The last one week in Nigerian social media has been a blur of activity. On one hand, we had the founder of Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg coming into Nigeria unannounced and taking everyone by surprise. On a negative note, we had a newly opened small business demolished by the Lagos state Government because the landlord of the property they rented allegedly refused to pay a large sum of money for a commercial permit. I will not go into this now as this is not the subject of my post.
Most of all know the way Nigeria works. A few people are born into money and influence, some others form relationships that get them juicy contracts through which they get rich and some are just plain criminals. There is also another category who by sheer sweat have built their businesses from the ground up. They were unknowns when they took the plunge, but today some of them are industry leaders. A lot of us young people look up to some of these leaders. They inspire us to make better choices, to make something out of nothing and make a name for ourselves.
There should be no doubt in anyone’s mind right now about the economic hardships in the country. Prices of everything are going through the roof and it doesn’t look like abating any time soon. The logical thing to do is to look inwards and create businesses that not only remove our dependence on imports, but also provide opportunities to export and bring in foreign exchange. We also need to find solutions to our infrastructural challenges and the senseless obstacles that face our businesses.
In an ideal situation, the government at all levels should be interested in supporting the progress of young businesses. However, the reality is that the majority of our governments are only interested in protecting their offices, their pockets and the interests of their friends, family and party members. Most of the talk about government encouraging development is just audio. We dey hear am but we no dey see am.
A good number of young Nigerians are interested in solving these problems. Some are also interested in bringing existing solutions into the country and adapting them to our peculiar business climate. Sadly it has not been an easy ride but some people are still doing their best to make it work regardless. Their’s is to do their business without breaking any laws and soldier on inspite of the conditions.
These people are the leaders of the revolution that is coming. The “establishment” still thinks they are in control of the Nigerian story. They think that the amount of influence and money they control will be enough to maintain the status quo and keep things moving in their favour. They are in for a shock!
Young people are working on solutions to every problem imaginable; from agriculture, to communication, to infrastructure. Young minds are thinking up ways to do things differently and improve the quality of life of the average Nigerian. These young minds are united only by their desire to create something new and provide solutions to our existing problems. Whether government respects them or not, whether their offices are demolished or not, whether the banks loan them money or not; they just keep going.
Whether Nigeria chooses to invest in them or not, the young inventor from the village with great technical skill will soon find funding for his idea to disrupt the power sector. The sixteen year old computer whizz with the next big app will find a mentor abroad willing to go all the way. The young people of Nigeria will change the way things work and then we will see where the real power and influence is.
Sadly by the time all this happens, the establishment will be scrambling to catch up. Banks that refused to provide loans will be begging these businesses to open accounts. Governments that did not provide an enabling environment will be shamelessly looking for ways to get revenue from these businesses. Some of our so called heavyweights in financial terms will be exposed for the frauds that they are.
I’m not fooled into thinking that this will be easy or will happen overnight. We young people we need to rally together and build ourselves up. We need to encourage one another to keep finding solutions to these problems and to follow through on our ideas. No noise, no fanfare, just hard work.
I see a new dawn for Nigeria, can you see it too?
The revolution will be no re-run brothers; The revolution will be live.
The force be with you
