Osaretin Victor Asemota

🏴‍☠️| 🇬🇭 | 🇹🇬 |🇧🇯 | 🛸| Sempre libera | Familia ante omnia | Laborare Est Orare | We build, or else…| To book a chat -

[Osaretin Victor Asemota @asemota]

Things you can call BigChief on @Calendly to discuss:

Business ideas ✅
Strategy ✅
Mekwe ❌
Criminal plans ❌
Politics ❌
Career advice ✅
Startup founder issues ✅
Fundraising advice ✅
Parenting and marriage ✅

Can you pay for others as gifts? ✅

https://t.co/o1DR4mfBxi

[Victor Nosa Uwaifo @VNUwaifo]

Big Chief

Many thanks for this write up, it’s both timely and relevant.

I had wanted to jump in and reply, but I read your post again, and realized the most important part was at the end: “help them to help us”.

The little I know about the ‘psychology’ of the successful Nigerian business mogul is that they’re comfortable with what they know that works (and they control), and wary of everything else, as Ironically, and I may be totally wrong, they’re very risk adverse when it comes to ventures they don’t fully understand.

So in many cases as you note, we may need to show them an idea that actually works in the ‘wild’, and with their support, it can become something truly great.

Anyone for a privately funded ‘Nigerian Academy of Mathematical and Computational Research’?

[Oguntoye Oluwaseyi @seyioguntoye]

@asemota TEP initiative is not making impact because $5k doesn't do anything for founder or business in Nigeria. It's just food and rent money for a couple of months. Instead of giving that to thousands, why not give more but to a selected few that hold better promise.

[Osaretin Victor Asemota @asemota]

@afalli @ajulunzewi That is very interesting. I think they need to raise more awareness.

[Osaretin Victor Asemota @asemota]

That Dangote grant shows that he has too many “low-quality” people around him. You want to do something good, and it somehow ends up being less than the barest minimum. It shows that it wasn't his idea, and he couldn't really be bothered.

He tasked others who are also less bothered and have minimal interaction with the innovation ecosystem. The cycle of “anyhowness” continues. They are richer by the day and are worshipped by most, so who cares??

Aliko’s relationship with Bill Gates and the lack of impact it has had on local innovation remain the greatest mysteries.

Pierre Omidyar’s philanthropy, combined with targeted interventions by Google, laid the foundation for the software talent stack we have in Africa today. Nothing else sensible was added to it by our wealthy beyond performative acts of charity.

One program that also bothers me is Tony Elumelu’s entrepreneurship initiative. TEP. It is underperforming. A lot of announcements and money have been spent, but there has not been enough impact. I don't think it has been properly run, and it is not his fault. Like Dangote, he has people around him who also do the barest minimum but make the most announcements.

Heirs is a phenomenal institution that I would like to see receive more focus, and they should play a more active role in ecosystem building than Oga Tony’s personal philanthropic activities. Maybe it is all our fault. We have not presented these men with viable ideas for how to do this or with the structure to implement them.

I learned a lot from Edo Innovates about how good intentions can amount to little if you wait for money to come before taking action. Structure first, support next. Both are active, not passive, processes. Jim Ovia and Moniepoint are excellent examples of how to do it. There are many other startups he has supported quietly that are doing great. It is still not enough.

Dangote, Elumelu, Jim Ovia, and others can invest in initiatives that can be white-labeled for their brands and are also very effective. I have seen that with Village Capital’s partnerships and not much else in Africa. We need to do better than criticize them. We can also help them to help us.

[Osaretin Victor Asemota @asemota]

Happy to hear about more like this.

[Dr. Cici | Freelance Writer. Physician @NCbassey]

@DangoteCement My cousin won @TonyElumeluFDN grant.

Changed the trajectory of his life, & family.

Used the $5000 to scale his biz

Used profits to employ dozens

Now lives in Sweden while his biz is flourishing

Long Tony Elumelu!

[Dr. Cici | Freelance Writer. Physician @NCbassey]

@DangoteCement My cousin won @TonyElumeluFDN grant.

Changed the trajectory of his life, & family.

Used the $5000 to scale his biz

Used profits to employ dozens

Now lives in Sweden while his biz is flourishing

Long Tony Elumelu!

[Osaretin Victor Asemota @asemota]

Please show us. I want to know and learn more.

