Chioma Nnani: The Nigerian Business Mindset – a real piece of work
Nigeria is a place where people who can see opportunities in problems and even hilarious situations, can and will thrive. As long as someone needs it, or can be convinced that they do, they will buy it. I think that works in any economy, but certain socio-political situations can turn some products or services into a must-have.
For instance, a couple of years or so ago, we had the (what we know as) My Oga At The Top saga. Basically, a high-ranking official admitted on-camera that he didn't know the URL of the website of the organisation he represented. He said, “My oga at the top will know.” The interviewer couldn't believe her ears – you wouldn't believe it either … even after watching it a couple of times. It was rather scandalous, because it was very difficult to prove his competence. I mean, if you don't even know your organisation's website URL and you're asking people to go on there, what are you doing? And it turned into this national joke where everyone was making 'my oga at the top' jokes every other minute.
And some people decided, “I'll make money from this.” So they printed the words My Oga At The Top on T-shirts, baseball caps, mugs, etc. and sold them, mainly at traffic jams – where people who knew about the situation could see, buy and keep laughing. Then two young men went into a studio and cut a single called “My Oga At The Top”. It was never going to win a Grammy, but that wasn't the intention. I remember thinking, “The socio-political situation in Nigeria helped create and foster that market.” If they had been in a place like the UK, they would have had to jump through loads of red-taped hoops and by the time the 'oga at the top' themed products were ready for release, the joke would have become stale.
A lot of people found it amusing. Some people were sensitive enough to judge and monetise a situation that others were laughing about, and so they laughed to the bank. Which is what the wife of the blundering official should have done, instead of whingeing at every media outlet that would give her audience. But I digress …
In Nigeria, some people treat people in certain professions with contempt – like they're not good enough, like they're too white-collar. I remember sending someone on an errand to buy something for me. I had given her clean Naira notes – crisp, neither rumpled nor torn.
She went, “How can you give this money to those people?”
I said, “But there's nothing wrong with the money!”
“Yeah, that's the problem; it's too clean!” she replied, starting to fold and rumple the Naira notes.
“Why are you doing that? Plus I'm pretty sure that what you're doing is a crime.”
She said, “It's too clean to give to them.”
“It just happened that the money I withdrew from the ATM were clean notes. I withdrew the money to spend it! Why are clean notes too good for them? Because they're not in some fancy supermarket? They're providing a service that people need.”
She looked kinda convinced, because she stopped attempting to 'dirty' the notes.
Some perceptions of business and success are the very things that will continue to keep some people in penury. In Nigeria, it's almost like, hey, if you don't have this massive office, manned by 200 staff, you're not successful. Or if you're not doing certain jobs with fancy titles, you haven't arrived – it kinda makes me understand why some of the contestants on The Apprentice, UK have some of those ridiculous titles, like 'global sales analytical advocate' – or something just as bewildering and laughable. Like that was what validated their existences as human beings, or gave them credibility as business-people.
It looks like that mindset isn't dictated by colour or race.
Truly curious, when you think about it.
Chioma Nnani is the award-winning author of FOREVER THERE FOR YOU. She holds a Law (LLB) from the University of Kent, Canterbury, was nominated for a BEFFTA in 2014, and has a Postgraduate Certificate in Food Law from the De Montfort University, Leicester. You can connect with her via facebook.com/ChiomaEstherNnani and @ChiomaNnani
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