Mark Zuckerberg’s two-day visit to Nigeria has done a lot
for the country; it is a pity no government official or agency has tried to tap
into the gains of that visit. He arrived at a time there was much talk about
economic recession, concerns about companies folding up or retrenching staff,
or international investors leaving the country in droves, out of frustration
with the uncertainties in the system.
Zuckerberg’s arrival raised our hopes: co-founder of
Facebook and the 5th richest man in the world, sneaked into Nigeria
to meet with developers and entrepreneurs and to discuss investments in
Nigeria’s growing start-up ecosystem. And for two days, he went round the city
of Lagos, visiting start-ups and interacting with young entrepreneurs.
The way Nigeria is often painted abroad, and in those
travel advisories that foreign ministries issue, you would think Nigeria is
such an unsafe place where kidnappers are permanently on the prowl. Zuckerberg
helped to show the rest of the world that Nigeria is not so bad at all, and
that something really exciting is happening here among the country’s young
population. He had no bodyguards. He did not have to hire a lorry load of
Nigerian policemen to keep watch over him.
He trekked on the streets of Lagos, surrounded by a few
of his hosts. On Wednesday morning, he jogged across the Ikoyi-Lekki bridge. He
ate pounded yam, shrimps, snails (I thought they said he is a vegan!) and
jollof rice (Nigerian jollof (!) not that one from Ghana). His visit went
smoothly.
More investors may well be encouraged to visit Nigeria
too, seeing how confidently a whole $53.7 billion walked freely about in
Nigeria, and he was not stolen or kidnapped.
Zuckerberg’s visit also provided great publicity for
Nigeria’s emerging Silicon Valley, and the young entrepreneurs to whom
Zuckerberg paid compliments. He has already invested in a Nigerian start-up,
Andela, and he has made friends with other young Nigerians, the guys behind
Jobberman and C-Creation Hub (CcHUB) and so many others. Zuckerberg cut the
picture throughout his visit of a true inspirational figure. His simplicity and
humility was impressive. He kept going about in a T-shirt, and interacted
freely with everyone he met.
Many young Nigerians can learn from his example: the way
some people whose biggest possession is a laptop sometimes carry their
shoulders in the sky, if they were to be half of what Zuckerberg is, they won’t
just claim that they are voltrons or overlords, they will look for more
intimidating labels.
But Mark Zuckerberg, who is just 32, shows that it is not
all about money, or influence, character matters. There is no doubt that his
hosts were also impressed with him. And
that probably explains the protest that greeted the attempt by CNN
International and American artiste, Tyrese Gibson, to refer to the visit as
Zuckerberg’s visit to sub-Saharan Africa. Young Nigerians kept shouting back
that Zuckerberg is in Nigeria, not sub-Saharan Africa! They wanted the
publicity for their country.
Inspired by
Zuckerberg’s visit as the tech entrepreneurs in Nigeria’s Silicon Valley may
have been, the Nigerian government should see in the visit, and the excitement
that it has generated, the need to provide greater support for technological
innovation in the country. There are many young Nigerians out there who are
gifted, hardworking and innovative.
They belong to the 21st Century. They are
aggressive. They want to operate at the international level and become
superstars. They have ideas. They are ready and willing. The basic thing that
government owes them is to provide an enabling environment for their talents to
flower. It has taken a few young men and ladies to bring Mark Zuckerberg to
Nigeria. There are other young Nigerians doing wonderful things in other
sectors of the economy who can save this country if they are given the chance.
There is also a large army of untapped and yet-to-be-discovered talents, whose
future we cannot afford to waste. Investment in education will help. Uncommon
sense will make things happen.
Zuckerberg’s
visit also did a lot for Nollywood. He described Nollywood as“a national
treasure”. That statement should be framed and sent to every major agency in
the private and public sectors in Nigeria.
He may not yet have invested in Nollywood, but there was
no doubt that the members of Nollywood and other celebrities who met with him
appreciated their being recognized by one of the most successful young men of
the 21st century. I watch Nollywood movies, but I don’t think I have
ever seen those Nollywood stars who met with Zuckerberg smile that heartily and
broadly - not even in the movies.
The ones who did not bare their 32, were staring at the
Facebook ambassador in that typical Nigerian fashion: “ah, see money, Mark, abi make I send you script make you sponsor?”
