It is no news that any technological
device that finds its way into Nigeriais usually accepted to the extreme. The
advent of Global Service of Mobile
communication (GSM) attracted users in
no small number, to the extent that it was regarded as ��General Street
Madness�� in some parts of the
country.
Also, social network like Facebook,
Twitter, 2go etc came along; trust
Nigerians, they joinedthe trend as if
Nigeria invented those social websites. But the problem is that Nigerian users
lack appropriate decorum for utilising
any technology that comes into the
country. Talking of the latest craze in
town – Blackberry �C youths and
adults have joined the mad rush to acquire the device. Blackberry is a device that has in built
social network applications that link
people from different geographical
areas in a jiffy. You can use it to
access the Internet at any point in time.
These services are not free. Users subscribe for Blackberry Internet
Service (BIS) to make use of the device. Its functions as a personal digital
assistant (PDA)and portable
mediaplayer. It is primarily known
for its ability to send and receive
instant messages via Wi-Fi
connectivity. It is the latest swag in town now, especially among girls in
universities. Everybody wants to own a BB phone.
In universities and other institutions, if
a girl doesn��t belong to the
��Blackberry clique,�� she is no way a
big babe. In the classroom, market,
hospital etc, you either ping or get pinged. It has got to the extent that
many girls become desperate and are
ready to go to any length to attainto
the Blackberry clique. To such people,
using a Blackberry is a do-or-die
affair, to the extent that friends abandon friends who don��t have
Blackberry! Because of the desperate rush, the
phone has become pure water because
many people now own . A day can��t
goby without you hearing someone
asking for your Blackberry pin.
Even in classrooms, the attention of Blackberry users is the usually
diverted from lectures because of BB
chats. Last Monday, I was in the class
receiving a lesson when suddenly we
heard a sarcastic laughter from the
back. It was two friends sitting beside
each other pinging themselves about
the faded attire worn by their lecturer. The laughter caught the attention of
the class and it almost got them in
trouble. The same thing happened in my hostel
two weeks ago as two friends argued
over the device.
In a nutshell, the coming of this
device has exposed the other side of
Nigerians and perhaps, humanity. It now looks as if GSM has just came to
Nigeria. The cost of BIS subscription would
not even deter the youths from using
the device that is gradually derailing
them from achieving their dreams.
Instead of wasting time and money on
mundane activities such as BB chats and pinging, why not focus on research
and invention of newthings that will
be useful in our nation? Our youths are always on the lookout
for exotic things; only God knows the
next invention that would manipulate
the cognitive behaviour of the Nigerian
youths and derail them from attaining
their educational aspirations.
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