The BusinessDay CEO Magazine May 2017
Create successful ePaper yourself
Turn your PDF publications into a flip-book with our unique Google optimized e-Paper software.
MARK<br />
ESSIEN<br />
LEADING<br />
MILLENNIALS<br />
ON<br />
ENTRE-<br />
PRENEURSHIP<br />
//<br />
LEADERSHIP-<br />
CONVERSATION<br />
WITH A<br />
TOP<br />
AFRICAN<br />
MONARCH<br />
AFRICA’S<br />
LORD OF<br />
E-COMMERCE<br />
eyo bassey<br />
PAYPORTE.COM’s <strong>CEO</strong> MAKES PROFIT IN RECESSION<br />
BY LEVERAGING ON A MILLENNIAL CENTRIC<br />
INVESTMENT<br />
THE MENTALITY OF WINNING (PART 1) BY AUSTIN OKERE<br />
MAY <strong>2017</strong>
CON<br />
ON TENT<br />
ENT CON<br />
TENT<br />
04<br />
17<br />
ENT<br />
32<br />
MEET<br />
MARK Essien<br />
EYO<br />
BASSEY<br />
23<br />
Design/Illustration: www.getupinc.com<br />
Content: <strong>BusinessDay</strong> & GetupInc<br />
07<br />
<strong>The</strong> Mentality<br />
of Winning (Part 1)<br />
the<br />
impostor<br />
Syndrome<br />
A DAY IN<br />
THE LIFE OF<br />
OMAWUNMMI<br />
Copyright, <strong>2017</strong><br />
CONTENT
<strong>The</strong> <strong>BusinessDay</strong> <strong>CEO</strong>, <strong>May</strong> <strong>2017</strong> | 03<br />
MEET<br />
MARK Essien<br />
Since establishing Hotels.ng in 2013, Mark has overseen the growth of hotel listings on<br />
the platform from just over 100 at launch to over 7,000 hotels in 21 regions of Nigeria.<br />
Hotels.ng had millions of transactions in 2014 alone.
<strong>The</strong> <strong>BusinessDay</strong> <strong>CEO</strong>, <strong>May</strong> <strong>2017</strong> | 04<br />
MARK’s<br />
since<br />
2013.<br />
Hotels.Ng has carved a name for itself not only in the country but on the continent. Let us<br />
know your journey to Hotels.Ng?<br />
I started of as a software developer, looking for something I could build that would have a<br />
huge impact on the African continent. At the time, it was impossible to book hotels online, and<br />
I thought to myself - why? This exists all over the world, why don't we have it, in spite of all the<br />
hotels in the country? So I sat down and built it. And people liked it and started using it - we<br />
gained traction and were able to build a business out of the idea.<br />
You have a keen interest in startups and are known to give solicited/unsolicited advice<br />
especially on social media. Is this influenced by your experiences when you were building<br />
your business or do you have a knack for these things?<br />
I believe that startups and businesses built on technology are among the most important<br />
things we can do as humans - we push the boundaries of knowledge, while at the same time<br />
making things easier and more convenient for people. I'm very passionate about startups and<br />
see them as an important developmental tool for our country.
<strong>The</strong> <strong>BusinessDay</strong> <strong>CEO</strong>, <strong>May</strong> <strong>2017</strong> | 05<br />
...once I<br />
accept that<br />
the entire<br />
journey will be<br />
challenging, I<br />
see every<br />
challenge as<br />
being an<br />
intrinsic part<br />
of the road,<br />
and thus not<br />
disturbing...<br />
Mark Essien<br />
Photo: Techpoint.ng
<strong>The</strong> <strong>BusinessDay</strong> <strong>CEO</strong>, <strong>May</strong> <strong>2017</strong> | 06<br />
In 2015, Mark made it<br />
to Forbes Africa’s 30<br />
under 30 rising stars<br />
to watch in Africa, as<br />
the company had<br />
thousands signed on<br />
the platform.<br />
In the course of your career, what has<br />
been the most challenging moment and<br />
how do you deal with those generally?<br />
I believe that in building a business, every<br />
moment is challenging. <strong>The</strong> challenging<br />
moment of today will seem like a small<br />
thing tomorrow - for that reason, I tend not<br />
pick any particular moment as being the<br />
one big challenge. <strong>The</strong> journey is<br />
challenging. This philosophy is what also<br />
helps me deal with it - once I accept that<br />
the entire journey will be challenging, I<br />
see every challenge as being an intrinsic<br />
part of the road, and thus not disturbing.<br />
Apart from Hotels.Ng, what else are you<br />
doing or looking to do?<br />
Hotels.ng remains my main focus. I believe<br />
it's best to focus one's energy in one thing<br />
at a time, because then one can have the<br />
highest impact possible.<br />
What one piece of advice would you give<br />
young entrepreneurs on the Tech scene.<br />
I'd say that they should launch fast, fail fast<br />
and move on to something new as quickly<br />
as possible. When something is going to<br />
fail, know as quickly as possible. When it's<br />
going to work, keep pushing and making<br />
it bigger.<br />
What are your top 3 tech must haves?<br />
A phone with a big screen, a kindle and an<br />
internet connection.
<strong>The</strong> <strong>BusinessDay</strong> <strong>CEO</strong>, <strong>May</strong> <strong>2017</strong> | 07<br />
the<br />
impostor<br />
Syndrome<br />
-Olamide Olakunle-Jinadu<br />
Do you ever have that feeling that you<br />
don't deserve your successes? That<br />
you might be found out soon<br />
because you feel like you don't even<br />
know what you're doing?<br />
You might be suffering from what we<br />
know as the impostor syndrome. <strong>The</strong><br />
impostor syndrome is felt as a result<br />
of having to meet up with your<br />
accomplishments and the need to<br />
succeed constantly. A person<br />
suffering from impostor syndrome<br />
feels the need to be right at all times.<br />
This is common with young achievers<br />
especially in the era of social media<br />
and the arts. I can speak for myself as<br />
a content creator, who is seeking to<br />
build her own brand, I tend to have<br />
battles with myself concerning what I<br />
post on instagram ,that is, whether<br />
they are of value or aesthetically<br />
pleasing, and worse if anyone even<br />
cares.<br />
I've learnt how to deal with this impostor<br />
syndrome in three ways:<br />
1.Acknowledge that it's the impostor<br />
syndrome: the downside to the impostor<br />
syndrome is that it oscillates between sheer<br />
arrogance and the fear of being found a<br />
fraud, so it's important to find a balance<br />
between these two emotions where you can<br />
truthfully analyse yourself and your work.<br />
2. Run your own race: From experience, I<br />
have seen a number of people plus myself<br />
seeking to hasten their process in order to<br />
catch up with someone they admire or their<br />
peers who are succeeding in that same field,<br />
and this is how you actually become a fraud.<br />
You start doing the same things that they do,<br />
having the same conversations and in this you<br />
can miss the unique message you were meant<br />
to deliver. Stop comparing yourself to that<br />
other person, and focus on your own voice.<br />
3. Pause and reflect: Relax, then regard how<br />
far you've come and appreciate the fact that<br />
there was a time that you didn't know what<br />
you know now. Look back on projects you are<br />
proud of, and then look forward to doing<br />
more.
