By Ayeni Adekunle
I was having an interesting chat with my friend Ifeoma Monye when she popped the question from nowhere.
‘If I invite you to an event, will you come?’
‘Why not? But which event?’
It turns out ‘Miss Money’ was inviting me to iQube’s ‘Back to the Future’ talk shop featuring great minds like Fela Durotoye, Paul Adefarasin, Bismarck Rewane and Ibukun Awosika.
I love to listen to thinkers speak. For someone who went to a primary school where English teachers taught in vernacular, and a secondary school where most teachers did more buying and selling than teaching, most of the important things I know today have come from listening to and reading from/about those who know.
But over time, I’ve grown wary of listening. We’ve entered a time where inspirational/motivational speakers are a million for a dime, and everyone with a nice suit and accent suddenly fancies themselves speakers. I can’t count how many times I’ve listened to some of those we respect adapt principles from Europe and America, without localizing it to reflect the peculiarities of the Nigerian environment.
So, imagine my surprise when I mention the iQube event to my friend Tee A, and he expresses my exact sentiments. He, in fact, captures it better, defining what occurs today as mostly deception and confusion.
‘Why are they deceiving young people?’ Tee A asks. ‘I’m tired of hearing all these people talk of business, leadership and survival principles even they do not practice’.
‘Have you heard anyone tell a gathering how they close all the big deals after office hours? Nigeria is a different system, abeg. And we need people that’ll be bold and honest enough to preach principles that actually work here, without necessarily compromising global standards’.
Luckily for both of us, the iQube session, as Money would later educate us, was far from your usual motivational gathering.
Back to the future suggests that for us to provide solutions that will enable the productivity of the business environment we will need to appreciate the past, the cost and effect of the inefficiencies in our current business environment and review possible solutions.
According to the organisers, ‘iQube 2012 will be going back to draw insights, while also adopting an innovative approach to proffer practical solutions that will effectively position the country to tackle issues in order to guarantee a good future…’.
And the event, which held on Wednesday October 31, at the City Hall, in Lagos, more than delivered on this promise. What’s the problem with the Nigerian business and leadership system? How did we get here? How does the world see us? How do we see ourselves? How do we, Nigerians come in? What’s the way forward?
I listened to Fela Durotoye, Bismarck Rewane and Ibukun Awosika, and I wished Tee A was there to see his concerns addressed, his queries answered.
Long before Ribadu, I had been weeping for Nigeria.
But the iQube experience wiped off those tears and cleared my eyes to see hope and possibilities. Durotoye, who I first listened to as an undergraduate in the University of Ibadan, gave a brilliant presentation on Value system in the market place, using well thought out theories and practical case studies. Bismarck Rewane, the respected economist and banker, opened our eyes to the figures; using numbers to illustrate the Nigerian situation.
But the person who made my day was Mrs Awosika. I first fell in love with the woman when I watched her speak on ‘The Platform‘. And, as I listened to her presentation (ex tempore, by the way), on Best Practices Vs Nigerian Practices, I fell even deeper. Her submission? There’s no such thing as ‘Nigerian Practice’. Global best practice is a standard that Nigeria and Nigerian organisations must adopt, if we’re serious about becoming the giant we deserve to be.
Awosika, just like Durotoye and Rewane, used personal examples, as well as facts and figures in the public domain, to illustrate their principles, making it easy for their audience to key in and see the value in their propositions. And all the speakers, including convener Chukwuka Monye and Paul Adefarasin (who shared key success factors for The Experience concert) took a trip into the past, providing a clear understanding of the origin of the challenges, while advancing practical techniques needed for remedy.
Nigeria needs reconstruction; almost every sector needs total overhauling. And beyond all the commentary on social media and elsewhere, she needs positive interventions like The Platform and iQube, to guide and guard those that’ll midwife the process. If Mr President thinks the young people ‘making noise on social media’ are mere tools in the hands of the opposition and not to be taken seriously, surely, he would approve of what the likes of Poju Oyemade and Chukwuka Monye are doing?
Yes, Nigeria’s problem is that of leadership and followership. But as we work to fix our democracy and sort out our fundamental problems, we need positive role models whose souls have not been soiled by crude; regular people from society who in spite of the system, are doing extraordinary things.
It’s those kinds of thinkers and doers that Oyemade and Monye are showing us; hoping that our youth will get the needed inspiration to quit seeing thieving politicians, oil rouges, and wealthy but incompetent leaders as the definition of success. Those are the kind of people Mr President should romance, celebrate, honour and learn from, instead of all the crooks he’s currently in bed with.
Fashola, a much smarter politician, in my opinion, already sees this value; as shown through his iQube pre-recorded interview, where he opens up about his administration, playing up aspects of his leadership style that’ll make even the most pessimistic okada rider scream ‘Fashola for President’.
Let’s hope Monye and his team will make the full presentations of the fantastic five Nigerians and Fashola’s interview available to the public soon – thousands of us attended that event, but millions scattered around the world need hear and benefit from the session of Wednesday October 31…
1 comment
Ayeni, I am as cynical as Tee A. As much as i respect a few people on that panel, especially Mrs. Awosika, i am convinced that these people never tell us the whole truth. Most of the sermons preached there are not practised by the preachers themselves.