Technology Independence Is Invaluable to Every Country
Edward Snowden, a former NSA contractor, said, “I, sitting at my desk, certainly had the authority to wiretap anyone, from you, or your accountant, to a federal judge, to even the President.”
The recent pager explosion in Lebanon and Syria, which tragically killed and injured thousands, serves as a stark reminder of a position I’ve long held. You are not independent until you attain technological independence. It is unlikely that you would be in complete control of your affairs if the devices used to run them were researched, developed, and produced by a third party outside your borders. Thousands of Pagers used by the Lebanese armed group, Hizb Allah, suddenly exploded across Lebanon and Syria. So far, there have been eleven deaths and four thousand injured, some very serious, and they are in life-threatening conditions as of the time of writing this article. All fingers are pointed toward Israel.
The mystery of how an artificial country, Israel, suddenly appears in the Middle East, sandwiched by people who don’t look, think, worship, eat, or drink like it, will likely remain unsolved. Israel has categorically laid claim on lands occupied by people who look Middle Eastern. Most of its inhabitants are Europeans who moved there from Europe. It looks like nothing Middle Eastern. The Tora and the Bile say this is our land and our land it must be. It is the only country that identifies itself by its ethnicity. The Jewish State. Its creation relocated Palestinians who have lived in the land for centuries. It started with Zionism—the concept of basing the values and laws of the land on the Jewish worldview. You can be ethnically Arab, but your worldview, culture, and tradition must align with the Jewish one. The displaced Arabs, with indignation, fought tooth and nail over the lands taken from them and handed to the Jews by the British Empire, which is now what we call Israel. That is the story of the Israeli-Palestinian-Arab struggle in a nutshell.
Are our iPhones, iMac, androids, and other gadgets next?
Israel does not have the know-how or geopolitical reach, nor does it wield the power to spy on agencies and countries on such a large scale. Pagers. Taiwanese brand. Puppet state. Thousands of pagers exploded in Lebanon, killing scores, even children, and wounding thousands of others. The Pagers is a Taiwanese brand, a quintessential puppet state of the U.S. Taiwan, however, asserts that a European country produced the Pagers under its brand. Gold Apollo, the Taiwanese company that manufactures the brand AP924 Pager models, says it subcontracted to a company in Europe, and about 5,000 of that batch went to Lebanon. It also claims that the pagers were manufactured with third-party components. It now boils down to one direction: the United States and the West. The West has not said much since the incident; its vassal state in the heart of the Middle East has not said anything either. Such synchronical reaction bears similitude to the ongoing Gaza genocide.
Gold Apollo’s Pager Model AP924
A power outside Israel that has control over manufacturers, distribution lines, and geopolitical influence can only be the source of influencing a manufacturer to malignly install explosives on preordered equipment and give the killer button control to a third country. Israel cannot do this alone. It doesn’t have the capability. The incident fits the traditional definition of terrorism. However, the victim in this case is the terrorists, whilst the alleged perpetrator is the saint. If you are not tired of this narrative, I sure am. Imagine the scenario was the reverse. Do you know how many breaking news stories would have come out of Washington, D.C., Brussels, and London? The U.S. fleet of warships and aircraft carriers would have begun sailing towards Lebanese waters despite Israel being an independent country separate from the U.S.
Disappointingly, not a single African country is truly tech-independent. This incident has shown that we cannot rely on foreign tech. Every independent country should be in control of its technology, especially those used by its government and public services. Every action our leaders, governors, ministers, and over two hundred million Nigerians take on their iPhones, Samsungs, WhatsApp, Instagram, Snapchat, emails, and laptops is under the watchful eye of those who created these technologies. Our dependence on foreign technology is one hundred per cent, which also means that we are one hundred per cent dependent on foreign countries. This must change.
What makes us think those who created our technology don’t have backdoors? From the moment our leaders board their convoy of foreign cars, Boeing or Airbus private jets, and chitchat on WhatsApp, voice calls, or SMS, someone at NSA or other Western agencies has recorded their exchange. Our banks, financial institutions, and government databases rely on foreign technology—that is not true independence. The West’s hunger for dominance is unrelenting. It wants to maintain the status quo against the rise of China, Russia, and BRICS. For the first time in centuries, its hegemony is no longer written in stone; the new guys are fiercely pressing on with a multipolar reality.
Who knows what kind of blackmail they have on Tinubu, given that they can listen and watch every move he makes? It doesn’t end with Tinubu; most African presidents face the same dilemma. Would you suddenly stop using foreign technology? If so, how would you communicate with your people and the various arms of government? Therefore, the question arises: how can Africa prevent eavesdropping? Rethink and develop indigenous technology to centralise your intelligence and government interactions. Without this, you will forever remain the eavesdropped and dependent states acting as countries.
This was not an isolated case. The US-powered Mossad has revealed the depth of surveillance hidden in the technology we use. They can compromise, track, and manipulate your phone, data, and every movement. You are no longer just a user, but a walking target (timebomb). The line between technology and surveillance is obliterated. Trust in Western technology is on trial.
No country is truly independent until it becomes technologically independent.
By Ikechukwu ORJI
