The images of Mark Zuckerberg jogging on Lekki Bridge and walking with no bodyguards would take a while to get erased in the minds of many Nigerians who knew he strolled into Lagos just like that.
When I read the comments on Nairaland and on Twitter, I began to have an idea of how many young Nigerians think about – and it has nothing to do with Africa’s tech revolution.
“See $58 billion walking freely in Yaba and no one could kidnap him,” someone said. Another alluded to the fact that many Nigerian politicians blare sirens everywhere even though they don’t a fraction of what Mark was worth.
On the other hand, Mark also showed an obvious aspect of billionaires that few individuals take seriously. He answered questions freely from everyone. Furthermore, by wearing same type of t-shirts all through, the vanity of material things was brought into sharp perspective. Even though many Nigerian youths and their counterparts in Kenya who are also enjoying his presence are fixated on him as their startup role models, billionaires are also simpletons – they are simple people but the only difference is their true worth which is the fruition of their creative capabilities.
Google also attempted to snatch some headlines from Mark with its Nigerian head’s chat with Audu Maikori. Mark aside, the ecosystem was shocked when Apple was ordered to pay 13 billion Euros as tax With Mark gone, smart Nigerian innovators would now be motivated to seek success by leveraging on existing and forthcoming opportunities one of which would be the innovation hubs to be created with Zinox’s $25 million fund. Others may also be seeking new investors, just like Egyptian taxi app Ousta did this week.
By the way, if you are seeking funds for your startup, check out this guest post on foolproof method to do that. Also check out our complete review of Infinix Hot 4.
Interestingly and unsurprisingly, I found the silence of Nigerian government regarding Mark’s visit to be a major issue of concern considering the critical roles it has to play to develop the ecosystem. A perfect instance was its interference with remittance – an action it reversed this week – which also coincided with a featured piece I wrote on the important lessons on cashless payment and mobile money from Zimbabwe. Maybe they weren’t invited to the party; maybe they had bigger fish to fry – like fixing the economy. Or maybe, just maybe, the minister never knew who Mark Zuckerberg was.
