The season is upon us and we observe carefully as 7 countries take to the ballot to decide their respective futures. The state of African politics remains uncertain as underdevelopment, corruption, and weak democratic institutions remain the root cause stifling growth on the continent. On a positive note, Zambia has managed to embark on a positive economic and political trajectory after Hakainde Hichilema beat then-incumbent leader Edgar Lungu to become the new progressive leader in 2021. Among the many positive outcomes that have emanated from Hakainde's Presidency, one of the most impressive developments is the appreciation of the value of the Zambian Kwacha. It became the best-performing currency in the world and strengthened its value against the US dollar.

Apart from providing insights, this article is faced with the question of whether the election outcomes of these 7 countries will usher in a new dawn, or whether they will maintain the gloomy status quo in these countries. Here are the 7 countries heading toward elections in 2023.

1. Nigeria

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has just delivered the outcome of the highly disputed elections in Nigeria. Bola Tinubu is set to become the new President of Nigeria after an election that was considered a sham and fraud by all opposition leaders. Many progressives and youths were rallying behind Peter Obi and it is clear that this outcome will anger many who feel their democratic right to vote was violated.

S.

@saratu

Peter Obi has run a hell of a campaign. Never seen anything like it.

1,815

6:09 PM • Feb 22, 2023

2. Zimbabwe

Zimbabwe is one of the many African countries cursed with the traditional two-dominant party system. Though a multi-party system is permitted, the struggle for power since the early 2000s has always been between ZANU-PF and MDC, of which the latter has reincarnated itself into what is known as Citizen's Coalition for Change  (CCC) led by Advocate Nelson Chamisa. One of the major concerns at present is regarding the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC). In recent years all evidence has pointed to the fact that ZEC is a weapon of the state. Will things be different this time around?

However there is a plot twist, someone new just arrived at the party. Robert Chapman, a Presidential candidate who seems to be capturing the hearts of many social media personnel through his ability to articulate policy through his fine American accent has joined the race for power.

Hopewell Chin’ono

@daddyhope

It is obvious that Robert Chapman will not win the 2023 presidential election.

But what is it that has made him a talking point with people who are considering him as an option?

It is how he has been able to articulate policy and serious issues affecting citizens with clarity

1,186

8:33 PM • Feb 27, 2023

Zimbabwe is set to head to the polls in July/August. The president serves a 5-year term, having been elected through a majoritarian, 2-round system, the second round taking place if no candidate receives a majority in the first round.

3. Democratic Republic of Congo

After 18 years of brutal rule under Joseph Kabila, it was only in 2019 that the Democratic Republic of Congo underwent its first peaceful transition of power even though Joseph Kabila reluctantly let go.  The current president, Felix Tshisekedi has announced that he intends on running for the second term. The question remains if defeated, will he resort to using arbitrary force to remain in power like his predecessor, or continue to build a culture of letting go once defeated?

He runs against  Moise Katumbi who is a businessman and former governor of the Democratic Republic of Congo. Martin Fayulu who claimed victory in the 2023 elections will also be contesting to become President in the upcoming elections. According to the Independent National Electoral Commission (CENI), the election date set for general elections is 20 December 2023.

4. Gabon

Did you know, the incumbent President of Gabon has a punk music album he released in the year, 1977 and the album was produced by Charles Bobbit. Anyway back to politics (lol).

When faced with the reality of existing in a country with a presidency that has only possessed one surname (Ondimba) since 1967, one can only view elections as a futile formality intended to make authoritarian rulers feel legitimate. To worsen the predicament, the president can serve and contest for 7 terms, having been elected under a first-round, plurality voting system. This means Ondimba can win the election regardless of how many votes he receives. Politics seems to be a family matter in Gabon, as the current President Ali Bongo Ondimba took over from his father in 2009. Political opposition leaders are subject to torture and repression in order to maintain the family's reigns of power.

5. Liberia

Interesting fact. The incumbent President of Liberia is the only African to be awarded a FIFA Player of the Year award. He received the award along with the Ballon dÓr in the year 1995. It is important to note the President's football credentials because it is these credentials that placed him in the limelight and paved his way to be known as the great humanitarian who was ready to transform Liberia. Sadly, with concerns of corruption and repression towards opponents, George Weah might just be a subtle and discreet version of the predecessors he campaigned against.