<strong>The</strong> <strong>BusinessDay</strong> <strong>CEO</strong>, <strong>May</strong> <strong>2017</strong> | 08<br />
ACHIEVING THE<br />
IMPROBABLE<br />
THE BIG BROTHER PHENOMENON ENDED A FEW WEEKS AGO AND<br />
ONE OF THE GREATEST TALKING POINTS IS HOW A NIGERIAN START-<br />
UP FORCED ITS WAY INTO OUR COLLECTIVE CONSCIOUSNESS<br />
WITHOUT SPENDING INORDINATE AMOUNTS IN ADVERTISING.<br />
Payporte’s Clever Engagement Strategy<br />
You’ve heard it a million times and you’re going to hear it again; Digital transformation has<br />
radically altered the way customers perceive and consume brands. While Jumia and Konga<br />
invested a combined 800m naira in aggressive advertising campaigns between December 2016<br />
and March <strong>2017</strong>, Payporte bucked the trend and placed its bet on engaging its target market. <strong>The</strong><br />
company invested its marketing spend on “Big Brother Nigeria”, a controversial yet deeply<br />
engaging platform created to entertain a diverse section of the Nigerian audience.<br />
It turned out their bet was spot on; this past edition became the most watched, earning an<br />
average 9 million votes weekly for the 11 weeks the program ran.
<strong>The</strong> <strong>BusinessDay</strong> <strong>CEO</strong>, <strong>May</strong> <strong>2017</strong> | 09<br />
“ within a few<br />
hours, the<br />
items had<br />
sold out!<br />
”<br />
<strong>The</strong> company exhibited<br />
its flagship fashion<br />
products using<br />
housemates as models,<br />
and offered promotion<br />
after promotion to<br />
ensure customers<br />
purchased their<br />
products.<br />
Over the course of the program, Payporte found interesting ways of integrating its brand and<br />
products into the show. From a purely brand building perspective, Payporte achieved as much<br />
recognition as Konga and Jumia, spending less than 250m in the same period. As fan interest<br />
and support for the program grew, awareness and affinity for Payporte increased, while<br />
Nigerians lived and breathed the Payporte brand through the lens of their favourite Big Brother<br />
Housemate.<br />
Connecting with Customers & Driving Consumption<br />
Today’s consumer is more connected than ever before and brands must continue to find<br />
seamless ways of joining those connections, rather than echo their messages in the spaces that<br />
surround them. Payporte’s somewhat disruptive approach to forcing itself into the<br />
consciousness of Nigerians evolved a new approach e-commerce companies need to consider<br />
to reach new markets.<br />
<strong>The</strong> company exhibited its flagship fashion products using housemates as models, and offered<br />
promotion after promotion to ensure customers purchased their products. By leveraging its<br />
deep understanding of its target market, customers were teased into making purchase after<br />
purchase in support of and solidarity with their favourite housemate.<br />
During one of the episodes of Big Brother, the brand launched a new line of “Ankara” clothing in<br />
its “1k Store”. Contestants on the Big Brother program were mandated to wear some items from<br />
this line. Interestingly, the items were priced above 1,000 naira. Payporte offered a clever<br />
discount and within a few hours, the items had sold out!
<strong>The</strong> <strong>BusinessDay</strong> <strong>CEO</strong>, <strong>May</strong> <strong>2017</strong> | 10<br />
Measure the Right Metrics<br />
Mark Jeffery, one of the foremost proponents of data-driven marketing was spot on when he<br />
suggested that the neo-narcissistic world we live in leads companies to measure the wrong<br />
metrics. CMO’s are fixated on how many Facebook followers they have or how many “likes” a<br />
tweet has garnered. It is common practice for marketers and “influencers” to purchase<br />
“followers” so that they can be perceived as famous.<br />
While these metrics are important and should be tracked, they should serve for indicative<br />
purposes only. Engagement brings “conversion”, so it’s important that brands keep apprised<br />
of their engagement numbers. What’s more important however, is the need to track the<br />
conversions that occur as a result of campaigns. Payporte correctly took stock of its<br />
engagement indicators but continued to adjust its activities to drive conversions. <strong>The</strong>ir<br />
Facebook, Instagram and twitter engagement figures tripled, while their website experienced<br />
unprecedented traffic. What mattered most however, was the number of conversions those<br />
engagements brought.<br />
<strong>The</strong> Results<br />
In focusing on conversions, Payporte grew its daily orders fourfold, from around 600 orders<br />
daily to over 2,500 orders. That’s an impressive 300% rise over three months. And it was not<br />
only the volume of those transactions that was impressive. <strong>The</strong> value increased significantly,<br />
with single orders averaging 6,500 naira per customer. Furthermore, their “1k store”<br />
consistently sold out on items and waiting lists had to be created for a few of their popular<br />
items. If the business continues on this track, Payporte might become the first e-commerce<br />
company to breakeven by December <strong>2017</strong>, which is no mean feat for a wholly indigenous,<br />
micro-funded start-up with a pea-sized marketing budget compared to its more buoyant<br />
peers who have benefitted from millions of dollars in foreign investment.<br />
This makes Payaporte our<br />
number 1 brand<br />
to<br />
watch in <strong>2017</strong>.
