Newsletter: Spring 1969
Technical Time is the publication of the students of the Technical Institute, Kenema. This is the second issue of the 1968-69 session. The articles included have been compiled by the editors, Joseph M.C. Lebbie, and Sorie Koroma.
*******************************************************************************
Technical Leadership by P. S. Komeh
In the study of leadership there is a tendency to consider solely the individual and to think purely in terms of training the individual. It must not be forgotten that for the individual to become a practicing leader, he must become a member of a group. In the case of technicians, the work leader is usually the foreman. The foreman with any group should have team spirit, i.e. the foreman should have the courage to instruct and train employees, and stimulate incentives and teamwork. To cultivate team spirit on the site and in the workshop, he should be able to plan ahead to meet instructions, to control the flow of work, and to measure the output. He must also try to simplify processes, avoid wasting time and maintaining standard quality.
Qualifications: The personal quality and technical qualifications required for a craft foreman are: 1) executive ability – The foreman should be generally suitable for supervising, for carrying responsibility, and for executive control. 2) Sense of organization – Besides the question of general and personal suitability, the foreman should have organizing ability. This fundamentally calls for an orderly mind and methodical habits of work. 3) Managerial qualities – In order to arrange in direct sequence the equipment, jobs and duties, it is also necessary for the foreman to manage the workshop, and put into effect those rules and methods carefully devised beforehand. 4) Ability to train – In connection to the managerial qualities which are responsible for getting good results in practice, is the ability of the foreman to impart his acquired knowledge and experience in order to help the workers in carrying out the job correctly. 5) Promotional potentialities – Preliminary to the selection of foremen, it is necessary to determine the degree to which they will aid in the development of the department. 6) Intelligence and Education – Since the foreman’s job is concerned with technical problems and executive duties, it is essential that he should be educated and intelligent as he is the agent between the workers and the management and must be a able to talk and reason with both sides. 7) Experience and Technical Skill – Experience in industry can be misleading and easily overestimated. The selection of a supervisor should be concerned not merely with experience he has already gained, but with his proven ability to profit from and to apply the results of such experience. 8) Energy and General Health – To obtain a high standard of competence, the foreman should enjoy robust health, and present more than average reserves of energy, both physical and mental. 9) Temperment – Success in supervision requires certain qualities in temperament in order to establish capacity for authority and to encourage individual striving and teamwork.
The Possibility of the United States of Africa
This is a very big question, for which there is no easy answer, but which must be discussed one day by all Africans, when
they gather together. In my opinion, I think the answer is a definite “NO.” Let me say to those who might say yes, that
a United States of Africa is the Whole of Africa under a unitary government, absolutely under one head. One thing we
must realize is that no leader wants to take second place to another. Another big reason that must be taken into consideration is that once a country has got its independence, it does not want to be subjected to another country, whatever the case might be. Gentlemen, if any of you say that a United States of Africa is possible, let you not forget these difficulties, such as the differences between the many African languages, the varied customs, styles, and even legal systems, all of which are serious obstacles to unity. I shall be grateful to hear other opinions on this subject in later issues.
Idriss B. Kamara
*******************************************************************************************************
Prince’s Quiz:
1. What musician always sings of death every time he sings to you?
2. What has cities by not houses, forest but not trees, and rivers but no fish?
*******************************************************************************************************
A Day I Would Like To Live Again by Benson Morovia
It has been said that “time and tide wait for no man.” When a particular year has passed, it will never come again, and as year succeed year, so month succeed month. Man must therefore endeavor to spend the last hour in the best way possible, because that hour will never come again. However, in this world of uncertainty, somedays may bring fortune, while others will be full of mishaps. Man, therefore, especially in times of misfortune, thinks back to some days he would like to live again.
To me it is no other day than the 22nd of December, 1950. We regard the 22nd of December in our little village, Gbahama, as a public holiday. We make sacrifices to the gods of the dead. It is always joyous, and this particular day was very joyous. The day appeared in all its glory in Gbahama. It was Saturday. The town was filled with people. Early in the morning, the town crier gave an alarm, warning the inhabitants to disturb themselves. Everybody was soon out of bed. A few minutes afterwards, a sweet drama that pervaded the town reminded me that the wives were busy cooking. After cooking, the women dressed themselves in very rich and expensive attire, while the men rushed to the bush to transform themselves in to several human devils that dance in Gbahama.
