“What has happened to us is an amazing invention, computers and the internet and TV, a revolution” - Doris Lessing, Nobel Literature Laureate, 2007

I have always considered the internet a goldmine, one of the best things to have happened to us in the 21^st century. Nowadays in a matter of seconds, one is able to be acquainted with the latest news from the remotest regions of the world. One is today, able to send an email and be sure that it would be read within the next minute, or read one that was only sent seconds earlier, a radical departure from the former practice of queuing up at the post office to send letters and then waiting for weeks if not months to get any response, that is if the posted material makes it safely to its intended destination without being tampered with whilst in transit as is sometimes the case. These days with the aid of technology moreover, even the posted material could be traced and tracked to know if and when exactly it reaches its intended address.

It is in our day and age much more possible than ever, to keep informed and in the know, about the newest discovery and the most recent scientific innovation. It is relatively easy in our time, to keep abreast of cutting-edge research in any field that one fancies. Put simply, never has knowledge being more accessible or information more abundantly within reach than it is today. All these are thanks to Information and Communication Technology (ICT) and the World Wide Web.  As Quentin de la Bedoyere puts it, “the web makes you a citizen of the world, and potentially as omniscient as it is possible for humans to be”. What excuse then would any body have to stay ignorant and to remain in the dark given the present-day explosion of knowledge via the information superhighway of internet technology?

The internet has truly revolutionalized knowledge, learning and indeed the entire society.  Things can never be the same again, since with this piece of technology, the human society or so it seems, remarkably lost, its   ‘age of innocence’.  There doesn’t seem to be any field of human endeavour that has not been radically challenged for good or ill, by this single scientific phenomenon. Today one talks of such hitherto unknown activities like, on-line shopping (the popular e-bay for instance),  online-application for jobs or admission to colleges and universities, on-line dating, internet banking and several other forms of e-business which never existed a couple of years ago, before the invention of this all-important technology.

It is even more telling that almost every imaginable business enterprise and government establishment now owns a website. The list these days comprises schools, churches, charities, churches, political organizations and scores of individuals especially in the developed countries, another undisputable example of what the internet has come to mean and to signify for countless people. It doesn’t seem to be that much of an exaggeration to talk of the internet as the ‘new secular religion’ of the 21^st century. Here the numerous internet users are the fervent worshippers, their temples, the various laptops and personal computers on which countless hours are lavished daily in ‘adoration’ and wonder at this work of human hands.   Their high priests and priestesses are of course, the web designers, internet service providers, soft ware engineers and every other person that puts forth words and images for public consumption on the net.  And the offerings they give? The precious commodity of time and effort spent surfing and blogging.

The internet has come to dominate our lives such that some of us have wondered aloud, how we’ve been able to manage before its invention.  There’s practically little that anybody can not find or not do on the web. Ranging from booking your flight online to knowing about the bus times, from enquiring about how to be a better lover to how to have a better sex, from knowing a bit more about how to be a better husband to a better parent, are all there in abundance. Almost everything is there.  For most modern families, this form of technology has become part and parcel of the household and family life. Hence in addition to the telephone, television and video games, the computer now has a place in the living room.  Good as this may seem, it does not really strike me as all too positive as with the case with most things about modern technology.  I‘m not informed on how much brilliant effects early introduction to computer games for instance, has on kids’ academic abilities. Sitting all day in front of the computer screen chatting away with people we have no way of verifying that they are human  in the first place, let alone who they claim to be, as most teenagers are wont to do, seem to be  fraught with particularly precarious challenges, especially for parents.

In addition to the danger of indoctrination by the many ideological and fundamentalist web sites strewn across the web, there’s now the added threat of websites that encourage suicide and hate. Not long ago, a group of teenagers in Britain shocked the world and their parents when they decided to end it all by taking their own lives, no thanks to the encouragement they received from “friends” on a suicide website who even promised to set up web pages in their honour, and to turn them into heroes and heroines. These impressionable minds were convinced and coaxed into believing that this was the ‘cool’ thing to do, and that there was no need to go on living in this cynical, egoistic and selfish world. A note left by one of these unfortunate youths to his parents even went along these lines: “Dear Mum & Dad, I ‘m sorry that I have to do this. But I trust U’ill understand. I just can’t carry on”.  I have not stopped wondering how the poor parents would understand.  But that goes to emphasize the depth of the danger that lies in the unchecked use of the internet especially by the young and impressionable.

I recently got to know about a virtual world where the inhabitants known as ‘avatars’ - created in the image and likeness of their individual human creators as a projection and expression of their personal likes and dislikes, desires, aspirations and fancies - can interact in almost all the ways that humans possibly can which includes though not limited to playing, smiling, frowning, shopping, fighting, having romantic adventures, arguing etc.  Much as one may hail this as another testimony of and tribute to the human scientific genius, I haven’t ceased to wonder what this may portend for real-life relationships as the danger of substituting the real for the virtual in this case, is all too obvious.  It becomes particularly tragic and ghastly to flee from the tough challenges, the unadulterated joys, the raw fears and normal tensions that underscore encounters with human beings in flesh and blood, only to take refuge in the virtual world of the web.