<strong>The</strong> <strong>BusinessDay</strong> <strong>CEO</strong>, <strong>May</strong> <strong>2017</strong> | 11<br />
THESE BOOKS ARE THE TALK<br />
OF “LITERARY AFRICA” TOWN<br />
BY NMADIUTO UCHE<br />
Writing about, for, and from the continent has built a robust body of work we sometimes<br />
refer to as Contemporary African Literature. When writers are rewarded with prizes and<br />
prestigious nominations, it is exciting to see a celebration of these voices.<br />
Some of these writers are debut novelists and others are pen veterans. Here is a list of ten<br />
novels written by Africans making world literary headlines. <strong>The</strong>re are stories told anew,<br />
history given a contemporary feel, and delicious food writing. Which one of these will you be<br />
adding to your reading list this month?<br />
1. Stay with Me by Ayobami Adebayo<br />
This 29-year old author who is no stranger to the pen is sending ripples across the literary<br />
scene with her debut novel. Stay with Me features some of the strongest female characters a<br />
reader has come across on paper. It follows the story of Yejide, a woman who is scorned for<br />
being married and childless. When she finally conceives, her children are born with the pains<br />
and stigma associated with Sickle Cell disorder. A Sickle cell carrier herself, Ayobami has
<strong>The</strong> <strong>BusinessDay</strong> <strong>CEO</strong>, <strong>May</strong> <strong>2017</strong> | 12<br />
fused emotions with great storytelling in a novel that readers can empathize with. Stay with<br />
Mehas been shortlisted among 6 novels for the prestigious Bailey's Women Prize for Fiction<br />
formerly known as <strong>The</strong> Orange Prize.<br />
2. Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi<br />
If you would like to read a year of history in every page of a novel, you will be at home with<br />
Homegoing. This New York Times bestseller delves into 250 years' worth of history in 300<br />
pages. In a sweeping tale that involves two sisters separated by slavery and colonialism in<br />
18th Century Ghana, Yaa Gyasi lends readers a different pair of eyes. This much-talked about<br />
novel is Yaa Gyasi's debut novel and has carved her a spot in Contemporary African<br />
Literature. Readers have called it emotional, brilliant, and thought provoking. Homegoing was<br />
a finalist for the <strong>2017</strong> Pen/Robert W. Bingham $25,000 Prize for Debut Fiction.<br />
3. Black Moses by Alain Mabanckou<br />
This is the 11th novel of prolific writer and professor of African Literature at UCLA, Alain<br />
Mabanckou. A native of the People's Republic of Congo, Mabanckou has penned a comic tale<br />
of a young man's quest to right the wrongs in this country. <strong>The</strong> main character is reminiscent<br />
of Robin Hood and the backdrop is 1970s Congo on the brink of a revolution. Black Moses<br />
has been long listed for the $50,000 ManBooker International Prize for Literature. If it wins, the<br />
prize money will be split between the author and English translator, Helen Stevenson.<br />
4. Long Throat Memoirs by Yemisi Aribisala<br />
This collection of essays is a labor of love by Nigerian food connoisseur, Yemisi Aribisala.<br />
Written over the span of 8 years, Long Throat Memoirs seeks to satisfy an insatiable appetite<br />
of Nigerian food and storytelling. This is a great read not just for the Nigerian palate, but for<br />
anyone whose senses come alive by aromas and well-told stories. Published by indigenous<br />
press, Cassava Republic, Long Throat Memoirs was the <strong>2017</strong> recipient of the prestigious John<br />
Avery Award. This award puts Yemisi Aribisala among a list of winners that includes renowned<br />
chef, Jamie Oliver.<br />
5. <strong>The</strong> Woman Next Door by Yewande Omotoso<br />
Writer, Yewande Omotoso has a distinct way of weaving heavy weight subject matters into<br />
stories told calmly. In <strong>The</strong> Woman Next Door, readers meet two women, two races, and<br />
apartheid South Africa broken into two. <strong>The</strong> nuances of aging and how women relate to each<br />
other are explored in this novel that moves at its own pace. <strong>The</strong> Woman Next Door is<br />
Yewande Omotoso's second novel was long listed alongside 15 other novels for the <strong>2017</strong><br />
Bailey's Women Prize for Fiction.<br />
6. Americanah by Chimamanda Adichie<br />
Both Americanah and its author, Chimamanda Adichie need no introduction. Going on a<br />
journey that spans race, hair, and feminist politics with its protagonist Ifemelu has been<br />
likened to witnessing Adichie write unhindered. Americanah found its way to the New York<br />
Times bestselling list, was called the first great African novel of the new century, and was<br />
snatched up by the duo of Lupita Nyongo and Brad Pitt for a movie adaptation. Most recently,<br />
Americanah beat out powerhouse novels to win the inaugural One Book, One New York<br />
contest. This means that in addition to the over 500,000 copies this novel has sold,millions of<br />
New Yorkers will be reading and discussing this story told like no other.
<strong>The</strong> <strong>BusinessDay</strong> <strong>CEO</strong>, <strong>May</strong> <strong>2017</strong> | 13<br />
7. What is Not Yours is Not Yours by Helen Oyeyemi<br />
If you like a good short story collection, What is Not Yours is Not Yours should be in your<br />
library. For starters, the title is intriguing and the stories run along a cerebral stem. <strong>The</strong> mystics<br />
behind locks and keys are explored in unrelated settings and character mixes. Helen Oyeyemi<br />
is not your conventional writer and this collection is an eclectic display of the tales she is<br />
capable of constructing. <strong>The</strong>re is dark comedy embedded in tales of love as well as set<br />
boundaries around seemingly mundane things. What is Not Yours is Not Yours is Oyeyemi's<br />
first collection of short stories and has recently bagged her the $5,000 PEN Open Book<br />
Award.<br />
8. Behold the Dreamers by Imbolo Mbue<br />
When news hit the streets that this novel in manuscript form won a million-dollar book deal<br />
from publishing company, Penguin Random House, everyone went berserk with joy. Readers<br />
root both for the Cameroonian author, Imbolo and the Jonga family, a trio of Cameroonian<br />
emigrants whose struggle to get a Green Card in the United States will unite and rattle them<br />
simultaneously. <strong>The</strong> American dream is the subject theme explored in this well-told story. <strong>The</strong><br />
2008 recession fueled by the collapse of giant financial firms gives the plot more weight. This<br />
is the classic immigration story given a different plot and voice. This novel won the <strong>2017</strong><br />
PEN/Faulkner $15,000 Award, a first time win for an African author.<br />
9. And After Many Days by Jowhor Ile<br />
In a simple and often criticized structure, debut novelist Jowhor Ile's novel is set in Port-<br />
Harcourt, Nigeria during a tumultuous regime. A child goes missing and his family is<br />
shattered looking for him. <strong>The</strong> interwoven stories are free-floating, sometimes connected, and<br />
at other times not. This writing style has been compared by readers to life itself. This novel has<br />
been shortlisted for the £15,000 Etisalat Prize for Literature, which will be announced in <strong>May</strong>.<br />
10. Mr & Mrs. Doctor by Julie Iromuanya<br />
<strong>The</strong> pursuit of the American Dream is revisited in this novel that features a couple living a life<br />
of lies in pursuit of a Green card. <strong>The</strong> question, what happens if you wake up from the dream<br />
is explored. Julie succeeded in building shady characters that readers can still empathize<br />
with. This novel's mix of irony, satire, and great storytelling also won it a spot among the 3<br />
novels shortlisted for the Etisalat Prize for Literature.
