** Visit AAM's new website! http://www.africanassociation.org **
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From: "Oluyemi Falomo" <[log in to unmask]>
Reply-To: <[log in to unmask]>
Date: Wed, 1 Oct 2003 05:30:46 -0600
Don't blame Obasanjo at least not yet, blame the technocrafts in government service. They and their (foreign partners) had this settled before Obasanjo came on the scene. The committee set up by Obasanjo's Special Adviser on Space,Science and Technology advised against it. They tried everything to derail our own Blue Print for Nigeria's space program. Some of the persons how occupied the seat of Minister of Science and Technology were kept in total darkness. The contract for this $10 million was signed while we were still fighting to put the program on hold for a thorough review. At that time we were told the Nigerian Engineers will design our own satellite, now we are told that they were trained to man the earth's receiving stations none of which existed when the contract was signed. The chairman of that committee has returned to the USA on retirement. You and I both know the reason. The statements attributed to Dr. Ade Adigun ( Senior Special Adviser) were quoted out of context to suit their purpose. I for one will continue to pray for Nigeria.
But please note that no Head of State can be successful either for GOOD or for BAD if he is not helped along by some civil servants. There lies our BIGGEST PROBLEM. And that is the truth.
Oluyemi Falomo
---------- Original Message ----------------------------------
From: mathew jallow <[log in to unmask]>
Reply-To: [log in to unmask]
Date: Sat, 27 Sep 2003 14:21:49 -0700
>Nigeria's march towards space makes absoutely no sense whatsoever. What in the world is Obasanjo thinking? This is a classic case of "guns over butter."Why the hell does he think that going so far into space will help him see what is on the ground. Anything that big to be observed from space, must be big enough for even a dumb man to see here on earth unless ofcourse the person's name is Obasanjo the Blind.
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>Even though I have only been to Lagos once on a very turmultous day( the very day General Sanni Abacha took over power) I can think of a million better ways that Obasanjo can spend Nigeria's oil revenue rather than giving it to the Russians.
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>They (Mbeki, Obasanjo, Koffour, Wadda) and the other heads of state ought to be thinking of launching a commercial sattelite that could be used by investors to start an all Africa media network like C.N.N.; call it the African Broadcasting Network or any other name.
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>It is time that we begin to tell our story to the world. We are sick and tired of the media in the west telling their slanted story of an Africa that exists only in their imagination. Their stories of Africa do not reflect the reality, but to the extent that they keep telling the same lies over and over again, it is safe to conclude that the bad and negative things they say and write about us, is exactly what they wish for us. They do not wish us well. Just read between their lines and reflect the real meaning of their spoken words and it becomes so nakedly apparent.
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>Back to Nigeria and their sattelite........ If I had an opportunity to speak to Obasanjo now, I would ask him what he had in that big skull of his sitting on his shoulders; Margarine, Butter or Cheese?
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>Joe Brewoo <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>** Visit AAM's new website! http://www.africanassociation.org ** Congrats Nigeria. Way to go!!!!
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>Nigeria's long-awaited first satellite has been successfully launched from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome in Russia.
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>A Kosmos-3M booster rocket took the satellite - one of six in total - into orbit at 0612 GMT on Saturday, after a 24-hour delay.
>"The Nigerian delegation is very happy to see this event go on successfully. We've been waiting very anxiously," said Nigeria's Science and Technology Minister Turner Isoun.
>Nigeria becomes the third African country to have a presence in space, after South Africa and Algeria.
>Although Russian engineers managed the launch, the satellite's ground control station will be in the Nigerian capital Abuja and staffed by 15 Nigerian scientists.
>Disaster warnings
>The NigeriaSat-1 is Nigeria's contribution to a network called the Disaster Monitoring Constellation.
>Each satellite belongs to one country, but they will share information with each other when disaster monitoring is needed. For the rest of the time, each nation can use its satellite as it wishes.
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>Either you decide to place people everywhere to monitor [Nigeria] on the ground, or you launch one satellite
>Space consultant Stefan Barensky
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>A prestigious project for President Olusegun Obasanjo which has been greeted with much excitement by the local media, the satellite has nevertheless provoked controversy.
>Commentators have argued that a country where more than 80 million out of 126 million citizens live in abject poverty ought not to be spending its limited resources on a space programme.
>'Economic sense'
>But other observers say that for large countries such as Nigeria, space-based observation can make economic sense, as monitoring things like deforestation and water resources from the ground can be very laborious.
>"If you have a volcanic eruption that is going to take place, a satellite can tell you in advance that this volcanic eruption is coming," says former Nigerian presidential adviser on space Dr Ade Abiodun.
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>You start small - you learn from that experience - and from that you gain a lot of capability
>Dr Ade Abiodun
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>"And therefore the decision-makers now have adequate information to warn the populace to move away."
>Dr Abiodun says Nigeria may eventually start building its own satellites.
>The Disaster Monitoring Constellation satellites, which cost less than $10m each, have been built by a British-based company, Surrey Satellite Technology.
>"You start small - you learn from that experience - and from that you gain a lot of capability," he said.
>Stefan Barensky, a consultant on international space issues, agrees that satellites can be an efficient use of public money.
>"Nigeria is a very big country with an important agriculture, with important resources, and a fast-growing population, so if you're the government, the Nigerian Government, you have to manage all this," he says.
>"And either you decide to place people everywhere to monitor this on the ground, or you launch one satellite."
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>
>Story from BBC NEWS:
>http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/africa/3141690.stm
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>Published: 2003/09/27 08:42:21 GMT
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>© BBC MMIII
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