About 4 o’clock in the afternoon, we all assembled and at the appearance of the devils, the dancing began. Even though I was a small boy, my companions dressed me as a “NAFALI” (MENDE). It was that day that I distinguished myself as a wonderful, potential dancer. Women loved the way I danced, old men admired me, and my equals envied me. Soon, they commanded everybody to assemble again. Here people were ordered to bring some food. Fortunately enough, I had joined the “Kabudu” society. A member of this society can, if he wants, eat ten people’s shares without getting a square meal. However, I ate a few basins that could satisfy any 5 good eaters.
At night, dances commenced again, and this time I continued dancing until I could move my legs no more. I danced with snakes and did many wonders. It was unnatural that I should attain that height because of my age. Many believe that our god of dances, Yombo, had blessed me and wished that I could become a professional dancer. I was beloved and esteemed. The end of the festival reached and left me in the expectation of seeing the appearance of that day again. But on the following day, I was asked to leave my village for Tiama, where I would be educated. My parents took me from where I had won a great favor, to where I was to start a new life. The activities of that day left an indelible impression on my mind. It was a day that I would like to live again. Nevertheless, the day will never come again, and even if it could, I would not spend it as I did because the old learning which made me known has given way to another.
*******************************************************************************************************
THE ADVANTAGES OP TECHNICAL EDUCATION Tamba V. Wuseni
Technical education leads the way to a complete human environment. Without trained technicians, really a country will not stand on its own. Secondly, without trained tradesmen, the systems of communication and transport will be very poor. Let us imagine that there were no technicians in our beloved country. What do you think would have been the condition of our capital city? Complete darkness, without doubt. Water system? No. Look at the diamonds and the iron that we are depending on today. These would have been useless to our government with no trained technicians to work the mines. I am sure that if a country like Sierra Leone can train up technicians for every post, there will be a great re-
duction in unemployment and a better standard of living for us all. Technical education provides students with unlimited job opportunities. There are many industrial companies existing today in Sierra Leone crying out for tradesmen in all branches. Why not become one of these needed people after your secondary school education. You would have a better
chance of going overseas and of helping the country to progress. To begin this field you need only pass the Institute’s entrance examination. You will have three year's scholarship by the government after which you sit to an exam conducted by London's board of technical higher institutions. Passing this exam will surely lead you to further study and a good job. Brothers, let us come after our secondary education to the Technical Institute for progress and success.
********************************************************************************************************
THE HEN AND THE BUSH-FOIL Reuben Kinglsey Lassayo
Long, long ago, there was a man who had the name Hougbakie and lived in Tongboma. He was a farmer. It happened one year while this man brushed, felled trees, and burned his farm, he began to carry his fowls into the farm. One day, when the hen and the chicken went to pass about in the farm finding some insects to eat, the bush fowl left at the edge of the farm greeted them. When the hen heard this, she invited the bush fowl to come. The bush fowl came, they greeted each other, then the bush fowl said to the hen, "Ah Haa." The hens are quite safe. Then the
hen asked the bush fowl why they were safe. The bush fowl said to the hen that she is in care of someone, and is served by him every day, sleeps in a separate place, and every morning is placed at the back of his head and carried into the farm. The bush-fowl went on, "Look, I don't have a person to do all that for me. I am always in danger in the hands of fearful animals. The hunters and those that set traps in the bush." The hen said to the bush fowl that everyone has his or her own trouble to bear with. The bush fowl asked permission from the hen to go and pass the night with them in the town. As they reached near the town, they heard a voice saying that they want a number of hens to be given to the District Officer who had just arrived. As soon as the hen heard this, she told the bush fowl that he should be taken to the District Officer instead of them. The bush fowl asked the hen not to do so. The hen replied, "You told us last that we are quite safe and that you are the one in danger while staying in the bush. Now you are staying in the town and you will have to bear the punishment that we are entitled to." The bush fowl still begged and begged but the hen didn't listen to him. So early in the morning the bush-fowl was off from the other fowls and given in place of them. That was how the story begins and so it ends. You have to find out what the story teaches.