Oga Condur<br />
by <strong>May</strong>owa Alabi Damilola
<strong>The</strong> <strong>BusinessDay</strong> <strong>CEO</strong>, <strong>May</strong> <strong>2017</strong> | 15
<strong>The</strong> <strong>BusinessDay</strong> <strong>CEO</strong>, <strong>May</strong> <strong>2017</strong> | 17<br />
EYO<br />
BASSEY<br />
O W N S A F R I CA’ S<br />
FA ST E ST G R O W I N G<br />
E - CO M M E R C E<br />
CO M PA N Y, W I T H<br />
M I L L E N N I A L S B E I N G<br />
H I S M A J O R<br />
C U STO M E R S !
<strong>The</strong> <strong>BusinessDay</strong> <strong>CEO</strong>, <strong>May</strong> <strong>2017</strong> | 18<br />
<strong>The</strong>re is still space to<br />
carry about 15 more big<br />
e-commerce companies<br />
in Nigeria<br />
Tell me about your background and your<br />
journey to Payporte?<br />
My name is Eyo Bassey. I come from a family<br />
of five and I lost my dad when I was 11. I<br />
studied Pure and Applied Physics. I’ve<br />
worked in a couple of places before now. I’ve<br />
always been IT inclined right from my<br />
university days. I served in Abuja during my<br />
youth service and I got into a company called<br />
Socket Works where I was employed as a<br />
Global System Administrator from where I<br />
w a s p ro m o t e d t o b e c o m e H ead o f<br />
Restructure Engineering and afterwards I<br />
branched off to set up my own company. <strong>The</strong><br />
company was spinning off to Ghana and they<br />
needed a couple of us to move to Ghana and<br />
I was interested in making that move. So I<br />
ended up setting a company called Rom Flex<br />
which is a Software and System Integration<br />
company and this gave birth to Payporte.<br />
In one of your past interviews, you said that<br />
t h e r e i s e n o u g h s p a c e f o r m o r e<br />
advancement in e-commerce in Nigeria. Do<br />
you still feel that way?<br />
I strongly feel that way; there is still space to<br />
carry about 15 more big e-commerce<br />
companies in Nigeria and the fact is simple. If<br />
you look at the numbers and statistics, there<br />
are three submarine cables terminating in<br />
Nigeria and this has helped internet<br />
penetration in the country. We also currently<br />
have 4G networks in Nigeria. We also have<br />
data solutions from the telecos’ which has<br />
greatly improved as well. What I’m saying in<br />
essence is that internet penetration has<br />
greatly improved and so we have 18 million<br />
people on the internet every week in Nigeria.<br />
<strong>The</strong> numbers also say that there are well over<br />
35 million people surfing the internet daily.<br />
This 35 million people are potential<br />
customers for e-commerce companies. So if<br />
we take just 10% of that number which is<br />
roughly 3.5 – 4 million people, to patronise e-<br />
commerce companies and speaking from a<br />
Payporte point of view, we can process up to<br />
100,000 orders a day and with the statics<br />
earlier given you will need not less than 35 e-<br />
commerce companies the size of Payporte to<br />
meet up with the demands of 3.5- 4 million<br />
Nigerians. That is why I maintain that Nigeria<br />
has the space to accommodate 15 more big e-<br />
commerce companies.<br />
With the rise in digital services in Africa, do<br />
you think it has made marketing your brand<br />
easier and if not what major challenges do you<br />
still face right now?<br />
Of course with the evolution of digital service,<br />
with respect to marketing, we have companies<br />
like Facebook, Google, Yahoo and we also<br />
have the other marketing companies that have<br />
to do with marketing on the internet, it has<br />
helped. However the challenge with that is that<br />
most of their services are priced in dollars.<br />
Google, Twitter, charges in dollars, Facebook<br />
only started charging Nigerians in naira. So<br />
yes, it has helped our brand but that is not our<br />
main core of marketing. We do not spend<br />
more than 30% of our spending budget on<br />
digital marketing. We use TV – this has been a<br />
very potent tool from time immemorial, and<br />
we look at other medium of marketing. So<br />
digital marketing is not our main stay. It hasn’t<br />
actually done so much for us when compared<br />
to other forms of marketing that we have<br />
adopted.<br />
That’s interesting because most of the time,<br />
people are encouraged to go digital as<br />
against the traditional marketing path?<br />
It depends, digital marketing still works. I’m<br />
not saying it doesn’t. But what has worked for<br />
us at Payporte has been other forms of<br />
marketing outside digital marketing. We run<br />
digital marketing campaigns on other<br />
platforms. When starting up, digital marketing<br />
of course, is the way to go. But at a certain<br />
point, you will need to combine digital<br />
marketing with other forms of marketing.
<strong>The</strong> <strong>BusinessDay</strong> <strong>CEO</strong>, <strong>May</strong> <strong>2017</strong> | 19<br />
FOR ME,<br />
CONVICTION IS<br />
EVERYTHING.<br />
You clearly have an entrepreneurial spirit<br />
and I guess Payporte was not your first big<br />
idea. So if not Payporte, what would you<br />
have been involved in?<br />
If I wasn’t here, I probably would have been<br />
involved in two things. I would have been<br />
practicing as a civil engineer somewhere or I<br />
would have been doing the things I was<br />
doing at my first job – building IT<br />
infrastructure and building IT capabilities for<br />
companies. So these may have been<br />
alternatives for me outside of Payporte.<br />
As an entrepreneur and businessman, what<br />
is the one advice that you would tell any<br />
millennial that wants to start up a business?<br />
Be clear on what you want to do. Because<br />
once you are not clear on what you want to<br />
do, you are going to fail. So, clarity - that’s my<br />
own opinion. <strong>The</strong> challenges will come on<br />
your entrepreneurial journey. What will keep<br />
you going against all odds will be your personal<br />
conviction before you started up what you are<br />
doing. That has played out with me a lot. We are<br />
just trying to recover from the recession as a<br />
nation. How do you think a business like<br />
Payporte survived this period? It’s the<br />
conviction. We just had to keep moving against<br />
all odds. If it had just been guesswork, which is<br />
what happens with a lot of young people, we<br />
will not have survived till this moment. I find that<br />
a lot of young people come out of school with<br />
the mindset that the internet business is the inthing<br />
and look for one or another internet<br />
business to start up, some of them can write a<br />
few lines of code and believe they can start up a<br />
business without giving much thought to it, or<br />
follow the path of a friend without having a<br />
strong conviction of what it is they want. So for<br />
me, conviction is everything. It will help you<br />
weather the storms of business in an<br />
environment like ours.