However, the greater danger seems to lurk around the issue of early exposure of young people to pornography and addition to it, a situation much more tempting and insidiously prevalent these days than ever.  Pornography on the internet is a big issue and indeed a threat in many ways.  The frequency with which images of nubile and barely clothed women pop up from the web, when one  indulges in such supposedly  innocuous past-times like surfing the web for a particular brand of toothpaste or mobile phone that one likes for instance, which obviously has no overt sexual innuendos, effectively drives  this point home.  It is as if one must these days, pay obeisance to the ubiquitous ‘porn god’ on the web before getting anything at all that one wants from the net.  Pornography has become a virus, gradually and stealthily eating up what is left of the already enfeebled moral fabrics of the wealthy and technological avantgarde that is the developed world.

One wonders whether some unscrupulous entrepreneurs have not taken it up as their bounden duty to use the internet to expedite a more extensive and wider-reaching dissemination of pornographic materials, and hence increasingly multiply the fortunes of the multi-billion dollar worth industry that is behind it all. Deplorable as this may be, the society is all the poorer for it. The tell tale signs are glaringly obvious to anyone a bit more discerning.  The institution of marriage is in tatters. Some would give anything to convince the world that it’s not a prerogative of only a man and a woman. Many a relationship is pallid and anaemic. Sex is largely understood today as merely recreational and for many also, it needs not be with a married partner nor does it need to be open to procreative ends. Date rapes and every other form of predatory sexual offences are at all time high. Do we ever wonder why? Our task remains to ensure that this society, to which we all belong, does not self-destruct on account of the internet, for this would be not only a colossal tragedy but one that would leave only casualties and victims.  To constantly device new and creative ways of accomplishing this, is what urgently beckons. This goldmine needs not become a landmine.

Robot  # 1 | 22.02.2008 14:59

“What has happened to us is an amazing invention, computers and the internet and TV, a ...Read the full article.

Bode_Boluz  # 2 | 22.02.2008 16:48

Interesting Summary so I am sure you would not mind answering this question: How extensive is your knowledge on the Status of the Internet in Nigeria? I ask this because while your article is expansive, it really doesn't say anything that hasn't been covered in greater detail from sources with more resources on the issues than the whole of the Naija higher education budget. It would be nice for instance to have a working list of ISPs and how you rate them. Where the best places to use the internet are. These are just two of many questions. Many of us in the diaspora want to help and move things forward but it seems that there really is no freely given key and basic info on a multitude of topics that affect the daily lives of Nigerians. I spoke to a friend from Vietnam who was on a fact finding mission to develop a few new business ideas in that country. I was surprised to see the amount of pertinent and accurate data that he was able to gather for review from official and unofficial sources without stepping foot in the country. So are you up for the Challenge of getting relevant industry info out there? Many would greatly appreciate. Myself being the first!! Thanks in advance!!!

Palamedes  # 3 | 23.02.2008 10:43

“the web makes you a citizen of the world, and potentially as omniscient as it is possible for humans to be”. Yeah! Yet primordial minds and bush people are still talking about "tribe"--their tribe this, their tribe that. BTW I use “tribe” in derogatory terms, otherwise “ethnic group.” The internet has come to dominate our lives such that some of us have wondered aloud, how we’ve been able to manage before its invention Indeed! Though I am older than the advent of the Internet, I do wonder: Gosh! How did they do it in the pre-Internet age! We, however, still have a long way to go to accomplishing the “paperless office and society” . I don't want hard copy of my bills or bank statements send to me and I am glad that my banks have stopped sending me bank statements. I want to be able to inspect my bills, and make the necessary payments online; and I am also pleased that I can fill in all my tax forms online. It makes life so much easier. No more writing of cheques or going to the post office. Further, as at now I can read my gas meter and enter the readings online but I would like my gas, electricity meters to be connected to the Internet and meters read in real-time, instead of someone knocking at my door at odd hours to read them. Furthermore, I look forward to an age when all books will be e-books. For instance, think about the space you would safe in your house or flat if all your books are e-books. I must also add that with the Internet, comes a new demand on users. No information should be seen as given on the Internet. You must question the source and cross-check the information. It would be naive to read Internet headlines such as “Dick Cheney killed Bhutto” and accept it as true without questioning the sources or cross-checking it. There is exception to this rule. For instance, if you get your information from the Online Encyclopedia Britannica, IBM, CNN, BBC, Reuters, Dr Dobbs, to mention but a few, you can be sure that the information is reliable. These long established organizations have built up their image over time; they have very high standards and guidelines which they follow rigorously; and so there is very little chance of any deliberate misinformation from their websites. I would go as far as demanding a UN Charter which say that denying anyone the Internet is an infringement of one's human rights—You bet, I am very serious. I don't know about heaven and hell but they better have Internet over there, otherwise there will be riot. A fine and must-read article.