#APostADay Day 3 – Knowledge and Access to it…2

Hello! It is Day 3 of Saatah Nubari (@Saatah) and my #APostADay Challenge.

Day 1: Saatah wrote on Not Much…but there’s hope, and I wrote on Homogeneity and Heterogeneity of our Society

Day 2: Saatah wrote on The Events of his Day. I wrote on Nigerian Confraternities: Names, Symbols & Deductions

Day 3: Saatah wrote Where It All Started. In it, he talks of the impact of Ken Saro-Wiwa on his life philosophy

For background on this post, please read the original Knowledge and Access to It.

Growing up, knowledge was the most emphasised thing in my home. I remember having a 15 volume encyclopedia, with illustrations of the Peanut’s Gang: Charlie Brown, Lucy, Linus etc. It covered animals, clothes, planes, cars, the human body… near everything.

A lot changed between those my early years and now. My love of knowledge stayed the same though, there’s a possibility it even amplified. I was called “Cross-breed” in Secondary School. They said I was half-human, half-machine. In University, it was “encyclopedia”. But I digress.

Most knowledge I acquired growing up came at a cost. I did a lot then that I don’t do anymore because I formed principles along the line.

MUSIC & BOOKS

My knowledge of music and love of it formed a bit late. The first secular song I memorised was Joe’s “I Wanna Know”. My cousin from Lagos visited and played it in his discman. This was in year 2000 I think.

Over the years, I discovered more artistes I’ve come to love. This process of discovery was however not legal.

I remember reading a tweet from one of my fave artistes sometime about how he feels music should be free. “Many in Africa, Asia”, I paraphrase, “do not have access to the basics, do we thus deprive them or reasons to smile, inspiration, because they can’t afford the music?” A lot of artistes helped me form an identity today through their music. I couldn’t afford to buy all their music, then and now.

The way it worked was like this:

• Listen to my fave shows on the radio.

• Note the songs and artistes I connect with.

• Use my phone to look up the song and artiste.

• Download

You know the days when Browsing Cheat Codes were the ish? I did a whole lot of that.

As music came and formed, books followed suit. I learnt how to get a pdf reader on a Nokia s40 device. Most of my learning was done via tutor websites and the likes, even in my first year of varsity.

THOUGHTS

A lot of the things I learnt from were sourced illegally. Now I do things differently and I marvel at the restrictions there are to knowledge.

Yes, the internet has made a lot open. But is it enough? How many paywalls shall become barriers to the kid in the slum? He already suffers for internet access. Does he now have to be hindered by lack of funding?