The way the visit went, if Mark Zuckerberg had wanted a
Nigerian wife, or girlfriend, he would have been met at every turn with echoes
of “Yes, Yes, Yes…come and hold something.”But he is already married. So, don’t
worry, Priscilla Chan (Mark’s wife), your husband is safe, Nigerian ladies will
only admire him, they don’t mean any harm, and they won’t initiate him into
coded runs. But of course you trust him
- you know he is not Justin Bieber.But money is good oh. After money, it is
money. Ha, Ori lonise, eda ko la’ropin o,
Edumare funmi ni money…
Altogether, it was a great business outing for Zuckerberg
and Facebook. Over 16 million Nigerians are on Facebook, it is the largest and
most influential social media platform in the country; on a daily basis, over 7
million Nigerians log onto the website. Many more are on whatsapp, another
Facebook acquired platform. With Zuckerberg’s visit, that number is bound to
grow.
The strategic friendships and partnerships that he has
been able to build is a demonstration of power and influence: Facebook is on
the ground in Nigeria, the most populous country in Africa, and he has taken that
further by visiting Kenya - look beyond the T-shirt, this young American
billionaire is building constituencies and spheres of influence across Africa;
he is exploring new markets and staying ahead of the competition in a continent
that many other investors may overlook, or desert for reasons of inconvenience.
As a business strategy, Mark Zuckerberg’s exploration of
the African market is brilliant. It may be the subject someday of a Management,
Leadership and Marketing Class. Businesses must innovate, innovate and innovate
and the best way to do that is through people.
Nigerian entrepreneurs have a lot to learn in this
regard: the mindset of the business leader is the soul of strategy. There are
too many thermostatic leaders in the Nigerian business environment, and that is
why at the slightest confrontation with hard choices, they close shop and run.
Here is Mark Zuckerberg, in the face of proven recession, he wants to support
start-ups and SMEs in Nigeria; at a time others are fleeing, he is coming into
Nigeria and Africa. He is smart. Wicked problems in a business environment
should inspire genius, change and innovation. That is what leadership is all
about.
Beyond business and culture, there was a small political
side to the Zuckerberg visit. The Facebook CEO had said Facebook will promote
the use of Hausa Language, some reports indicated he had said he loves Hausa
language, and then a storm followed, resulting in a hot, healthy spat between
two friends, colleagues and brothers of mine, Femi Fani-Kayode (@realFFK)and Reno Omokri(@renoomokri), with one claiming that
Americans are promoting Northern hegemony (John Kerry, now Zuckerberg and
Facebook), and the other saying it is not a big deal, and in the exchange, we
got some lectures about Nigeria’s ethnic and hegemonic politics.
On Wednesday at a town hall meeting, Zuckerberg more or
less edited himself by saying “I am glad we support Hausa, and we are planning
on supporting more languages soon.” He didn’t specify what those other
languages are. I hope he knows Nigeria has over 400 languages and ethnic
groups, and they all form part of the Nigerian Facebook community.
He should tread carefully here, because I am not too sure
Facebook can adopt Yoruba language before Igbo, or vice versa, without a social
media war on its hands, and if Facebook chooses to accommodate the three major
languages in Nigeria, it could be confronted with a major battle over minority
rights on its platform. We are like that in this country, Mark.
But the
difference is that Mark Zuckerberg is not a politician, he has voted only once (in
2008) and he doesn’t make political statements, except when business interests
are at stake. Eyin boys, FFK and
Reno, Zuckerberg doesn’t really care about the local fights we fight: he wants
to create new markets and if promoting Hausa on Facebook will create more
customers in that part of Nigeria, so be it.
And in case religion is part of that politics, it doesn’t
concern him either, he was born Jewish, but he is a self-declared atheist. If
he worships any religion, it is the religion of Facebook. In Nigeria, he has
Igbos, Yorubas and other Nigerians working for him. (https://techpoint.ng/2016/08/31/nigerians-working-with-mark-zuckerberg-facebook/).
He is interested in their intellect not where they come
from. One more thing: The Nigerian
government snubbed him or did he snub our government? When he got to Kenya, he
was received at the airport by the Cabinet Secretary of Information and
Communications and later given a delicious lunch of fish, semo and soup(https://techpoint.ng/2016/09/01/mark-zuckerberg-in-kenya/), no
Nigerian government official offered him common sachet water and yet he was here
to create jobs and markets!We shouldn’t frighten him away with our politics!
The good news, though,is that he is a humanist even if a
secular humanist:End of story. Thank you Marky, for the
visit and for giving us a good story to tell.
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