Unicorn (a startup worth at least $1 billion) is the new leopard for the ikoro! Peerless Chinua Achebe would’ve written: “the bell rings, the markets open, the young men and women on t-shirts are gathered. It is a new festival in a market no one can see, but powered by computers with billions of naira from traders from all over the world.
“Nwangele, the CEO of the unicorn, the new leopard for initiation for that bell ringing is here. It has long been coming since Nwangele created that API in his college dorm in Nsukka. Ring louder, the fans cheer because this is a better way to enter the new ikoro: the Nigerian stock exchange.”
Unicorn is the new leopard; prepare for the next initiation.
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In Igbo Nation, killing a leopard qualifies one to “enter” the ikoro, the huge wooden drum that could be the size of a room. In ancestral Igbo, it was mainly for warriors who battled and returned home with symbols of victory like human skulls of enemies.
Chinua Achebe described it in many of his works, illustrating a time of urgency or uncommon events. Whenever it sounds, the villagers are required to pay attention [call it your modern emergency alarm] with everyone making it to village square unless it is expected apriori like during festivals.
Today, we’re updating that ordinance, replacing the leopard with a “unicorn”, a private tech company worth at least $1 billion. Build one, we will ask the elders to honour you! Yes, Unicorn is the new leopard young people must kill to go to the ikoro.
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