Why are some Nigerians overly pessimistic? and what is the future of the next generation of entrepreneurs in Nigeria?

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This post is in response to the backlashing I came across in this job post also duplicated here

I have decided to copy my comments on it, as a post below.

After seeing the replies on this thread, I was forced to create an account and comment.

I heard about http://radar.techcabal.com a few months ago, when a friend recommended it, deeming it an online community where tech entrepreneurs in Nigeria discuss.
I visited this site and I was happy to find a gathering of like-minded people. I planned I would register.
But my interest dropped rapidly after several visits.

Normally I should visit this site regularly to see good collaborative and educative content.
But instead, I am forced to visit only once in a while, just to see if their are topics that are worth checking. Topics that don’t involve utter negativity or insults.

I did a quick search on @JohnEnoh, and came across his profile

Why should an experienced Senior Engineer like him, with many great skills, a present and future thought leader with years of experience, get responses like this???
What disparagement!!!

You know, there is a theory about opinions that I have.
That “human opinions influence human opinions”.
The first response to this job vacancy post was a negative one.
This response definitely influenced the second one. And the chain goes on.
The first few response having greater strength in the chain, as they appear first.

Sometimes, it is better to keep shut, than to say something stupid.
If you have nothing to bring to the table. You might as well just not go to the table.
Not everything is everyone’s concern.
Not everything is everyone’s business.
If many humans would simply mind their business. There would be many businesses in the world.

Like @Akinmail rightly said, “The requirements up there are not really out of place”.
Many of the skills are all related. A good software engineer focuses and becomes proficient in at least 1 programming language, but will have delved into some other languages or skills. Such person is also able to adapt easily when the need comes to learn or other languages or skills.

Some of the listed requirements are only concepts and API’s. And even if you don’t know them, you can learn about them in just few minutes/hours of reading. e.g. Aspect-oriented programming
You don’t have to me a master of a skill to use it. And you get to improve over time.

Being a good software engineer doesn’t just involve writing code. It also involves knowing programming concepts, paradigms and methodologies like some mentioned above. Social skills are also vital.

Like @JohnEnoh also rightly said. Fullstack is the current trend.
And I think a software engineer should at least have some knowledge of the mentioned skills.
For example, RESTful API / REST API listed is only an architectural style that is widely used.
And Spring is only a Java framework for creating applications and it has support for Aspect-oriented programming.

I think only a non-software engineer would see this list as long. Or perhaps a naive software engineer that doesn’t (want to) explore or know programming concepts. Its like saying you know how to drive a car, but you can only drive one particular car model or more like trying to fight a war in this present age, equipped only with a Sword.

Someone mentioned that the pay will be “N100k or even less”. How do you know?
And please understand that life is not all about money. There are more important things like being happy. Like being fulfilled.
And it is never about how much money you make. Its more about how happy you are.
If you spend all of your life making money. When will you live?
And how much money would you make that you would be satisfied with life?
If you have an answer to the latter question, then you are still drifting across the earth.
But if you don’t, then you have just/already conquered and discovered yourself. You now/already have a path to follow.
Being successful is not all about money. Its about being happy and living a fulfilled life.

I know software engineers in Nigeria who earn as much as N1.5 to N2.5 million naira per month.
And at all times, life treats you how you treat it. You get what you give.

Like @JohnEnoh said, he already has a few foreign developers. He is only trying to help his fellow country men and women.
And in this age, Remote opportunity is a great way to work.

You should ask yourself:
Do you feel fulfilled saying negative things to other people?
Do you feel happy saying negative things to other people??
what reward do you gain when you belittle another??
Would you be happy if someone did the same to you??

Religion speaks of evil spirits.
Evil spirit is not just a person possessed with Demons.
Evil spirit also refers to the little thoughts that come to your mind to make
you do bad acts e.g. Insulting someone you don’t even know or have sexual lust.
Evil spirit are the little things you do. The negative things you say.

Imaging adding up all the wasted time spent insulting and backlashing other people?
This time could and should be spent doing better productive things.

How else would the country not be in recession, when a great percentage of the people are focused on
activities that lead to recession?
And to be frank, there is no recession. Its is just the creation of the human mind.
Recession in the minds of those who are pessimistic. There are many living in bliss at this moment.

Please be careful what you say and how you act. Your past might come back to hunt you.
There are cases of prospective employees who get in trouble, simply based on their past naive social media posts.

A first time viewer, as is at the moment, would probably not even be encouraged to sign up to this website. This will be even more evident in young people, who want to pursue a tech/entrepreneurial career, and probably only visiting for some inspiration and direction in life.

Things need to change, considering the next generation of entrepreneurs.
I say this because this site will/is definitely affect(ing) the dreams and aspirations of the younger ones.

I saw a post that raised something similar before If Zuckerberg had dropped his idea on Radar .
And like this poster @ajibigad said regarding criticism, "the way it is done on radar doesn’t look nice."

