We're poor because we shun Science & tech -Jackson

Accra, Aug. 17, GNA - Colonel Kofi Abaka Jackson (retired), an inventor, on Thursday said poverty was endemic in African communities because their application of science in solving problems was limited.

"The progress of humanity and economic development are based on the application of science. Every endeavour is knowledge based and technology driven but unfortunately, in our part of the world, science is held in mystery," he said.

The Retired Colonel was delivering a paper on: "Impact of Science and Technology on Regional Integration=94 at a two-day seminar organised for Parliamentarians in West Africa.

The seminar, which is being organised by the Foundation for Security and Development in Africa (FORSDA), is under the theme: "Implementing Regional Protocols for Security and Development in the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS)."

Colonel Jackson said science and technology had not been fully appreciated because "we prevent children from exploring and that we are so much attached to our various cultures and the old ways of doing things".

He said the idea that "a little education could earn us a decent job and after securing that job we don't read, explore beyond our horizon are some of the reasons for the low appreciation of science and technology=94.

He lamented at the high rate of school dropout and the lack of science and technology-based training for young people, who have lost interest in grammar school.

"Poverty has driven most of the youth into crime and hopelessness because we have not been able to turn their exuberance into basic skills and problem solving energies.

He said: "We now find ourselves in a situation where the highly skilled is leaving the country for greener pastures and raw ones are slaving away in foreign lands because we have not been able to generate the needed resources to make life comfortable for all." The Inventor called for an inward approach to the Continent's development since "no foreigner will give us the skills to fish but will always give us fish to eat when we beg for it. "How long should we live in a situation where foreigners decide how much we should sell our produce and at the same time buy their finished goods at prices fixed by them. The reason for this domination is their use of science and technology."

He said: "We must have the dominion and mastery over our natural resources lest we sit in the midst of rich natural resources and wallow in abject poverty."