[Deba Akenuwa @RealMedicoDeba]

You say Tony Elumelu foundation is 'underperforming'... When he basically gives a grant of $5k to more than 3000 entrepreneurs yearly. You didn't even research the impact these companies have made but if you did, then I would advise YOU DO A BETTER JOB AND SHOW US PERFORMANCE

[Dr. Cici | Freelance Writer. Physician @NCbassey]

Most respectfully sir,

Tony's program TEP

Has made a generational impact.

They don't package it ot market it enough but

My God!

Also @DangoteCement prize is an

unprecendented disgrace of cataclysmic proportion.

I say so as a shareholder. 🤣

[Eucheria Luke @theeucheria]

@ajulunzewi @asemota That TEF grant scheme is the only thing that has single-handedly saved 90% of the thriving existing SMEs we have. I know firsthand that we would have fared 90x worse as a nation without it. I can give you details of at least 1000 SMEs who're pushing well because of it

[Stateless @CodeDrogo]

@asemota Same with Pastors for me

[Osaretin Victor Asemota @asemota]

@OlolaTohRhea 🤣🤣🤣🤣

[Osaretin Victor Asemota @asemota]

I have friends who are older and very fit because of their lifestyle. They don't drink or smoke and exercise daily. They also have the most unfit kids who don't follow their example. This has always worried me as I am raising young children. I have also seen families with hard-working and wealthy parents who raise the laziest and most entitled children.

We always want our children to do better than us, but when and where does this go wrong for most people? I think it comes from the time and attention we personally give our kids and the lapses we allow.

My wife and I are early risers. I have a particular sleep problem I am still trying to solve, but my kids can sleep all day on vacation if you let them. A friend with an older son who had just graduated and was back home, jobless, used to tell me how alarmed he was that the son would go out all night, come back early in the morning, and sleep all day.

I told him then that if he didn't force him to change that habit, he would remain jobless and stay with his parents longer. They eventually forced him to change, and he moved out. He has a job now and struggles a lot. His parents are concerned that he isn't thriving. He is now almost 30, and I think about this all the time. At 25, I was a beast and had started many businesses.

While we want our kids and young adults to experience life on their own terms in a world vastly different from the one we grew up in, we can't help but notice that others whose children were more disciplined are thriving better. One indicator I have seen that correlates with success in younger people is fitness.

A friend’s son started going to the gym regularly, and he even inspired his cousins to do so. I checked on LinkedIn recently, and he is doing exceptionally well as a lawyer and investment banker without any family connections or assistance. His younger cousins, who are looking up to him, are following in his footsteps. I decided to get my kids to spend more time with him.

The role models our children need may be closer to their age than ours. It is why we need to amplify the lifestyles of young, disciplined, and successful people more. Not every person will make it through creative pursuits. I stress this to my kids all the time. There are billions of YouTube channels, but there is only one MrBeast or IShowSpeed.

Social media is highlighting more unrealistic role models than the most useful ones. My daughter is likely one of the most intelligent young children that I know, but because she doesn't want to be seen as a nerd, she is adapting to popular culture to blend in, in a way that scares me. This sometimes affects the way she learns. While I don't want to restrict her now from experiencing the world, I have realized that she needs different role models.

My son’s role models are nerds, and he nerds out in ways that surprise me and it is also worrying. We can be watching a movie, and he goes online to research it and summarise the plot so he can leave to code. He is not experiencing life enough outside the internet.

They will either eventually be ok in a world very different from ours or struggle in a world that becomes worse than ours, without the skills to build personal resilience and strong social skills.

I recently had a personal experience that made me realize I was fortunate to have left home early and to have different role models from my parents. Having a broken home led to different outcomes for my siblings and me, but the fact that I had strong personalities like my mother’s uncle and the uncles I grew up around helped me learn a lot more about life and priorities.

The world is a very complex place, and life is not a bed of roses. While we want the best outcomes for our kids, we have to finally admit that they will learn far more from others than they will ever learn from us. The best thing we can do for them is expose them to the right kind of people early enough, then hope and pray that we didn't misread those people.

[Ololade Ajayi will #RunForHer in #GRAF2 @OlolaTohRhea]

@asemota My uncle’s 9 year old daughter was arranging thee clothes she will wear throughout next week, last night.
I fell on my knees, I’m 30 years older but can’t aspire to her level of competency 😭 for some it’s innate 🤷‍♀️

[Osaretin Victor Asemota @asemota]

I have friends who are older and very fit because of their lifestyle. They don't drink or smoke and exercise daily. They also have the most unfit kids who don't follow their example. This has always worried me as I am raising young children. I have also seen families with hard-working and wealthy parents who raise the laziest and most entitled children.