<strong>The</strong> <strong>BusinessDay</strong> <strong>CEO</strong>, <strong>May</strong> <strong>2017</strong> | 20<br />
For a business that is this big, do you have external funding?<br />
When Payporte was about to start, I spoke to a friend of mine and<br />
told her I wanted to start an e-commerce company and was in<br />
need of partners who were willing to invest in the business. She<br />
asked how much I needed and I said I needed $250,000. So she<br />
promised to talk with some friends on my behalf. So I followed up<br />
with her and made some pitches. She was able to link me up with<br />
an investor who was willing to invest $100, 000 not for a stake in the<br />
business but to be repaid after one year of operations. So that was<br />
one. At some point, my mum had to use her house as third party<br />
collateral to a bank to help me raise N15 million for the business.<br />
So basically funding has been from friends and family which is<br />
what I encourage every young intending entrepreneur to do. If<br />
your friends and family cannot trust you for your business then no<br />
one else will. If they can’t give you the initial funding you need,<br />
throw some money at you out of trust, then you’ll find it very<br />
difficult. We have since repaid the $100,000 loan I received from<br />
my friend. Is that all that has grown the business? No. What we’ve<br />
had to do is to be very very prudent so far. Rom Flex, which is the<br />
parent company of Payporte, has been able to build a couple of<br />
other solutions which they have been able to vend and sell and put<br />
back proceeds to Payporte. We are also planning on going to the<br />
markets in September to raise $100 million for our expansion.<br />
That’s been our funding story. We’ve kept our business lean, and<br />
we have wonderful staff that understand and have bought into the<br />
vision. We’ve also got wonderful service providers that understand<br />
and agree to our payment terms and this has made our sustenance<br />
as a business a reality.<br />
EYO<br />
BASSEY<br />
<strong>CEO</strong> at<br />
PayPorte Global<br />
Systems<br />
Where do you see Payporte in the long term?<br />
I’ll start by sharing some of our short term goals. First of all, our<br />
immediate goal this year was to end cash on delivery operations<br />
which we have successfully done. <strong>The</strong>n the next is to make sure that<br />
we become a profitable venture by December <strong>2017</strong>, meaning that<br />
all of our funding must come out of the business. By July this year<br />
we also hope to expand physical operations into two countries;<br />
South Africa and Ghana.<br />
In three years, we want to be the most preferred e-commerce<br />
company in sub-Saharan Africa and that is clearly in sight for us. We<br />
want to make sure our coverage reaches the Horn of Africa that is in<br />
places like Uganda, Kenya, down to the Cape Coast and that axis.<br />
In five years, we want to be rated the top e-commerce company in<br />
the world. So these are our long term goals. A journey of a<br />
thousand miles begins with a step but these are some of our key<br />
goals. Of course, I’ll definitely love to retire early too (and become<br />
a missionary at 45).<br />
Interviewed by<br />
Olamide Olakunle-Jinadu
<strong>The</strong> <strong>BusinessDay</strong> <strong>CEO</strong>, Mar <strong>2017</strong> | 35<br />
LEARN \ WORK\ ACCELERATE<br />
WWW.THEGRANARYNG.COM<br />
WWW.THEGRANARYNG.COM<br />
FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT<br />
CHARLIE@THEGRANARYNG.COM<br />
FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT<br />
CHARLIE@THEGRANARYNG.COM<br />
OR CALL 0818 578 8553<br />
OR CALL 0818 578 8553
<strong>The</strong> <strong>BusinessDay</strong> <strong>CEO</strong>, <strong>May</strong> <strong>2017</strong> | 23<br />
A DAY IN<br />
THE LIFE OF<br />
OMAWUNMMI<br />
A look at a<br />
typical day of<br />
one of the most<br />
influential and<br />
powerful people<br />
in Africa.
<strong>The</strong> <strong>BusinessDay</strong> <strong>CEO</strong>, <strong>May</strong> <strong>2017</strong> | 24<br />
Omawumi<br />
Megbele:<br />
Music Video Director,<br />
Film maker<br />
& Television Director<br />
HOW DO 24 HOURS IN THE LIFE OF A<br />
POWER PLAYER UNFOLD? HERE'S WHAT THE<br />
DAY PLANNER FOR OMAWUMI MEGBELE<br />
LOOKED LIKE ON TUESDAY 2NDMAY, <strong>2017</strong><br />
6:00 – I woke up and said my morning<br />
prayers.<br />
7:00 – Prepared my kids and dropped them<br />
off at school.<br />
9:00 – Returned home to relax with a tall mug<br />
of black coffee and watch Law & Order<br />
(Criminal Intent), Tinsel and Zee world.<br />
11:00 – Headed to my office for a live studio<br />
rehearsal with my band.<br />
15:00 – Went to lunch with my husband.<br />
16:00 – Returned to my office to handle<br />
pending paperwork and brainstorm on new<br />
creative ideas for my brand.<br />
17:00 – Hopped on a business call with my<br />
elder brother who is my business partner in<br />
charge of our supply and logistics company.<br />
18:00 – Went to <strong>The</strong> Bridge, Lekki to meet<br />
with my team of executive producers for my<br />
upcoming movie.<br />
19:00 – Met briefly for drinks with Waje at<br />
Cocoon restaurant, Ikoyi.<br />
20:00 – Went home to prepare dinner for my<br />
family and afterwards I put my daughters to<br />
bed.<br />
22:00 – Retired to my work study to do some<br />
creative writing.<br />
Favorite Quote<br />
<strong>The</strong>re are two quotes I refer to a lot because<br />
of the truth in them and they are as follows;<br />
“What is obvious may not be real”<br />
“Comparison is the thief of joy”<br />
Business men and women I admire the<br />
most<br />
I admire Russell Simmons, Diddy and<br />
Beyonce for obvious reasons. <strong>The</strong>y started<br />
off in the music industry and have used the<br />
platform extensively in the business world.<br />
People you admire and why?<br />
I admire Mo Abudu because of how far she<br />
has gone in the media industry. I also<br />
admire Onyeka Owenu because her music<br />
is evergreen and finally Angelique Kidjo for<br />
staying true to her music and showcasing it<br />
to the world.<br />
If you could do anything else but what you<br />
do, what would that job be?<br />
I would be a Teacher because it is a<br />
purposeful occupation which helps crave a<br />
path for the younger generations.<br />
Doctor or Astronaut?<br />
Laughs, Doctor definitely.<br />
What does Africa mean to you in one<br />
sentence?<br />
Africa is my home and home is where the<br />
heart is… I love Africa.<br />
What could you not travel without aside<br />
from your cell phone?<br />
My clothes definitely because I can't be<br />
naked!
