Publisher's Synopsis
PREFACEI remember my uncle. An ex-soldier and one eyed king in the land of the blind he was a half baked teacher of sorts in the community. Though he went to school, he did not stay long enough to pass the first school living examination. He could hardly spell his own name talk less of being able to read newspapers.All around him were illiterate. As far as western education was concerned, they only knew where to put the food in their hand!My uncle fed on exploiting their ignorance. He sold them dummies on many fronts. For instance, whenever they received letters from their sons and daughters in townships, they called my uncle to read the letters to them. He would gladly pretend to read only to use common sense in guessing what the writer wanted to say or was saying and tell it to the people with embellishments.Unfortunately for him, my grandfather was in phone communication with my immediate father before Dad's letter reached the village. My Dad assured grandpa that the envelop would include a certain sum of money. So when the letter came, my uncle was summoned to read the letter. Unknown to him, grandpa had opened the letter and removed the money. When my uncle "read" the letter, he neither mentioned the enclosure nor what it was meant for. He only said the author sent his greetings and asked for update on the village politics!Certainly, when people are not educated, they become easy candidates of manipulation and exploitation.The easier they can be manipulated, the more they can be used as dispensable to the detriment of mankind.This book takes a look at the consequences of illiteracy in African and Asian countries. It adduces facts to show that the western world cannot be insulated from the negative impacts some which are already being seen in the unmitigated economic migrations plaguing the First World today.