**************************************************************************************************
Puzzles For Brain Workers by James R. Koroma
(1) When is a sailor wooden??
(2) What is that which divides anything and unites by dividing??
(3) Why is your nose in the middle of your face??
(4) What kind of tables do we cat??
(5) If a farmer raises a dozen acres of wheat in dry weather, what will he raise in rainy weather??
(6) What is longest word in the English language??
(7) What is the happiest letter in the alphabet??
(8) What is half of two and two??
(9) Why is a pretty girl like a locomotive??
(10) What is it that is full of holes and yet holds water??
(11) What is it that has a mouth and cannot eat??
(12) What is it that everybody has seen but will never see again??
(13) On which side of a jug is the handle??
(14) What is the center of gravity??
*******************************************************************************************************
ANSWERS TO PRINCE'S QUIZ PARTS I & II:
(1) mosquito (2) map (3) bat (4) "R"
*******************************************************************************************************
ANSWERS TO KOROMA'S PUZZLES:
(l) When he is aboard. (2) The blades of a pair of scissors.
(3) It is the scenter. (4) vegetables (5) his umbrella
(6) Smile because there is a mile between the first and last letters. (7) “U" because it is always in fun.
(8) three — the half of 2 is 1, plus another two is three
(9) Because she sends off sparks, transports the males, and has a whole train following her.
(10) a sponge (11) a river (12) last night
(13) the outside (14) the letter "V"
**************************************************************************************************
"PEOPLE WORTH MEETING"
I
A tough tall first year student with a rugged face. He is a self- elevated captain and senior prefect who claims to be in control of a certain girl’s secondary school in the East. He is an “actual bomber” with a very big nose and thick lips. He becomes a fervent Muslim during the month of Ramadan, but his own God dies with that same month.
II
Yes, he has one olive green jacket and one native-dyed country cloth-gown. Each time he wears his green jacket to go for evening meals, some people must go without food. Over to you, gentlemen. Watch him the next time you see him in his jacket running down to the dining hall. If you don t overtake him, your plates are not safe. He calls himself “Soul Man” of Kono District though we have found out that he cannot identify a soul piece from rhumba. He is talkative.
III
The tallest student. He looks more like a giraffe. He has one zebra sweater shirt which he never leaves behind. A footballer with a large mouth, he appears to be serious.
IV
Lord, man must live. This is true of that barber who goes smiling round the teachers' quarters with his pair of scissors, comb, and blade, leaving his own hair more bushy than our football field. He does hair cutting for five or ten cents. Very short, with even set of teeth, in his third year.
V
He was a teacher, large, old, and short. A first year student who tries to be a quiet man doing as much to avoid 'eye-fit' from the young ones. Not very ugly, he is intelligent. Alright teacher.
VI
Hey! He is a third-year student. Very boastful, always broke, tall and the Johny Walker of the Institute. His mouth is over size probably because he talks a lot. He does not seem to be paying much attention to his studies. When in town, he claims to be a lecturer. Wish him well in the coming examinations.
VII
That bearded third-year student who is most of the time found in the kitchen probably asking favours from the kitchen staff. No doubt he gets special plates. He goes to town seven times per week. He is another student who tells people that he is a lecturer. He comes from Tiama area. A village around Taiama.
VIII.
It is a fact. He pleads with the authorities concerned to allow him to play in all good teams. Tall, tough, fair complexion, pointed nosed student, the largest with the heaviest voice is really not good footballer. When you meet him, advise him to play better than just fighting on the field. This third-year student has a very good academic standing.
Alright readers, we leave you there after meeting all these higher-ups. We shall have more dignitaries to meet in the next issue.
ANONYMOUS
**************************************************************************************************
PRINCE'S QUIZ PART II.
(3) There is something that flies like a bird, but gives milk to its young. What is this??
(4) What is it that you find only once in a room and twice in every corner??