<strong>The</strong> <strong>BusinessDay</strong> <strong>CEO</strong>, <strong>May</strong> <strong>2017</strong> | 25<br />
I’m increasingly weary of the notion that life is about the endless pursuit of<br />
passion as if we were created only to experience its pleasures. It’s acutely<br />
palpable when I meet with young entrepreneurs, particularly the creative<br />
ones. Millennial’s are incessantly encouraged to “live the life they dream<br />
of,” wholeheartedly following their passions, reinforced by social media<br />
quotes extolling the virtues of entrepreneurship. Putting entrepreneurship<br />
in perspective, I have observed that many enthusiastic founders, having<br />
found their passion, have no clue that they actually need to understand key<br />
business principles in order to flourish. Businesses need to be nurtured,<br />
staffed, structured, driven, funded, and scaled. It’s all fun and games until<br />
he work begins.<br />
Each time I meet a <strong>CEO</strong> of an SME I go into question mode attempting to<br />
unpack their courage to push beyond fear, create a unique<br />
product/service, and meet the needs of a market. When I probe about cost<br />
structure, unit economics, price/volume mix, cash burn rate, gross margins,<br />
supply chain, UX and the feedback loop, many eyes quickly begin to glaze<br />
over. A few get into it and they grasp that with passion comes purpose and<br />
with purpose comes responsibility. If you want to be the <strong>CEO</strong> of a<br />
company, you need to deeply understand everything about it otherwise<br />
you are engaged in a hobby funded by family (hopefully not third party<br />
investors) with a likely fantastic social media presence. To my surprise, a<br />
number of entrepreneurs don't have a well defined business model and/or<br />
they are poor at communicating it. Entrepreneurship isn’t for the fainthearted<br />
and it’s not for the unprepared either. <strong>The</strong> skills you need to<br />
succeed include grit, tenacity, focus, hunger, knowledge of your space, and<br />
humility. From that humility is where the fallacies of passion end. It’s all well<br />
and good to be passionate about being an artist, photographer, coder,<br />
web series content creator, womenswear fashion designer but<br />
products/services generally don’t tend to sell themselves.<br />
Have you identified your target customer base and do you have a plan to<br />
generate sales? Who/Where is your addressable market and why do they<br />
want/need your product? How do you reach them in the most cost effective<br />
manner? Do you have a handle on production and how quickly can you<br />
scale? Someone competent has to care about this stuff. What’s your<br />
differentiation strategy vs. the competition and how will you make certain<br />
that you stay ahead of innovation? <strong>The</strong> more I ask, the less I hear. Some<br />
people, young and not so young, are following their passions because it’s<br />
exciting. Penetrating a market with a unique value proposition, building a<br />
sustainable business, and making a difference are assumed entitlements<br />
and not strategic goals.<br />
My advice to “young” entrepreneurs: If you are pursuing your passion bu<br />
despise the business aspects of your endeavor, find a suitable co-founder<br />
who loves it. Together you will soar. Owning 50% of something is far<br />
superior to owning 100% of nothing. If the latter is what you aspire to, I<br />
wish you well with your hobby.<br />
THE FALLACIES OF PASSION<br />
By Aishetu Fatima Dozie
<strong>The</strong> <strong>BusinessDay</strong> <strong>CEO</strong>, <strong>May</strong> <strong>2017</strong> | 26<br />
6<br />
on<br />
six tips<br />
How to<br />
Be PRODUCTIVE<br />
-Modupe Sowunmi<br />
“Being busy and being productive are two different things, focus on the latter”<br />
As someone who likes to dedicate my time to people and things that are<br />
important to me, I'm always looking for ways to be more productive so I can get<br />
more things done and waste less time, so today I'm sharing tips for getting lots<br />
of stuff done.<br />
1. MAKE YOUR MORNING ROUTINE NON-NEGOTIABLE:<br />
I hear morning routines are a great way to set yourself up for success! I've not always been a<br />
morning person...well lately, I spend some time in the morning basically chilling before work -<br />
Yup CHILLING!. Besides my morning devotion, I try to think through my activities for the day<br />
or the week, sometimes I work out or just stretch, do some chores, listen to upbeat music and<br />
mentally prepare to have a great day. It actually depends on my mood that morning.<br />
Sometimes I spend the entire morning on Instagram and then find myself rushing off to work,<br />
other times It's my make up that takes the better part of my morning. But either way, a healthy<br />
morning routine is a great way to stay productive.
<strong>The</strong> <strong>BusinessDay</strong> <strong>CEO</strong>, <strong>May</strong> <strong>2017</strong> | 27<br />
62. USE A PLANNER.<br />
seriously don't Know what I'll<br />
do without my planner.I've<br />
discovered that planning<br />
t a s k s a h e a d o f t i m e i s<br />
essential for getting things<br />
done and also maintaining<br />
my sanity. Whether you<br />
choose to use a digital<br />
planner on your phone or a<br />
book, scheduling things out<br />
is super important! While<br />
everyone uses planners<br />
differently, I like to get indepth<br />
with mine. A few things<br />
I do are:<br />
- W e e k l y & m o n t h l y<br />
overviews. At the beginning<br />
of each month I'll write down<br />
goals for that month then I'll<br />
break those goals down into<br />
action steps over the weeks.<br />
It's super satisfying and it is<br />
important in making sure that<br />
you're taking the necessary<br />
steps to getting what you<br />
want accomplished!<br />
- Daily to-do lists. You know<br />
how I break down my monthly<br />
goals into weekly actionable<br />
tasks? Well, I always make a<br />
to-do list for the next day<br />
before bed. It helps me to<br />
sleep better with a clear head<br />
and then I feel like I'm ready<br />
to take over the next day!<br />
Planning specific tasks and<br />
action steps ahead of time<br />
helps avoid stress and the<br />
feeling of having endless<br />
tasks!<br />
3. GET YOUR SWEAT<br />
ON!<br />
Working-out boosts your<br />
mood, brain and ability to<br />
focus.It also relieves stress<br />
and is a nice break from the<br />
daily grind! AND it boosts<br />
confidence. In fact, there's a<br />
million reasons why you<br />
should incorporate at least 30<br />
minutes of exercise into your<br />
daily routine and boosting<br />
your productivity is one of<br />
them. So just DO IT!!! You can<br />
at least start with frequent<br />
walks in the morning or<br />
evening. Basically, aim to stay<br />
active.<br />
4. HAVE A CLEAN,<br />
ORGANIZED ROOM/<br />
W O R K S P A C E /<br />
ENVIRONMENT.<br />
Keeping my room tidy makes<br />
me feel productive already.<br />
Trying to get work done in a<br />
s c a t t e r e d e n v i r o n m e n t<br />
