The Nerd

I am forced to confront the reality that I am, in fact, a nerd; a tag I have rejected simply because of the stereotype that depicts social ineptitude. I am not socially inept. I have a lot of friends, am friendly and generally approachable. However, people still persist in tagging me a nerd. And my question is this, if I was a nerd, would I be friends with you? ... Touche.

But, but as the old Spanish saying goes: If someone calls you a donkey, laugh at him. If ten people call you a donkey, buy a saddle. I think the same applies to being called a nerd, and so the first step to "buying a saddle" was to find out what it meant to be a nerd. According to Wiki,

Nerd is a term, often bearing a derogatory connotation or stereotype, that refers to a person who passionately pursues intellectual activities, esoteric knowledge, or other obscure interests that are age-inappropriate, rather than engaging in more social or popular activities. Therefore, a nerd is often excluded from physical activity and considered a loner by peers, or will tend to associate with like-minded people.

For one, my interests are not age-inappropriate, and never have been. I dare anyone to challenge me! And secondly, I engage in social activities that correspond to my tastes, notable among which is generally chilling with friends. I used to be a loner but not anymore and as any of my friends can attest, I am relatively eccentric compared to them so there goes associating with like-minded people!

The urban dictionary describes a nerd as

One whose IQ exceeds his weight.

I wish! On second thought...OMG! I am a nerd...lol

An individual persecuted for his superior skills or intellect, most often by people who fear and envy him.

Yes, I do admit to superior skills and intellect... I mean with an IQ of 140 and counting, superb powers of perception, an amazing memory and the ability to see through walls:) ... but I share, don't I? What's to fear and envy?

A stereotypical label used to describe a person that is socially inadequate. A four letter word, but a six figure income a la Bill Gates.

It's getting better and better....but, but I am not socially inadequate.

A person who gains pleasure from amassing large quantities of knowledge about subjects often too detailed or complicated for most other people to be bothered with.
Often mistaken for Geeks, who aspire to become nerds, yet lack the intelligence, and end up giving nerds a bad name due to their poor social skills.
Non-nerds are often scared of nerds, due to their detailed knowledge, and therefore seemingly high levels of intelligence - and subsequently denegrate them as much as possible as often as possible.
Nerds exist covertly within the fabric of society, often choosing to 'nerd it up' in private or in the company of fellow nerds. It is for this reason they are feared the most - unlike geeks, who are easily identified, nerds can only be found out when casual conversation reaches a subject that they like nerding.

Geek: "I am a nerd"
Nerd: "Let's bash this nerd"

Nerd: "That'll teach you to go playing with my tesla coil"

lol...lol..lol

I'm starting to revise my perception of nerds. I don't mind one bit. Seems everyone was right after all, and it was the best backhand compliment ever. So I am eccentric and I am a nerd...and I wear both labels proudly....:P :)

Light Up Nigeria: Here comes the Devil's Advocate.

Griping about PHCN is our favourite pastime in this country. PHCN (Power Holding Company of Nigeria for the less informed) is a guaranteed conversation starter when you’re at a loss for words.

Hey, Jimmy, how are you?

Fine. You, nko?

Great.

Awkward silence.

So how’s PHCN in your area?

And there are a million, million reasons why PHCN doesn’t work. The Generator Importing Cabal won’t let it. The diesel and petrol importers won’t let it. Government won’t let it. And so on and so forth. Everyone but the man on the street is guilty, it seems. And apparently, uninterrupted power is the pixie dust we have to sprinkle on Nigeria to solve all her problems. It would encourage investors, improve local industries, reduce the cost of living, lower tariffs, improve healthcare, provide jobs, enhance education, cure malaria, solve the Middle-East Crisis… Ok, you get the drift. And I’m not arguing against any of these, I’m just saying we haven’t thought the whole power thing through.

