Is Technology in Nigeria already forming CABALs ? (Warning RANT included)

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I know i know, i’m posting this on Tech"cabal" … No Pun intended hehehe…

On a serious note, the idea that technology is the new oil is, while encouraging, also posing a lot of concerns in the industry. As was and is still prolific in the Oil sector, there seems to be some growing “CABALLIC” formations in our burgeoning ecosystem, this poses a lot of concern for me.

Modern technology is in its purest form is positioned to disrupt cabalic structures to allow for organic innovation to permeate through a system. This is one of the huge successes recorded in the last 5-10 years in the ICT industry. Information in the ICT sector is indeed very powerful and unfortunately, like most things Nigerian (ergo African),the little information we have is hoarded in circles, and those privileged to have access to it first claim chairmanship. The rest are left to pick up scraps and those that can’t assume a trouble laden mindset where they feel they can only get info for favors. In my opinion, “info for favors” is one of the highest contributing factors to the wide spread proliferation of corruption in developing world.

The 2nd troubling concern is the idea that only a select few can make or break you. The thought of this riles me uncontrollably!!! :angry: … The main reason I chose not to relocate to the citadel of power (FCT) to chase get rich quick contracts despite all the easy connections I had, is because quite frankly, I detest the thought that my success is dependent on how someone else feels in the morning…So the idea that someone can do the same with my darling technology is a no no for me!

Technology is really a true reflection of PMB’s famous line “…I belong to everyone and I belong to no one…”. That you are a respected name in the ecosystem (at the moment ), is no reason to impose your own self righteous bureaucracy so you feel like a chairman.

side note One of the most disappointing experiences I had recently was when I sent a FB message to a guy in the ecosystem, someone whose zeal and work I admire, and after not replying for almost a week despite having read my message finally replies saying “… you could have sent this in an email though, won’t that have been better?”… This is an ICT stalwart, a technology guru by all accounts and a known name in this ecosystem that champions the plight of the small man (apparently), asking me to send an email rather than a FB message. Needless to say I was horribly disappointed and to think my request wouldn’t have cost him a thing to respond…is it because i didn’t send the email it took you 5 days to respond?? or are you just so much of a bad guy that you can’t respond facebook for fear of losing your badguyness loll side note end*.

When I see the Ben Horowitz’s of this world and their response/respect for all information/opinions regardless of source, I look at my experience above and start to see why we as a people refuse to progress.

Another side note* Another well respected individual in the ecosystem tried to play a fast one on a friend of mine who by the way is the most technologically agnostic person ever. As any wise person without knowledge in the sector will do, she invited me to consult for her company in the dealings with this individual… first a whatsapp group was created, with myself and this guy added only for the guy to leave immediately… his reason - she divulged his personal information without consulting him…i’m like hollup hollup, firstly, is the guy the dalai lama that his personal info is gold frankincense and myrrh and secondly, it’s this same guy, who i have all his information by the way, that is supposed to be leading the charge for openness and fairness in the industry…he even went as far as threatening legal action, the poor babe was trembling in trepidation ( God bless her soul, she’s the type that apologizes even when she’s right), I told her not to worry… fast forward a couple weeks later, after trying without success to get the guy to honor her rightful request, she sends an email formally introducing me as her consultant and asking the guy to relate with me… yep you guessed right, he never bothered to reply… he told her on the side that she was embarrassing him and starts spitting all sorts of fire about her lack of professional etiquette :expressionless::expressionless: :expressionless: :expressionless: … the story hasn’t concluded yet, when it does, all may/may not be revealed…depending on what mood i’m in :unamused: …side note ended

Bottom line, I’m very worried that the same beleaguered characteristics we experienced in other growing sectors are quickly creeping into our precious startup ecosystem which in itself is a startup. We need to devolve ourselves of over-bloated egos and narcissistic behaviors and operate on a flat hierarchy for us to even have a platform on which the industry will be built successfully…Death to the Cabal I say, Death to the Cabal !!!