stresses me out. A clean,<br />
simplified workspace really<br />
helps you focus!<br />
Cheers<br />
to getting<br />
lots of things<br />
done this<br />
year!<br />
5. SCHEDULE LESS,<br />
SAY "NO" MORE.<br />
Constantly scheduling more<br />
than I can handle makes me<br />
feel rushed and behind. And<br />
then when I DON'T get<br />
everything done? Sigh! I feel<br />
Super unproductive (even if<br />
I've achieved some things).<br />
Schedule LESS and get<br />
MORE done. Also, learn to<br />
say "no." If you're not setting<br />
boundaries then eventually<br />
your sanity will go out the<br />
window!<br />
6 . F I N A L LY, YO U<br />
HAVE TO RESPECT<br />
YOUR TIME, YOUR<br />
GOALS AND YOUR<br />
WORK.<br />
I g n o re i n v i t ations a n d<br />
interruptions and take your<br />
own work and deadlines<br />
seriously! You're worth it.<br />
Your work is worth it. Your<br />
goals are worth it. Hopefully<br />
you find some of these tips<br />
helpful! I know that being<br />
consistent at these things will<br />
really help me and everyone<br />
e l s e reading t h i s s t a y<br />
productive.<br />
see more on<br />
www.gingerlie.com
<strong>The</strong> <strong>BusinessDay</strong> <strong>CEO</strong>, <strong>May</strong> <strong>2017</strong> | 28<br />
Smart-up<br />
for start ups<br />
THE START UP SMARTIES!<br />
Growing up, we all loved and still love<br />
smarties, the muiticolour pebble like mini<br />
chocolates that gives us so much joy<br />
recession fades away!<br />
Bringing that joy and thrill to<br />
entrepreneurship, here are the start up<br />
smarties every entrepreneur must consider<br />
carefully and adopt!<br />
S- Solve a problem! What's business that is<br />
not meeting a need? Is that one business? It is<br />
very important for your business to solve a<br />
problem and meet a need. Meeting a need is<br />
one of the biggest steps towards<br />
sustainability!<br />
M- Manage your time wisely! You don't want<br />
to waste too much time on an idea that is not<br />
meeting a need or an idea that has failed<br />
consistently. You must find a way to be<br />
flexible and adopt changes which emanate<br />
from your feedback actively. Time<br />
management is key in business.<br />
A- Attention to details: As you start off your<br />
work you must be open to feedback from<br />
your customers and consumers. You must pay<br />
attention to feedback and the details that<br />
come with them.<br />
R- Read and research: Read books about your<br />
line of business and intervention. Take online<br />
courses as well as other things and activities<br />
that can build your capacity in preparation for<br />
the work you will do. Market research is also<br />
key to every entrepreneur's success.<br />
T- Tenacity: Tenacity or determination is an<br />
essential quality of a start up entrepreneur.<br />
Challenges will definitely come. <strong>The</strong>re will<br />
be days you will ask yourself if all you are<br />
doing is worth it at all. On days like that,<br />
take the tenacity smarties and keep<br />
pushing.<br />
I- Invest your own resources: Investing<br />
your own resources indicates seriousness<br />
and commitment to the cause you are<br />
pursing. It also encourages investors to<br />
open their wallet and invest in you and<br />
your business.<br />
E- Go the Extra mile: Extra represents the<br />
innovation angle to the service or product<br />
you are offering. Do something extra!<br />
Anything to make you stand out and<br />
separate you in a very saturated market.<br />
S- Start small: And when you have done<br />
all the above, don't forget to never<br />
despise the days of little beginning.<br />
START SMALL! DREAM BIG!!<br />
WORK HARD!!!<br />
TILL NEXT TIME, KEEP<br />
PUSHING!<br />
-Adepeju Jaiyeoba
<strong>The</strong> <strong>BusinessDay</strong> <strong>CEO</strong>, <strong>May</strong> <strong>2017</strong> | 29<br />
KINGS<br />
in Africa creating<br />
meeting times for<br />
millennials.<br />
AN EXPERIENCE FROM GETUPINC’S<br />
CREATIVE DIRECTOR- TOMI WALE, MEETING<br />
THE OONI OF IFE:<br />
HRH<br />
Oba Adéyeyè Eniìtàn Ògúnwùsì<br />
Ooni Ojaja II<br />
I got a call that one of the country’s very top royal fathers heard about me and called<br />
to see me to have a conversation on some of my thoughts. So Ife happened within a<br />
24 hour period!<br />
<strong>The</strong> conversation was beyond what’s normally expected from Kings in Africa.<br />
Above the beautiful protocols that made me feel closer to the source, <strong>The</strong> Ooni of<br />
Ife is the kind of leader we should have at this time.
<strong>The</strong> <strong>BusinessDay</strong> <strong>CEO</strong>, <strong>May</strong> <strong>2017</strong> | 30<br />
Tomi with<br />
the Ooni of Ife<br />
“His attention to<br />
details and<br />
systems<br />
thinking<br />
abilities would<br />
be good for<br />
academics and<br />
boy, he<br />
understands<br />
and is creating<br />
the characters<br />
that should<br />
aggregate the<br />
future of<br />
”<br />
AFRICA.
<strong>The</strong> <strong>BusinessDay</strong> <strong>CEO</strong>, <strong>May</strong> <strong>2017</strong> | 31<br />
I found his fusion of old tradition and contemporary sense of<br />
innovation very fascinating. A lot of beautiful things are going<br />
on.<br />
About four sentences into answering the first question he<br />
threw at me, he paused and said “I like you, you are such a<br />
futuristic guy”, I smiled and told him Thank You ‘Kabiyesi’<br />
(meaning Your Majesty). He allowed me continue and the<br />
ways he landed my sentences, nodded and shook his feet in<br />
acknowledgment made me know some people actually get<br />
my ‘seemingly weird thoughts’.<br />
<strong>The</strong>se are some things you’ll find out about him:<br />
1. He is very hard-working.<br />
2. He spots mediocrity within seconds.<br />
3. He has an outstanding global & authentic approach to<br />
thoughts.<br />
4. He respects order.<br />
5. He listens and takes words seriously!<br />
After some hours, the conversation finished around 12am and<br />
I was happy about the future of Nigeria.<br />
You know, keep the thoughts going. I was<br />
really encouraged that evening that there<br />
are some people in strategic positions who<br />
want to listen to us and fast track things!<br />
AFRICAN MILLENNIALS, LET’S KEEP OUR<br />
THOUGHTS GOING!<br />
-Tomi Wale<br />
Crative Director, GetUpinc
<strong>The</strong> <strong>BusinessDay</strong> <strong>CEO</strong>, <strong>May</strong> <strong>2017</strong> | 32<br />
<strong>The</strong> Mentality<br />
of Winning (Part 1)<br />
by Austin Okere<br />
Founder, CWG Plc & Entrepreneur in Residence,<br />
Columbia Business School, New York.<br />
<strong>The</strong> thing about winning and losing is that they are both self-reinforcing.<br />
<strong>The</strong> Gunners as a metaphor<br />
As an Arsenal football club fan, how do I convince anybody that the team is good or that<br />
coach Arsene Wenger is doing a good job, given the long spate of trophy draught and<br />
inexplicable losses in the current season both in the English Premier league and the<br />
Champions league?