And if you argue with someone, of which I recommend simply. discussing instead,
If you can successfully prove a valid point to a person, you have helped them and not yourself(contrary to the winning mentality).

I am sure their are many very intelligent people who wish to participate in this forum, but hardly ever want to be involved, due to the inherent negativity.

I don’t personally know any of the founders of this forum. But it is obvious is that @lordbanks and @seyitaylor are a persons of great positive attitude.
I only hope that this forum moves in the same direction as well.
There should be more interactive posts and feedbacks like this or this.

Take for an example, the recent visit of Mark Zuckerberg to Nigeria.
Do you know how powerful it is for the future of our next generation?
Do you know many kids will be inspired to change the world?
Do you know how many “Marks Zuckerbergs” will be created just by his visit??

Initiatives like http://relearn.ng/ , http://audax.com.ng/code-school/ and http://teencoders.com.ng/ will create great minds of tomorrow. And I am very happy about this for my country.

Please know that your actions influences you and those around you. I am very concerned about the young ones who need to be inspired.

@JohnEnoh please don’t be discouraged and take no offence in the what you have read.
As words are just symbols. Its only our interpretations that matter.
Its its only what you want to feel that truly matters, and you control this.

A majority of humans are on the wrong side.
And like Mark twain Said, “Whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority, it is time to pause and reflect”.
There are many great talents in Nigeria. You just need to filter based on attitude. As attitude says it all.

And in everything you do ask:
Will this action add any good value to my life?
Will this action add any good value to any other person’s life?

Because most of these backlashes don’t add any good value to your life. Neither does it to that of the recipient.
The problem with bad behaviour is that if its done too much. It kind of seems to be the norm.
Perhaps this is not just a Nigerian problem. Its a human problem, where majority see negativity as the norm,
as this is what the mass media portrays. That is why I don’t even listen to the news or watch TV.

Eleanor Roosevelt once said
"Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people."

Its really up to you to decide where you want to find yourself in life.
But I never judge people though, for most times they might not know that they are wrong.
Some are even living their past experience. And you never know “why?”, until you ask.

As as side note, I also noticed that when you meet some people for the first time. Its all about competition.
Trying to place someone above you or below. We are all the same. We are all equal.
Life is not a competition. We will all die in the end.
Instead of competing against each other, we should compete with ourself to be a better versions of our previous self.

We should try not to focus on unimportant things like what a person looks like, what accent a person speaks with, how good a person’s grammar is, how well dressed a person is or how much money a person has etc.
The most important things is a person’s mind and what good you can learn from them and also what good you can give teach to them, be one it richer/poorer, younger/older, male/female etc.

For example, Why should speaking good English be a requirement in life? If a person is not educated, chances are their English wont be good. If a person speaks a language other than English, does it automatically mean they are stupid?
Intelligence/wisdom does not have a language.

And even a stupid person is stupid because that person is stupid. The best you can do is help a stupid person realise their stupidity, so they can start being smart. Not trying to make them more stupid, only because they are already stupid.

I Imagine @JohnEnoh becomes occupies a very high position or becomes a great billionaire in the near future. Some of these backlashers might even boast that they know him and used to chat with him on this forum.

I hope the focus will shift from negativity and insults, and instead lean towards positivity and constructive criticism in the form of feedback.

Positivity will lead you to greater heights. Negativity will lead you to nowhere.
We are the choices we make.
###Peace

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sometimes when i read up some posts on radar, I’m like… do u guys even visit quora at all…why all these negativity? what good does it do to bash other people? 9 out of 10 of the time I read up comments on quora…I just admire how gracefull most people there make comments even on some silly topics …like " what type of computer does Elon Musk use"
Here when someone raises an idea no matter how stupid it is we should try to encourage and guide. It seems some people here just feel too big and shoot down on people ideas (instantly they are market experts, UX experts, feasibility study moguls etc) and hardly anyone recommend methodologies like Lean Startup or the Lean Canvas…instead we become master of all deciding what WILL work and what WILL not work.

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This… was a bit too much OP, considering the context was poorly-constructed job posting, but okay.

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You are a good pikin

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First of all, if you read this whole epistle, put your hands up! I only see a few hands up.

Seriously though, someone with those qualifications posting stuff like this and you wonder why Radar was harsh to them.

Maybe Radar isn’t Quora. Maybe it is HN or Reddit.

Sometimes I wonder if we Africans know that there’s a difference between being rude and being frank.

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Much text.

TL;DR

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that’s the Radarian way, I haven’t seen a Java Developer who develops in Spring that won’t touch Aspect Oriented Programming or the JPA. then again this is a PHP/JS Camp so i guess responses like this are not out of place.

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Please add a TL;DR my attention span has waned over the years.

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Your post is ridiculously long, but I read the whole thing.

I also read all referenced threads and the comments.

I think the job poster’s job advert was very poorly done.