N.B: this is not a slight against TechCabal in any form imaginable, please ooohhh… that is one cabal i can say is very welcome :wink: :smile: washing guys

lolll…

SG1

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Interesting.

I’ll be brief. Your anecdotes do not worry me to be honest (tbh?).

As for the Facebook one, leaving aside the way the response was given, I personally prefer to sent emails so I can involve other people if need be (e.g forward, cc in reply etc).

I think cliques always form in any industry. sports, fashion and co. However, it is usually detrimental to young industries if the chaps in the industry are not primarily operating 50% of the time via meritocracy.

If these cabals are making things all connection like the hardware days, corruption and incompetence will thrive and the best will not survive or bubble up.

Like when a bunch of techosystem leaders went looking for tax waivers for their personal companies when they had audience with an important minister. Of course the person looked at them as selfish fuckers and they lost their chance to help the ecosystem and themselves by extension.

What will help this ecosystem is if more right minded people attain the position of influence (maybe you?). Just like Alibaba did for our comedy industry.

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@OoTheNigerian you make sense… With cliques come collaboration, with cabals come sycophancy and unwarranted pseudo-bureaucracy. (In my best obahiagbon voice)

While sending emails for me also makes perfect sense, there’s nothing stopping a response to a FB msg initially which subsequently may or may not lead to an official email. Most deals are closed in unofficial channels and formalized afterwards… It’s bigmanisim that worries me not the preference of Comms channel.

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Your anecdotes just may be more personal quirks than representative of the whole industry.

  1. Not everyone logs into Facebook regularly. If someone doesn’t log in or doesn’t read their Facebook messages in 5 days, it probably wasn’t a slight on you. That particular person probably reads his email more frequently, and would have responded quicker. These things are a personal preference.

  2. It’s usually polite to inform people that they’re going to be added to a Whatsapp group or email list or other groups BEFORE they’re actually added. Could he have been more polite and handled it better? Definitely! But then we have to understand that a lot of people abuse the personal information (phones, email addresses) of others.

Think about all the spam you get and the people that sold or gave away that information.

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Trust me, I can relate to this…but truth is, monopoly is one thing the internet seems stongly grounded against…

Nigerians are Nigerians be it in Tech or politics …find your way all through that. Be that one person that the bad guys can’t be.

And for your experience, there is professionalism, courtesy, patience, and mis/understanding…

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Beautiful feature of FB chat is there’s a notification once the message has been read - so there goes the reason (excuse) about not logging into FB (chat) regularly.

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My anecdotes are my examples, i’m sure a lot more people will share theirs if they had the chance.

Facebook shows me when you read my messages, so no excuse there… yes email is preferred for most things, but if the reason you didn’t reply my messages was because it was on Facebook then that’s bigmanism

  1. Re whatsapp, i understand impoliteness… threatening someone with legal action for adding you to a whatsapp group though??? And re email list, no i don’t agree!! For all intents and purposes, I was part of her company albeit acting as a consultant, so it’s her prerogative when or when not to include me in the conversation.

I agree re spam, but we’re talking amongst supposed “industry friends” here, no need to get hostile when there’s no need to get hostile.

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Fair and square points… but do these actions imply that there is a cabal forming that is trying to exclude you from something? Many people have had emails or Facebook messages that they’ve forgotten to reply even if they meant no harm.

And yes, a threat of a lawsuit was quite excessive. But should these two guys be reflective of the whole tech industry?

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@yoowai a forgotten reply could’ve sounded more like “hey i’m sorry i didn’t reply earlier, but i prefer to get emails rather than fb msgs”…Now, i’m not bitter or anything as I would meet the same guy and we will probably have drinks. My concern is when I start hearing one or two similar reports across the spectrum and I know for a fact that these characters up until very recently were the ones campaigning for the exact opposite of what they are portraying.

