled as “one of the great minds of the Information Age” by former 

US president Bill Clinton, and voted history’s 35 th greatest African by New 

African.

Technology Widens Rich-Poor Gap by Philip Emeagwali

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