**************************************************************************************************
Technical Time is the publication of the students of the Technical Institute, Kenema. This is the second issue of the 1968-69 session. The articles included have been compiled by the editors, Joseph M.C. Lebbie, and Sorie Koroma.
*******************************************************************************
Technical Leadership by P. S. Komeh
In the study of leadership there is a tendency to consider solely the individual and to think purely in terms of training the individual. It must not be forgotten that for the individual to become a practicing leader, he must become a member of a group. In the case of technicians, the work leader is usually the foreman. The foreman with any group should have team spirit, i.e. the foreman should have the courage to instruct and train employees, and stimulate incentives and teamwork. To cultivate team spirit on the site and in the workshop, he should be able to plan ahead to meet instructions, to control the flow of work, and to measure the output. He must also try to simplify processes, avoid wasting time and maintaining standard quality.
Qualifications: The personal quality and technical qualifications required for a craft foreman are: 1) executive ability – The foreman should be generally suitable for supervising, for carrying responsibility, and for executive control. 2) Sense of organization – Besides the question of general and personal suitability, the foreman should have organizing ability. This fundamentally calls for an orderly mind and methodical habits of work. 3) Managerial qualities – In order to arrange in direct sequence the equipment, jobs and duties, it is also necessary for the foreman to manage the workshop, and put into effect those rules and methods carefully devised beforehand. 4) Ability to train – In connection to the managerial qualities which are responsible for getting good results in practice, is the ability of the foreman to impart his acquired knowledge and experience in order to help the workers in carrying out the job correctly. 5) Promotional potentialities – Preliminary to the selection of foremen, it is necessary to determine the degree to which they will aid in the development of the department. 6) Intelligence and Education – Since the foreman’s job is concerned with technical problems and executive duties, it is essential that he should be educated and intelligent as he is the agent between the workers and the management and must be a able to talk and reason with both sides. 7) Experience and Technical Skill – Experience in industry can be misleading and easily overestimated. The selection of a supervisor should be concerned not merely with experience he has already gained, but with his proven ability to profit from and to apply the results of such experience. 8) Energy and General Health – To obtain a high standard of competence, the foreman should enjoy robust health, and present more than average reserves of energy, both physical and mental. 9) Temperment – Success in supervision requires certain qualities in temperament in order to establish capacity for authority and to encourage individual striving and teamwork.
The Possibility of the United States of Africa
This is a very big question, for which there is no easy answer, but which must be discussed one day by all Africans, when
they gather together. In my opinion, I think the answer is a definite “NO.” Let me say to those who might say yes, that
a United States of Africa is the Whole of Africa under a unitary government, absolutely under one head. One thing we
must realize is that no leader wants to take second place to another. Another big reason that must be taken into consideration is that once a country has got its independence, it does not want to be subjected to another country, whatever the case might be. Gentlemen, if any of you say that a United States of Africa is possible, let you not forget these difficulties, such as the differences between the many African languages, the varied customs, styles, and even legal systems, all of which are serious obstacles to unity. I shall be grateful to hear other opinions on this subject in later issues.
Idriss B. Kamara
*******************************************************************************************************
Prince’s Quiz:
1. What musician always sings of death every time he sings to you?
2. What has cities by not houses, forest but not trees, and rivers but no fish?
*******************************************************************************************************
A Day I Would Like To Live Again by Benson Morovia
It has been said that “time and tide wait for no man.” When a particular year has passed, it will never come again, and as year succeed year, so month succeed month. Man must therefore endeavor to spend the last hour in the best way possible, because that hour will never come again. However, in this world of uncertainty, somedays may bring fortune, while others will be full of mishaps. Man, therefore, especially in times of misfortune, thinks back to some days he would like to live again.
To me it is no other day than the 22nd of December, 1950. We regard the 22nd of December in our little village, Gbahama, as a public holiday. We make sacrifices to the gods of the dead. It is always joyous, and this particular day was very joyous. The day appeared in all its glory in Gbahama. It was Saturday. The town was filled with people. Early in the morning, the town crier gave an alarm, warning the inhabitants to disturb themselves. Everybody was soon out of bed. A few minutes afterwards, a sweet drama that pervaded the town reminded me that the wives were busy cooking. After cooking, the women dressed themselves in very rich and expensive attire, while the men rushed to the bush to transform themselves in to several human devils that dance in Gbahama.
