WEB 2.0 TRAINING AND THE END OF DAYS

No doubt, the training on Web 2.0 and its vast opportunities has come and gone with all its thrills. One thing, however, that most (if not all) of us learnt during that period is that ‘no matter how much we had thought we knew of the Internet before the training, we were dwarfed and, indeed, awed by the tremendous show of Web 2.0 knowledge and skills by the resource persons (Johnson Opigo and Bunmi Aregbe); the magnanimity of the organizers and hosts (CTA and NAERLS); and, of course, the humility of the course coordinator (Professor TJ Arokoyo). There was also the feeling of the coordinating presence of Rodger Obubo (CTA’s training programme manager) all the way from the Netherlands. Thank you, Dr Obubo, for being there for us.

Moreover, one other thing stood out: the maturity of all the participants (which comprised university professors, doctors, research institute administrators, systems analysts, web and ICT officers, etc). Most of us are used to being frequently disturbed by the crazy tunes of phones (calling), I-am-bigger-than-thou attitude, disregard for authority, etc at such training venues. The course content ( the highly resourceful google packages, drop box application, image resizers, etc) caught everybody’s attention from day one, so much so that at the end of the training, we were all asking for more. A lot of the participants even observed that the training should have run for a 2-week period.

Having said this much, I would like to remind everyone that this training is meant to be replicated in our different organizations; for it is only through this that we can actually maximize the knowledge gained. Besides, to achieve effective remote collaboration, we must first kick-start the sensitization and education process among our colleagues in other organizations and locations. I am sure that with such post-training efforts, the investment and confidence reposed on us by CTA, NAERLS and our various organizations will yield positive results.

Meanwhile, I look forward to good collaboration activities with you all.

Now, on a lighter mood; and the second part of the title. We have also heard, even at the training ground, that the world will end on 21 May 2011. Perhaps that explains why we had to conclude the training on 20 May—to allow enough room for participants to prepare for this END. 

 And as May 21 approaches, and the volume of chatter increases, I am particularly getting curious, especially as to how exactly it will end. The New York magazine interviewed one of the folks who said the world would end tomorrow and, unlike most prophets of doom, he was quite specific. Hear what he had to say:

[W]hen we get to May 21 on the calendar in any city or country in the world, and the clock says about — this is based on other verses in the Bible — when the clock says about 6 p.m., there’s going to be this tremendous earthquake that’s going to make the last earthquake in Japan seem like nothing in comparison. And the whole world will be alerted that Judgment Day has begun.

         Now, I know that one of the Web 2.0 participants (name withheld for obvious reasons) would raise questions here about Daylight Saving, etc. mainly for the mere reason of showing some superior thinking or argument. But suffice it to state that God has long figured such issues out; and of course, we will worry about that later. For now, we will just start the clock running. And, hey, who cares! Now that we are armed with Web 2.0 tools, thanks to CTA and NAERLS, we have all the capacity to collaborate remotely, whether here or in the hereafter.

May I use this opportunity to thank CTA, NAERLS (and its executive director, Professor SZ Abubakar), Professor TJ Arokoyo, Johnson Opigo, Bunmi Aregbe, all the training participants for the great success of the training. It shall be bounty harvest in the overall interest of agricultural development in Nigeria, in particular, and Africa, as a whole.

Google Doc Rocks!

Onagwa Godfrey