I won’t ultimately say they are fully representative of the industry, but like I said i’m sure many of us if put on the spot will share similar examples… i’m just raising awareness to the danger… we shouldn’t be victims of our own comfort levels… we need to kill this turn-by-turn mentality quick!

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There is a cabal. We have exclusivity in various forms in the industry. We have gate keepers. We have chairmen them. We have those you can’t have access to, or won’t return your calls once they get to a certain relevance, or raised a seed. Oh and BTW, referrals are such a big deal here.

Denying or defending this, is running from the truth. In my mind, nothing is still quite mature here, so those who have been privileged to make the first hit, see themselves as the new gods, which is okay, and the others as inadequate or not smart enough or whatever idea it may be they have.

What I’ll say, if you knock a door and its locked indefinitely, knock a new door. Or still find your way, and be great. At the end of the day, no ones owes you shit. When you ever do become great though, be helpful as much as you can be. Don’t be like the ones, before you.

What made Silicon valley that we worship, be so great is the act of helpfulness. It is the act that the next big thing can come from anywhere, and the guy on flip flop, could well, be a millionaire or a billionaire.

A friend in SF noted one time, connecting with a local founder. I did the mutual connection. The conversation became condescending instantly because my friend was not a “cofounder/CEO”, irregardless of even knowing who he was or may have done.

There’s a cabal. End of. It exists. It is major especially because we are Nigerians and our ego is huge like Donald Trump after a slight success or fame. If you are young and smart, and you spot or sense ego or some condescending, bro move on. Kill the connection.

http://www.paulgraham.com/ronco.html

" First they IGNORE you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win" - Gandhi.

Another thing of course: Don’t waste people’s time. In as much as there is a form of ‘cabal’ as it is, when you ever get any access to anyone or a group that can help you, don’t waste their time. Be as resourceful as you can be. Make your meeting/conversation worth it. Nobody is your daddy.

It is quite hard to speak against what you are part of, or benefit directly from. But it is what it is.

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Sweeping generalisation based on 2 bad experiences is not something you’ll like to be known by.

On the issues you pointed out.
Information flow:
Information is a privilege, not a right. Those who need it go out there to find it.

However, I don’t think the problem with our ecosystem is closed system, I think people are very open and accessible around here and if you ask the right questions, you’ll be overwhelmed with encouraging answers (plus the fact that everything is online anyways).

But we have big issues with loud, inexperienced guys who post anything they like on public forums, openly attack and condemn the people we should be taking advice from and brag about the absolute nothing they have achieved just because they have a domain name and some HTML pages sitting on a hosting account. No respect for experience. That just alienate them. Which is why I hate seeing petty bickerings here on Radar, they’ll drive away people who have important things to say.

Plus many people take information for granted, so the people who know won’t even bother telling more. But guys are generally helpful here if you ask nicely.

On Facebook messages and cold mailing:
No one is obliged to respond to your cold messages, you don’t get entitled to people’s attention unless you are paying a consultant. If someone doesn’t respond to you, gently try again some other time or simply move on. It’s not like the person is your God, or is he holding the keys to your destiny? Not to talk of when he actually responds and tells you a better way to reach him and you are still complaining!

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It’s building up and its really not cool. Key thing we all need to understand is…table turns. You are in charge today doesn’t mean you will tomorrow. Simply saying yes or no solves a lot of problems and eleliminate assumption (crudest level of intelligence). What do you do after you go out of your way to do what is necessary to ensure you aren’t abusing previledge and you are still ignored even after multiple physical meetings?

Best decision is always to walk away and remove the bitterness from ones mind and move on. There is a statement Gbenga Sesan (@gbengasesan) made some 6yrs ago and I have it etched in my mind; “No one is too big not to be ignored and no one is too small to be insignificant.” Treat people with respect as you will loved to be treated. When you treat people like shit, you are only showing how shitty you are.