About 4 o’clock in the afternoon, we all assembled and at the appearance of the devils, the dancing began. Even though I was a small boy, my companions dressed me as a “NAFALI” (MENDE). It was that day that I distinguished myself as a wonderful, potential dancer. Women loved the way I danced, old men admired me, and my equals envied me. Soon, they commanded everybody to assemble again. Here people were ordered to bring some food. Fortunately enough, I had joined the “Kabudu” society. A member of this society can, if he wants, eat ten people’s shares without getting a square meal. However, I ate a few basins that could satisfy any 5 good eaters.
At night, dances commenced again, and this time I continued dancing until I could move my legs no more. I danced with snakes and did many wonders. It was unnatural that I should attain that height because of my age. Many believe that our god of dances, Yombo, had blessed me and wished that I could become a professional dancer. I was beloved and esteemed. The end of the festival reached and left me in the expectation of seeing the appearance of that day again. But on the following day, I was asked to leave my village for Tiama, where I would be educated. My parents took me from where I had won a great favor, to where I was to start a new life. The activities of that day left an indelible impression on my mind. It was a day that I would like to live again. Nevertheless, the day will never come again, and even if it could, I would not spend it as I did because the old learning which made me known has given way to another.
*******************************************************************************************************
THE ADVANTAGES OP TECHNICAL EDUCATION Tamba V. Wuseni
Technical education leads the way to a complete human environment. Without trained technicians, really a country will not stand on its own. Secondly, without trained tradesmen, the systems of communication and transport will be very poor. Let us imagine that there were no technicians in our beloved country. What do you think would have been the condition of our capital city? Complete darkness, without doubt. Water system? No. Look at the diamonds and the iron that we are depending on today. These would have been useless to our government with no trained technicians to work the mines. I am sure that if a country like Sierra Leone can train up technicians for every post, there will be a great re-
duction in unemployment and a better standard of living for us all. Technical education provides students with unlimited job opportunities. There are many industrial companies existing today in Sierra Leone crying out for tradesmen in all branches. Why not become one of these needed people after your secondary school education. You would have a better
chance of going overseas and of helping the country to progress. To begin this field you need only pass the Institute’s entrance examination. You will have three year's scholarship by the government after which you sit to an exam conducted by London's board of technical higher institutions. Passing this exam will surely lead you to further study and a good job. Brothers, let us come after our secondary education to the Technical Institute for progress and success.
********************************************************************************************************
THE HEN AND THE BUSH-FOIL Reuben Kinglsey Lassayo
Long, long ago, there was a man who had the name Hougbakie and lived in Tongboma. He was a farmer. It happened one year while this man brushed, felled trees, and burned his farm, he began to carry his fowls into the farm. One day, when the hen and the chicken went to pass about in the farm finding some insects to eat, the bush fowl left at the edge of the farm greeted them. When the hen heard this, she invited the bush fowl to come. The bush fowl came, they greeted each other, then the bush fowl said to the hen, "Ah Haa." The hens are quite safe. Then the
hen asked the bush fowl why they were safe. The bush fowl said to the hen that she is in care of someone, and is served by him every day, sleeps in a separate place, and every morning is placed at the back of his head and carried into the farm. The bush-fowl went on, "Look, I don't have a person to do all that for me. I am always in danger in the hands of fearful animals. The hunters and those that set traps in the bush." The hen said to the bush fowl that everyone has his or her own trouble to bear with. The bush fowl asked permission from the hen to go and pass the night with them in the town. As they reached near the town, they heard a voice saying that they want a number of hens to be given to the District Officer who had just arrived. As soon as the hen heard this, she told the bush fowl that he should be taken to the District Officer instead of them. The bush fowl asked the hen not to do so. The hen replied, "You told us last that we are quite safe and that you are the one in danger while staying in the bush. Now you are staying in the town and you will have to bear the punishment that we are entitled to." The bush fowl still begged and begged but the hen didn't listen to him. So early in the morning the bush-fowl was off from the other fowls and given in place of them. That was how the story begins and so it ends. You have to find out what the story teaches.