<strong>The</strong> <strong>BusinessDay</strong> <strong>CEO</strong>, <strong>May</strong> <strong>2017</strong> | 33<br />
TAKING THE STEPS REQUIRED TO REVERSE<br />
YOUR LOSING SPREE AND SHIFTING INTO A<br />
WINNING MENTALITY RESTORES YOUR LOST<br />
<strong>The</strong> mentality of winning and losing – the Tyson<br />
effect<br />
Winning reinforces your self-confidence and<br />
instils an inherent mythical fear in your<br />
opponents. <strong>The</strong> whole team is energized and<br />
ready for the next win. Losing on the other hand,<br />
engenders a loss of confidence and a<br />
significant level of demystification, inviting all<br />
manner of opponents to fancy their chances at<br />
you, as happened when the erstwhile<br />
unbeatable heavyweight boxing champion,<br />
Mike Tyson lost to a lowly challenger, Buster<br />
Douglas in 1990 in Tokyo, Japan. This was<br />
followed by a string of losses leading to a less<br />
glorious retirement, highlighted by his biting off<br />
the ear of an opponent, Evander Holyfield,<br />
during a boxing match. Thus, was dimmed a<br />
golden opportunity of going down in history as<br />
one of the greatest heavyweights of all time.<br />
Reversing the pattern – Leicester City FC finds<br />
her magic<br />
Taking the steps required to reverse your<br />
losing spree and shifting into a winning<br />
mentality restores your lost glory, seemingly<br />
obliterating the past string of losses e.g.<br />
Leicester City Football Club; after parting ways<br />
with coach Claudio Ranieri (ironically the same<br />
coach that propelled them to the dizzying<br />
heights of winning the English Premier League<br />
title last year) have suddenly become<br />
unstoppable again; beating the better rated<br />
Spanish side, Sevilla FC for a place in the<br />
Quarter Finals of the UEFA Champions<br />
League. Even as first timers, they are the only<br />
English team still flying the British flag where<br />
great teams such as Manchester City and<br />
Arsenal have crashed out.<br />
Winning is 'In spite of'; Losing is 'because of' -<br />
the Usain Bolt determination<br />
A loser's mentality is strongly underpinned by<br />
a culture of excuses; finding 'very good'<br />
reasons why you didn't make it, or why you<br />
lost; as if this will magically convert the loss<br />
into a win. An earful of balderdash at best.<br />
A winner's mentality on the other hand, is<br />
centred on 'making it' in spite of all odds. A<br />
very good example being Usain Bolt, who not<br />
only holds the world record for the fastest<br />
human dead or alive, but also winning three<br />
gold medals in the 100m, 200m and 4X100m<br />
races in three consecutive Olympics; Beijing<br />
(2008), London (2012) and Rio (2016) – Now,<br />
that is a winner with a strong winning<br />
mentality.<br />
Believe me, it is never a walk in the park. He<br />
knew what he had to do when overconfidence<br />
brought an embarrassing loss to his training<br />
partner and competitor Johan Blake. Blake<br />
beat Bolt to second place in both the 100m<br />
and 200m at the 2012 Olympic trials in<br />
Jamaica, and this was just about a month to<br />
the London Olympics.<br />
Just imagine the pressure that Bolt would<br />
have felt. In the beginning he resorted to<br />
excuses; he blamed the 100m loss on a poor<br />
start, and the 200m on a poor bend. Realizing<br />
that a golden dream was evaporating before<br />
his eyes, he quickly faced reality in his<br />
following statement capturing his renewed<br />
attitude “it's all about work and just needing to<br />
get my things together and get it right. I've got<br />
to get in the work and figure out what I did<br />
wrong”. And with that he got himself in shape<br />
in time to win both events at the London<br />
Olympics. He did work very hard and<br />
deserved the results and his place in history<br />
(watch the documentary on him titled 'I am<br />
Bolt').
<strong>The</strong> <strong>BusinessDay</strong> <strong>CEO</strong>, <strong>May</strong> <strong>2017</strong> | 34<br />
Realizing that a golden dream<br />
was evaporating before his<br />
eyes, he quickly faced reality in<br />
his following statement<br />
capturing his renewed attitude<br />
“it's all about work and just<br />
needing to get my things<br />
together and get it right. I've got<br />
to get in the work and figure out<br />
what I did wrong”. And with that<br />
he got himself in shape.<br />
<strong>The</strong> Nigerian Super Eagles – Our 'Invincible' of old<br />
I remember with nostalgia when all the immigration officers in the countries that I visited in the<br />
1990's became very friendly upon sighting my Nigerian Passport, reeling the names of our<br />
Super Eagle players and asking me if I knew them; Jay-Jay, Kanu, Amuneke, Keshi,<br />
Okewchukwu, Taribo, Oliseh, Rufia, Amokachie, Yekini, Siasia, Ikpeba and the host of others .<br />
<strong>The</strong>se were the glory days of Nigerian soccer, where other teams' reverence of our players<br />
conferred on us very deep respect as a country. Not so these days; we have managed to get<br />
ourselves stuck in a losers' mentality to the extent that 'the giant of Africa' did not even qualify for<br />
the last edition of the African Nations Cup in Gabon this year.<br />
We managed to win the bronze medal at the Rio Olympics, but who remembers, after the<br />
unbelievable story of our players being stranded in America and arriving only hours before their<br />
opening match; what manner of organization? <strong>The</strong> headlines in the global media were enough<br />
to make every Nigerian bow their heads in shame. <strong>The</strong> Mirror succinctly captured it thus<br />
“Nigerian Olympic football team stranded in Atlanta hours before first game after unpaid flight<br />
bill”.<br />
You did not need to read the body of the copy to see how shoddy our organization could be.<br />
How can we aspire to Gold with this attitude?<br />
ITCHING TO FINISH THIS BUT ENSURE YOU LOOK OUT FOR THE NEXT EDITION TO SEE<br />
HOW THIS ENDS.
Female leaders<br />
are rated more<br />
highly than men<br />
in the category of<br />
establishing<br />
stretch goals.<br />
INCLUDE WOMEN.<br />
www.getupinc.com
Keke Hustle<br />
by Martin Ekwe<br />
FOR ADVERT PLACEMENTS & OTHER ENQUIRIES<br />
Linda@businessdayonline.com<br />
lynda4real@yahoo.com<br />
08026011296