by Moses Sogunle

‘With a simple shrug of his shoulder, he would say: “I guess all the future holds is laziness”.’

 My father had always had his reservations about computers, growing up using nothing but a computer to solve his own math problems; he saw the computer as just another piece of technology that made children lazy. My personal interest in computer programming just made him confirm that computers just make people lazy, since I spend most of my time in my room, on my computer. He’s always bugging me about going outdoors and getting some fresh air. I have tried to convince him several times that computers are going to change the future, but he always gave me the same answer. With a simple shrug of his shoulder, he would say: “I guess all the future holds is laziness”. I got to prove him wrong only by chance, and had him say “if not for these computers, that would have gone all wrong”.

My chance came as a new job for my dad. The company was opening a new location in my country and with my dad’s experience and connections with the airline industry; he was the perfect candidate for liaisons, between the American company and its local partners. The partnership went on really smoothly and soon my dad was going back and fort from the united states, at least twice a month. When I asked him how he felt about computers, he still gave me the same old answer. I noticed he started picking an interest in the internet, when he asked me to look up some information about the American company, and I was able to pull out so much information within a couple of minutes, that he was left speechless. He had tried to get some contact details but the phone lines were so busy. So I had just saved him such a headache with personal computer. He was really pleased and I think that helped sway his opinion about computers.

The icing on the cake came when he needed to get some funds from the U.S Company, but he had run late and he was unable to get the information he needed before the deadline. He came to me and explained his problem, because he now had a sense of how important a computer was, in the global business world. He needed my help in securing a bank transfer into local bank account and an important payment had to be made in the morning local time. The time difference between the two countries had put my dad on the spot, regarding a delayed payment of some contract work that was completed. I used my personal computer to confirm the loan over a secure internet line, and he received the funds at the local branch, in just about an hour. He was so pleased and relieved that he gave me a handsome reward for my help. From that day whenever I asked him how he felt about computers he would gladly reply by saying “if not for these computers, things would have gone all wrong”.

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Moses Sogunle is a certified gizmodo.  He lives, eats, and breathes gadgets #AnyBodyCanWrite

30 Days, 30 Voices series is an opportunity for young Nigerians from across the world to share their stories and experiences – creating a meeting point where our common humanity is explored.

Op-ed pieces and contributions are the opinions of the writers only and do not represent the opinions of Y!/YNaija.