That being said, the responses were a little harsh in the sense that he was clearly a newbie.

I don’t think there’s anything wrong with Radar being a tough place.

I’ll invite anyone especially the mods to correct me or disagree with me on this but I believe the initial spirit with which Radar began was that we were tired of the same old mediocrity that permeates everything in Nigeria, including the tech scene which is TechCabal and Radar’s focus.

So when you come here, you should bring your A game. The atmosphere is casual but at the same time the people here hold themselves to a higher standard than say the average Nigerian, whom I will venture with no shade implied, is represented by the average Nairalander.

You mentioned @JohnEnoh is a senior developer. Well you don’t get to that level without thoroughly understanding the importance of knowing your audience and playing to the audience.

His post demonstrates neither.

Radar isn’t a place where the usual nebulous job ad with a laundry list of requirements and vague compensation details if any, common to Nigerian job boards is well received.

@JohnEnoh should have read through the other job posts, including the comments, noted which had great reactions, and tailored his own post accordingly.

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He requested for a Java Developer and listed the skills , that’s all that’s needed to inform the applicant for that position, even on LinkedIn it’s the same style of how jobs are laid out. there’s no need for a long description, Radar gains it’s popularity for being harsh with the conception that’s it’s cool to be harsh for no reason, this is a common pattern and it’s nothing new, only reason we’re discussing it, is because it’s being called on it’s BS.

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Here is a comment

I strongly doubt you have been coding for 15 years, unless you were just building stuff with Dream weaver or have been coding in isolation. Am also curious about your said “international team” everything in your post is screaming Run!

Oh maybe am wrong maybe this is Radar being nice.

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everything in Nigeria is about money.

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You people sound way too hurt by this. I dare you to go on somewhere like HN and just dump a laundry list of qualifications and see if you won’t get similar criticism. Software devs (outside of Nigeria) have complained about job descriptions like that (usually made by semi-clueless recruiters) for ages. There are countless job threads made on this site where people have corrected poorly-written job posts. Do your research before making a thread of your own, then we won’t need this novel-length lamentation threads. The responses you’re seeing are the result of people constantly seeing unrealistic job postings with poor salaries. Most people don’t wake up in the morning with the intention to harass job posters on Radar.

I also agree with @Sugabelly about not minding a tough crowd. Tough crowds encourage higher standards. I’m tired of Nigerians always begging to be treated with kid gloves. It’s a competitive world, and our inability to tell each other something isn’t good is why we continue to produce mediocre products. As long as there’s no name-calling, some of you need to get over it.

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Can I just like this response more than once?

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Am sorry to say this, but our Nigerian (African) mentality on encouragement of toughness is what brought most of the problems we have in our society today. Remember our parents been strict and tough like stones, thinking it only will make us better persons in the future and ironically misinterpreting the bible quotation of “Spare the rod and spoil the child”, while our Western counterparts were promoting love, reward and encouragement as a means to shape their family and society . Its psychology…pure psychology and the basis of “radar being though is all wrong” and it wont create the necessary (solid) foundation for bright and enthusiastic future tech entrepreneurs in Nigeria. Its a competitive world no doubt but do we have to always lose our foresight because “Nigerians always like money”?. We have the opportunity to use tech and make a difference (Change the World…while not trying to sound too cliche) and constructive criticism, healthy competition and community is the way to go.

A case study is the Canadian tech community of Waterloo and Silicon Valley in its early days

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I don’t think Radar allows people to copy out their comments from a thread and make it a brand new post. Especially not a really long post like this one. The original thread is still around, no need for this one.

PS: This is one of the reasons people get bashed here,

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Maybe your Nigeria and some other people’s Nigeria, but not everyone’s Nigeria.

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No I am not hurt by this. I am a live by and promote positivity.
Adults can, to some extent control their emotions.
I am more concerned about younger ones, who need to be inspired.
Who want someone to lookup to in life.

Imagine when you were a kid and some one you look up to, told you “You cant be anything in life??”
Do you know such could destroy your path in life??
Do you know you can kill a child’s future, simply by the things you say??

Being tough and beating a child only reduces a child’s intelligence.
If a child does wrong, the best you can do is sit him/her down and show him/her what is right.
Drew Houston of dropbox started programming at the age of 5. These people were shown love. That is what contributed to their success.

I think you should strive to inspire people. This way you will be happier and same for the other person.

Please spend a day on quora.
You will see that their is a better approach to discussions.
They are have a strict policy Be Nice, Be Respectful (BNBR),
which is enforced and the quality of the content you read is amazing.

Even questions that might seem stupid, will end up generating amazing answers.

And this is not just about this job post. It is more about the general pessimistic attitude of some Nigerians in this forum and in the country as a whole.

Like I said in my post.

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Lol I wish I were hurt over this it would mean I can get offended by radarian hipsters. Anyway I get your point. But can you point out a criteria in that posting that doesn’t apply to a Java Spring Developer ?