We always want our children to do better than us, but when and where does this go wrong for most people? I think it comes from the time and attention we personally give our kids and the lapses we allow.

My wife and I are early risers. I have a particular sleep problem I am still trying to solve, but my kids can sleep all day on vacation if you let them. A friend with an older son who had just graduated and was back home, jobless, used to tell me how alarmed he was that the son would go out all night, come back early in the morning, and sleep all day.

I told him then that if he didn't force him to change that habit, he would remain jobless and stay with his parents longer. They eventually forced him to change, and he moved out. He has a job now and struggles a lot. His parents are concerned that he isn't thriving. He is now almost 30, and I think about this all the time. At 25, I was a beast and had started many businesses.

While we want our kids and young adults to experience life on their own terms in a world vastly different from the one we grew up in, we can't help but notice that others whose children were more disciplined are thriving better. One indicator I have seen that correlates with success in younger people is fitness.

A friend’s son started going to the gym regularly, and he even inspired his cousins to do so. I checked on LinkedIn recently, and he is doing exceptionally well as a lawyer and investment banker without any family connections or assistance. His younger cousins, who are looking up to him, are following in his footsteps. I decided to get my kids to spend more time with him.

The role models our children need may be closer to their age than ours. It is why we need to amplify the lifestyles of young, disciplined, and successful people more. Not every person will make it through creative pursuits. I stress this to my kids all the time. There are billions of YouTube channels, but there is only one MrBeast or IShowSpeed.

Social media is highlighting more unrealistic role models than the most useful ones. My daughter is likely one of the most intelligent young children that I know, but because she doesn't want to be seen as a nerd, she is adapting to popular culture to blend in, in a way that scares me. This sometimes affects the way she learns. While I don't want to restrict her now from experiencing the world, I have realized that she needs different role models.

My son’s role models are nerds, and he nerds out in ways that surprise me and it is also worrying. We can be watching a movie, and he goes online to research it and summarise the plot so he can leave to code. He is not experiencing life enough outside the internet.

They will either eventually be ok in a world very different from ours or struggle in a world that becomes worse than ours, without the skills to build personal resilience and strong social skills.

I recently had a personal experience that made me realize I was fortunate to have left home early and to have different role models from my parents. Having a broken home led to different outcomes for my siblings and me, but the fact that I had strong personalities like my mother’s uncle and the uncles I grew up around helped me learn a lot more about life and priorities.

The world is a very complex place, and life is not a bed of roses. While we want the best outcomes for our kids, we have to finally admit that they will learn far more from others than they will ever learn from us. The best thing we can do for them is expose them to the right kind of people early enough, then hope and pray that we didn't misread those people.

[Nkrumah Where You Dey @PanAfcnGenius]

@asemota They almost snatched a colleague of mine’s phone while she was making a call in a moving car. I was stunned 😂😂

[Funmito Obafemi @funmitor_]

@asemota I’d say you should introduce your daughter to places that can influence her mindset. E.g., boot camps.

When she sees other young girls around her age doing great things, she may adapt instead of toning it down. Environment always play a role in child raising.

[Mukom @perfexcellent]

true.

there is also a growing body of research that indicates that all those things parents take pride in

- music classes
- swimming
- daily reading

etc, have a much smaller impact over the longterm that we'd like to admin.

the problem i fear is that parents are too emotionally invested in that identity to give it up (plus since we don't know better)

[Osaretin Victor Asemota @asemota]

@Amarushakurr02 Read what I wrote again. Study Village Capital.

[Kenneth Kinyanjui @kenju254]

@asemota This !!! I honestly don’t know what I was thinking or my process 10-13 years ago, when I look back, I found that I had a wide range of role models that I picked up from without knowing.

[P.O @shpevents 🦋 - Social Hour Production @PhilipCKO]

@asemota Possible, possibly not. Around 1999 - 2005 heard first hand some stories that left me speechless. This act and the BEC syndicate works hand in hand.

Understood later that 'ịtụ ahịa' meant something else differently.

Ahhhh 😂

[King Josh @Josh_ObiOzor]

@asemota I’m in Capetown and I can’t buy agree with this message. We need more intentional billionaires.

[Osaretin Victor Asemota @asemota]

@SimplyJumoke A lot!! This is why I tell people to be prepared.