Few years ago in the heat of the recent Nigerian recession, I stood to begin a presentation in a Lagos bank Board meeting on technology-enabled business re-engineering with specific focus on cost. After a very generous introduction from the Executive Director who anchored my presence, one of the Board members asked me: “My son, why have none of you Nigerians in America created Google or Facebook in Lagos…?”
The business leader went on to explain how Apple had enough cash at hand to curtail our severe (dollar) forex paralysis then. He concluded, if one of you has created Apple in Lagos, this forex issue would have been dealt with. Simply, the Central Bank of Nigeria would get dollars from the Nigeria Apple [that Apple will have tons of dollars outside Nigeria].
Sure – it is not that easy to create Apple. But the business leader has a point. And I do not want to make excuses on what has not been done. The fact is that we have NOT done it despite the obvious reasons anyone can put forward on the near impossibility of creating Apple in present Lagos and Nigeria in general. But for today, the simple fact is this: we have not done it. Period.
Tekedia Mini-MBA edition 16 (Feb 10 – May 3, 2025) opens registrations; register today for early bird discounts.
Tekedia AI in Business Masterclass opens registrations here.
Join Tekedia Capital Syndicate and invest in Africa’s finest startups here.
As Senegal descended into exit with no African country making it into the knock-out phase, my mind flashed back to that Lagos encounter. As Africans, we rise as others: good academic grades, success in youth global football events, excellent youthful musical vibes, etc. But that is all – we exit the stage despite our bravadoes at the youthful phases. Yes, our Western compatriots would extend their youthful excellence into late ages while we fizzle. This is very shameful because there is no exception here, across most sectors. You can argue that we are not well prepared to World Cup events. But you cannot neglect the fact that we have won youth FIFIA tournaments! So, I do not agree on that preparation nexus. There is something fundamentally wrong somewhere researchers must dig out.
Nigeria has been winning youth football events since 1985. Yet, we have not made any impact in the World Cup. Ghana has done the same; yet nothing significant in the main event that matters. It is the same thing – we do well in MIT, Harvard, etc but upon graduation, the very people we actually did better in classes shape the industries for us. I have no answers but you can blame whatever you want to blame. But the fact is the fact.
I am not a social scientist but this is troubling – how can you get five countries to World Cup and none makes into the knockout stage. Yet, some of these countries excel in the junior tournaments. What is the issue?
---
Register for Tekedia Mini-MBA (Feb 10 - May 3, 2025), and join Prof Ndubuisi Ekekwe and our global faculty; click here.
I am looking for the answer Ndubusi. Maybe we just don’t know how to work together. I don’t know the answer. No proof.
We do well at the begining of most journey which i agree with you but we are distracted by our little success just like in football we fail to deliver in last quarter of the field so we miss the goals we are most content with the accolades we get from dribblings and forget it does not change the scoreline.
We are content with 1st class degrees that does not impact on the socioeconomics of our home country. India celebrate there juggards and not the grade of degrees. We have to priotise innovations above degrees we have Trust the ingenuity of ABA OWERRI JOS POTISKUM KANO OTIGBA and let the scholars work with them so that our dribblings in the labs and classroom can result into the goals we need. Thanks for already taking and blending the genius of Otigba into your system