#StayHungryStayFoolish

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First of all 'read" dont mean it was the account owner who saw it. Some people intentionally delegate FB and for some others, their FB account is now controlled by a very busy Wife.
So lay off the FB argument.

Also, how many emails do you think the average startup founder deals with each day? And how many skype sessions. Have you worked with clients across US and SouthAsia time zones?
Do you understand how hard it is to get things going?
So imagine the more famous startups. How many emails and skype sessions could they do daily?

People are genuinely stressed out. Please understand when you don’t get a great response.

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Yea. The busy-bragging.

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I have had first hand experience of how high handed some of this people can be included yourself. No surprise you were the first to reply. I wont be surprised if these article was talking about you.

Funny people.

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My first encounter was with Oo. I used to look at his contributions on Techcabal and i figured he was a cool guy until i tried reaching him.

Not to brag but I have had a fair amount of success in Nigerian terms, a little more than the bulk of your “big guys” on here and I am the easiest person to reach, you can discuss with me and i listen and learn because you never know what you can learn from the most unassuming person.

I don’t know why we feel the need to act bigger than we are though. My father used to tell me that if you come to a place its best to sit at the back and be invited to the front than to sit at the front and get called to the back. The ecosystem is still in its infancy and some people have already formed chairmen on absolute 0. Its sad.

Time would tell who deserves to be in the front and who should sit their asses in the back. I got my eye on you Oo.

Lol

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If I was a betting man, I would bet that you’re a usual Radarian but you chose to go anonymous to throw dirt!

How pathetic is that? Throw slime in the shadow because you’re too timid to show your face?

On a related note, instead of ‘JesusChrist’, are you not better choosing ‘Judas Iscariot’ , as you’re more of a ‘traitor’ than a ‘saviour’ ?

Honestly can’t speak for @OoTheNigerian, but it will be good not to dignify people like this with a response.

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Jesus wouldn’t approve.

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I dey waka pass…@JesusChrist oya…show ya face!

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This is a needed post for the ecosystem, the Nigerian factor has seeped deep into the psyche of most founders who otherwise should counciously work against, if you have not experienced it. (Do write a note/ email to guys who post update on twitter regularly, that you know. Either you know Someone who knows their email but cannot introduce you or you got the email through gmail search), by Nigerian factor I meant, the factor of making decisions to communicate or provide support to request from upcomers whom is considered not in my league, the founders make this decision based on Ego and tribalism, I was testing this random theory recently in september, I wrote several emails to founders in Hospitality, Fin tech, entertainment. I wrote 6 emails, the only reply I got was from the guy who is not a Nigerian, very encouraging email with a great feedback and links to people to support where he observe great shortcomings, that reply took 24 hours, I have never met him, I just use the gmail search service to get some of their emails, (yep you can know the email address of everyone on gmail, there is no one in tech without a gmail account, except he is a learner, also with domain Whois you can know the public email of all founders and right guess their professional email, with yesware you can view who read your email) I cant post the link for gmail search am on a phone, but if anyone doubt I will post the link here,) anyways, Nigerians are terrible in Managing success, success to a nigerian, means avoiding people who is not your peer, if you comment on popular figures in the world twitter’s post with a nice not groveling comment they either retweet or favorite your tweet, do that on a Nigerian if its not effusive praise singing that makes their head to swell or if its not insulting, they wont acknowledge, I have written cold emails to founders of techstars, david cohen,mark cuban, andy sack, paul graham, and they reply with advice and links to their program to apply, on their programs, I applied but was not accepted, these founders understand a well thought out emails and can see your personality in it, Nigerians see a great email request and they are already asking themselves who do you think you are to write to me without introduction? Technology do not need any intro, intro is great but if you are a leader in the public eye and you cannot provide tech advice or support, because you are scared of investment request you are shutting down every new person that comes your way it shows one thing only, you are not a visionary, because you are scared of the future, your luck will continues because of funding after funding dry up, you will become like Jumia et all who do not innovate, when your competitors catch up with you…

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