A Philosophical Analysis of the Challenges of Science and Technology in Contemporary Africa: The Nigerian Experiment

Abstract

Science and technology engendered unexpected social, political and health related problems. These included corrupt and dubious utilization of information and communication technology, environmental pollution and protection and depletion of the ozone layer which endangered human health. This sstudy examined the positive and negative implications of science and technology in Africa using Nigeria as a case study. This attempt became germane owing to the important place of the scientific and technological enterprise in the entire pattern of human life. The critical and conceptual methods of analysis were employed and the available literatures on the problem provided the background for the study. The study showed the dangers in uncontrolled destructive character of scientific and technological knowledge to human survival and suggested appropriate control measures. The study, therefore, suggested resource control, the control of chemical and biological weapons and the abuse of information and communication technology. Manufacturers of various technologies needed to create subsidiary technology and put in place necessary mechanisms for curtailing the foreseeable consequences of their products. Indeed, technological civilization should not be blindly embraced.