Leo Stan Ekeh, chairman, Zinox Group and Global Partner Adviser of Microsoft Incorporated, told Nigerian Technology Entrepreneurs who engaged him in London recently that the country needed at least one true Bill Gates added to the present crop of Nigerian genuine billionaires to become a successful and sustainable global brand.
Addressing his audience, he stated that, “I believe that God’s purpose for this technology-driven century is to reduce the inequalities among peoples but only serious nations with highly resourceful citizens and leaders would take advantage of this knowledge century to emerge on the global stage.
How on earth would an Asian or African nation think of competing with any of the developed economies of the world without the power of the brain?”
Ekeh said that he was sure looking at most of them who were between the ages of 25 to 30, that a lot of them became aware of Bill Gates from infancy till date and that the net sustained wealth from the platform launched by a young man and few of his friends created few years ago could challenge the wealth of Nigeria with a population of 173million. “Think about the multiplier effect and then you will appreciate why you should dig deeper into different areas of technology to at least brand yourself and your families,” he said. When confronted with the issue of infrastructural challenges in Nigeria, Africa’s largest ecoomy by GDP, which was responsible for the failure of a great number of Small Medium Enterprises (SMEs), Ekeh told them Rome was not built in a day, further adding that advanced nations such as United Kingdom (Uk) achieved their current level of technological development over time.
He said until they come back with world class exposures to make their contribution in different sectors, the nation might continue to struggle. He reassured them that the country was moving in the right direction and that their parents sent them abroad to study so that when they return, they will better the lots of their families and by extension the whole country. On their fear on the stability of the country and national economy, he made them realise that only cowards run away from war fronts in a knowledge century. While telling them that he restricted himself to technology business, he pointed out that it was the duty of every Nigerian to defend the homeland and that they should not join few of our brothers and sisters in the UK praying for the Naira to be devalued so that their few pounds could be exchanged for more Naira so that they could visit home to intimidate other Nigerians.
He equated such people to those Nigerian elites praying for oil price to continue to go up so that they would have more cash in their banks forgetting that the higher the oil price, the less quality of life for the general populace. He analysed that lower oil price would stimulate quality life, reduce cost of doing business and engender the creation of more successful SMEs.This in turn, he said, would reduce the challenges of unemployment which has remained a major headache to the country. Going further he said, “I am sure you are feeling the global panic over falling oil price in some nations while some structured knowledge-driven nations are celebrating. How can you depend on what you don’t have control over when you can use a free gift from God – that is your brain power and create unimaginable wealth?”
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On the question of how he has managed to survive in the technology business in the last 26years with all the challenges facing the country, he said, “You have to be very positive about yourself, your business and the nation before you can achieve anything. My team and I have struggled against all odds to remain relevant in a nation that sees oil as almost everything. I must also inform you that there have been positive signals from government in the last ten years to support technology entrepreneurs. At Zinox Group, we talk about technology evolution and not revolution and are confident that as one of the main pioneers of the ICT sector in West Africa we shall benefit from our sweat.” He affirmed that very soon Zinox Group would launch the “Zinox Vision 2040” which would encapsulate the Group’s road map for the nation, West African Sub-region and the continent of Africa. He ended by apologizing for not engaging with them before then.
Ben Uzor