**************************************************************************************************
Puzzles For Brain Workers by James R. Koroma
(1) When is a sailor wooden??
(2) What is that which divides anything and unites by dividing??
(3) Why is your nose in the middle of your face??
(4) What kind of tables do we cat??
(5) If a farmer raises a dozen acres of wheat in dry weather, what will he raise in rainy weather??
(6) What is longest word in the English language??
(7) What is the happiest letter in the alphabet??
(8) What is half of two and two??
(9) Why is a pretty girl like a locomotive??
(10) What is it that is full of holes and yet holds water??
(11) What is it that has a mouth and cannot eat??
(12) What is it that everybody has seen but will never see again??
(13) On which side of a jug is the handle??
(14) What is the center of gravity??
*******************************************************************************************************
ANSWERS TO PRINCE'S QUIZ PARTS I & II:
(1) mosquito (2) map (3) bat (4) "R"
*******************************************************************************************************
ANSWERS TO KOROMA'S PUZZLES:
(l) When he is aboard. (2) The blades of a pair of scissors.
(3) It is the scenter. (4) vegetables (5) his umbrella
(6) Smile because there is a mile between the first and last letters. (7) “U" because it is always in fun.
(8) three — the half of 2 is 1, plus another two is three
(9) Because she sends off sparks, transports the males, and has a whole train following her.
(10) a sponge (11) a river (12) last night
(13) the outside (14) the letter "V"
**************************************************************************************************
"PEOPLE WORTH MEETING"
I
A tough tall first year student with a rugged face. He is a self- elevated captain and senior prefect who claims to be in control of a certain girl’s secondary school in the East. He is an “actual bomber” with a very big nose and thick lips. He becomes a fervent Muslim during the month of Ramadan, but his own God dies with that same month.
II
Yes, he has one olive green jacket and one native-dyed country cloth-gown. Each time he wears his green jacket to go for evening meals, some people must go without food. Over to you, gentlemen. Watch him the next time you see him in his jacket running down to the dining hall. If you don t overtake him, your plates are not safe. He calls himself “Soul Man” of Kono District though we have found out that he cannot identify a soul piece from rhumba. He is talkative.
III
The tallest student. He looks more like a giraffe. He has one zebra sweater shirt which he never leaves behind. A footballer with a large mouth, he appears to be serious.
IV
Lord, man must live. This is true of that barber who goes smiling round the teachers' quarters with his pair of scissors, comb, and blade, leaving his own hair more bushy than our football field. He does hair cutting for five or ten cents. Very short, with even set of teeth, in his third year.
V
He was a teacher, large, old, and short. A first year student who tries to be a quiet man doing as much to avoid 'eye-fit' from the young ones. Not very ugly, he is intelligent. Alright teacher.
VI
Hey! He is a third-year student. Very boastful, always broke, tall and the Johny Walker of the Institute. His mouth is over size probably because he talks a lot. He does not seem to be paying much attention to his studies. When in town, he claims to be a lecturer. Wish him well in the coming examinations.
VII
That bearded third-year student who is most of the time found in the kitchen probably asking favours from the kitchen staff. No doubt he gets special plates. He goes to town seven times per week. He is another student who tells people that he is a lecturer. He comes from Tiama area. A village around Taiama.
VIII.
It is a fact. He pleads with the authorities concerned to allow him to play in all good teams. Tall, tough, fair complexion, pointed nosed student, the largest with the heaviest voice is really not good footballer. When you meet him, advise him to play better than just fighting on the field. This third-year student has a very good academic standing.
Alright readers, we leave you there after meeting all these higher-ups. We shall have more dignitaries to meet in the next issue.
ANONYMOUS
**************************************************************************************************
PRINCE'S QUIZ PART II.
(3) There is something that flies like a bird, but gives milk to its young. What is this??
(4) What is it that you find only once in a room and twice in every corner??
**************************************************************************************************