Perhaps what this election will reveal is whether the people of Liberia can put up with another term with George Weah, and if not, if he is ready to let go of power as yet. The National Elections Commission has set the election date to 10 October 2023. Liberia uses a two-round system and the President elected to serve a 6-year term

6. Sierra Leone

Incumbent President Julius Madaaa Bio recently abolished the previous first-past-the-post system and introduced the Proportional Representation system just as the country is gearing toward the election in June (suspicious). Bio will be going against Samura Kamara who has some considerable experience with the public office having served as central bank Governor, Finance Minister, and Foreign Minister. This will be the second time the two political protagonists will face each other at the polls, Bio having won while running as the main opposition leader back in 2018.

7. Sudan

Arguably, Sudan might be gearing up for an election that will serve as a defining moment that will determine its future. After the 2019 military coup which saw then-President Omar Al-Bashir being deposed, a military council has presided over the affairs of governance.

However before the elections can be conducted, a constitutional convention is yet to be held where a permanent constitution will be drafted and the convention will also address the electoral system which will be adopted for the election schedule in July 2023. Top Tunnel will keep readers updated on the developments of the convention.

From: https://toptunnel.xyz/what-can-chatgpt-ai-do-for-teachers/

Photo by Markus Winkler / Unsplash

We keep on hearing about this ChatGPT. Some are hoping that it is a fad that will go away and others claim that it may take their jobs away. It's not going away and I don’t think your job is going away either.

What is the technology behind ChatGPT?

It is basically a powered large generative large language model (GLLM). Under the hood is an updated version of OpenAI's GPT-3. It has taken the world by storm with its ability to generate human-like text. ChatGPT broke records by reaching a million users in under a week. These models are trained on massive amounts of data and can perform various language tasks such as translation, summarization, and even question-answering. With such impressive capabilities, it's no surprise that people are excited about the impact these models could have on various fields, including education.

Drawbacks

One of the biggest limitations of GLLMs is that they are not perfect and can still make mistakes. They are trained on massive amounts of data, but the data is not always accurate or unbiased, leading to the model inheriting these biases. For example, the model may generate sexist or racist text, which could have serious consequences if it's used in education. The tools generate confident sounding outputs, you discern if it is true or accurate. It's essential to be aware of these biases and to take steps to address them.

Another limitation is that these models have a limited understanding of the world. They are trained on a vast amount of data, but the information they are exposed to during training is still limited, in ChatGPT’s case it is a public dataset that reaches 2021. This means that they may not be able to answer more current questions or do tasks based on your private internal systems. Strides are being made to integrate this technology with the current web, internal documents, and other APIs to enhance the experience. For example, a language model trained on scientific text may not be able to answer questions about the arts or humanities.

What Now?

Given these limitations, it's important to not simply rely on these models to solve all of our problems in education. Yes, I know it has been passing exams, but that just means it is time to adapt. Instead, we need to re-evaluate our approach to education and consider how these models can be used to complement and enhance traditional pedagogical methods. These models can be used as a tool to aid in the teaching process, but they should not replace teachers.

Potential Uses

One potential use case for GLLMs in education is personalized learning assistance. These models can generate very good writing that adheres to all the grammatical rules and structures of writing. Each student has their own level of writing skill so it would be nice to have an assistant tailored to the individual needs and abilities of each student. For example, if a student is struggling to come up with a decent intro for an essay, the model can generate a decent starting point that can be edited further. This can lead to a more personalized and effective educational experience for students.

Another potential use case is the creation of educational resources. GLLMs can assist teachers in the creation of lesson plans, study materials, and assessments. This can save teachers a lot of time and effort, allowing them to focus on more critical aspects of education, such as interaction and feedback with students. Furthermore, the model can generate resources that are tailored to the needs of specific groups of students, such as English language learners or students with disabilities.

Language learning is another area where GLLMs can have a significant impact. These models can generate highly realistic examples of how a language is used in different contexts, helping students to understand and master a new language more quickly. Educators again can also generate exercises and assessments to help students practice their language skills. This can lead to a more engaging and effective language learning experience for students.

Don’t Ban It!

History is full of those people that just love to be left behind. You do not want to be that laggard that is stuck in its own ways because of fear. Artificial intelligence is a bit of a mislabel in my opinion. These advancements can only be assistants that are prompted by another human. They do not have a mind of their own. 

To wrap it up, the impact of generative large language models on education is exciting, but it's crucial to keep in mind their limitations and not panic!