It’s all fair and dandy to bash PHCN over doing a poor job of electricity generation and distribution. But how well have we done our job of energy consumption? Being consumers doesn’t end at plugging our appliances into the sockets and getting on the distribution grid. Being consumers demands that we plug in appliances that are power-efficient, and only when they are needed. Do I hear mea culpa? I should. Because we are energy-wasters, in all the meanings of that word. And I fear that 24-7 power gives us only more energy to waste.

Why should streetlights be on at 2 pm, and security lights stay on all day? Imagine if those lights being powered all day by PHCN, with its relatively lower cost per kilowatt-hour. Do you see what I mean? We have a culture of abuse, and this culture should be attacked pari passu with the lack of power. It’s not too hard to envision people leaving home and leaving the air-conditioning on because the weather’s so bloody hot. It’s not too difficult to imagine people getting giddy on the prospects of always having power and then rushing out to buy as many appliances as they can afford, appliances that, more often than not, are

1. faulty, second-hand models,

2. old, energy-wasting models or

3. Chinese brands that have been rejected from Europe and America because of non-compliance with energy consumption standards.

And we have well-established precedents in this issue of nonchalance about energy issues. The Toyota Prius has been on the international market since 1997 and I can probably count in the tens how many are in the country, despite it being the most fuel-efficient car in the world according to industry standards. The Hummer, on the other hand, one of the most notoriously un-green vehicles in the world, is a crowd favourite. Every day, the average Lagosian spend four hours in traffic because there are too many vehicles on the roads, most of them carrying single passengers. What does that say about our mentality?

I think it says that we don’t care about energy, aren't concerned that global warming could kill us, or choose to ignore that may be the reason the weather’s so hot is because of the gas flaring we’re doing down in the delta. And so I say, till we learn to appreciate the little power we do have, and conserve it, then we don’t need more. (There! I said it, somebody drive a stake through my heretical heart!)

While we’re waiting for the pixie dust that is PHCN, how about pressuring our legislators into passing bills that support energy conservation and efficiency? Like banning substandard appliances (do we even have standards?). Like imposing tolls on vehicles that don’t pass carbon emission standards (do we even have?). Like creating special lanes not unlike the BRT’s for vehicles that hold at least four people so that workers are encouraged to carpool. And making general concessions for good energy practices. I can’t think of anything else now. Maybe you can.

‘Nuff said.

What I've been up to

So I have 3 months till I go serve my country. I spent 3 months twiddling my thumbs at home before I got a temporary job at my cousin's firm. I'm not doing much but I'm learning a lot.

• For one, I got two mentors through IEEE mentoring programme.

And so, I have a sort of development plan and timetable to tide me over till after I complete my Master's degree.

• Secondly, I get to watch my cousins operate in a world that is completely alien to me (business world). One valuable lesson I've learnt: Networking is everything. It doesn't matter how well you do whatever it is you do. It doesn't matter which schools you went to and what degree you graduated with. If you don't network, no one knows and no one cares. And you can't succeed.

That is however, not an excuse to Facebook 24/7. A better social networking site (insofar as careers are concerned) is LinkedIn. You want to be on LinkedIn, trust me. Check out this article for reasons why

• Thirdly, because I'm free a lot, I'm taking advantage of online tutorials to learn stuff like French, C++ and Autocad. I know, uber-geeky. But I need to beef up my CV and get an edge in this post-recession era. And so do you.
• Fourthly, I'm reading my old notes and textbooks. I half-dozed through my last year at University of Lagos and I really need to catch up. One of my goals is to be an authority on energy matters but seeing as I missed all but two of Dr. Akinbuilere's classes on ... (I don't even remember the name of the course, but it was on different power plants and load profiles), I have to read! I'm currently reading Power Plant Engineering by Raja et al. and Energy Management and Conservation Handbook by Krarti et. al. The latter is from Dr. (now Prof.) Okafor's 2nd semester course.
• Fifthly, I'm President of the Leadership Development Programme Alumni Association and I'm half-scared I'm gonna mess it up big time, if the others don't pull their weight. You guys I need you to work with me, please!!! But I'm also a happy for the opportunity of a platform to push for reforms in society, hopefully we'll be able to bring about concrete changes.