The Exchanges

Q There was a horrific stampede in the stadium where 90,000 young Nigerians were competing for jobs. What was the situation at the time? Why was there high unemployment? And how did that affect your life's direction?

A I mean, you know, for me, high unemployment has always been a fact of Nigeria's life. If you actually look at the economic history, and it's for a bunch of reasons. A lot of it is structural, right? Nigeria's median age is 19, meaning half the population is under the age of 19, half the population is over the age of 19. And to make matters worse, there's not a lot of university education. So, 12% participation rate. But you see, what happened in 2019, um, 20 14 brought it home to me for the first time. Because, you know, I was walking home, I was, I was running a startup at the time, it was called Fora, and I was just driving home from work, and Um, it was a Saturday and all these young people, 90,000 of them showed up for an immigration desk job. And look, this is not a high paying job. This is literally just sitting down, stamping people's passports. Yeah. 90,000 kids.

AI assessment note: “what happened in 2019, um, 20 14 brought it home to me”

Q It was fun to see that you're spending, you're, so you're, you're based in Africa, but you're spending a lot of time in Israel. You raise money there. You partner there. Why? What's going on with that?

A I think for me, one of it is, is my faith, right? So, you know, for us, we, you know, one of the things that we're enjoying to do as Christians is to pray for the peace of Jerusalem. So we, Jerusalem for us is a very revered place. And, um, what has really helped is, um, You know, we've had a very tough time in Nigeria-Israel relations, I'll say, um, you know, partially because of the regime in power is mostly Muslim. Um, and, and there's been, we've had to make an intentional effort to rebuild those bonds of brotherhood and friendship, uh, with Israel. Um, so for me, it's really like a spiritual mandate. And then, you know, the benefit, the bonus is, you know, you get the benefit of this incredible innovation ecosystem of People who literally build through walls and mountains, and they, you know, when you go to Israel, We just see so many things that amaze us in terms of the people's mentality, in terms of the, the strength of the culture, in terms of the fulfillment of prophecy, in terms of, uh, people's attitude to innovation, and it's inspiring. It's just an inspiring place to be. So we spent a lot of time there. Um, we, we, we had somebody who was part of the team there, you know, and we're looking for ways to just keep learning from Israel.

AI assessment note: “I think for me, one of it is, is my faith, right?”

Q It was fun to see that you're spending, you're, so you're, you're based in Africa, but you're spending a lot of time in Israel. You raise money there. You partner there. Why? What's going on with that?

A I think for me, one of it is, is my faith, right? So, you know, for us, we, you know, one of the things that we're enjoying to do as Christians is to pray for the peace of Jerusalem. So we, Jerusalem for us is a very revered place. And, um, what has really helped is, um, You know, we've had a very tough time in Nigeria-Israel relations, I'll say, um, you know, partially because of the regime in power is mostly Muslim. Um, and, and there's been, we've had to make an intentional effort to rebuild those bonds of brotherhood and friendship, uh, with Israel. Um, so for me, it's really like a spiritual mandate. And then, you know, the benefit, the bonus is, you know, you get the benefit of this incredible innovation ecosystem of People who literally build through walls and mountains, and they, you know, when you go to Israel, We just see so many things that amaze us in terms of the people's mentality, in terms of the, the strength of the culture, in terms of the fulfillment of prophecy, in terms of, uh, people's attitude to innovation, and it's inspiring. It's just an inspiring place to be. So we spent a lot of time there. Um, we, we, we had somebody who was part of the team there, you know, and we're looking for ways to just keep learning from Israel.

AI assessment note: “I think for me, one of it is, is my faith, right?”

Q There was a horrific stampede in the stadium where 90,000 young Nigerians were competing for jobs. What was the situation at the time? Why was there high unemployment? And how did that affect your life's direction?

A I mean, you know, for me, high unemployment has always been a fact of Nigeria's life. If you actually look at the economic history, and it's for a bunch of reasons. A lot of it is structural, right? Nigeria's median age is 19, meaning half the population is under the age of 19, half the population is over the age of 19. And to make matters worse, there's not a lot of university education. So, 12% participation rate. But you see, what happened in 2019, um, 20 14 brought it home to me for the first time. Because, you know, I was walking home, I was, I was running a startup at the time, it was called Fora, and I was just driving home from work, and Um, it was a Saturday and all these young people, 90,000 of them showed up for an immigration desk job. And look, this is not a high paying job. This is literally just sitting down, stamping people's passports. Yeah. 90,000 kids.

AI assessment note: “A lot of it is structural, right? Nigeria's median age is 19”

Q These are Christian and Muslim men's groups both, or?

A Well, I mean, I imagine there are. I think with Muslims, you know, they even kind of worship men and women, as you know, but like for Christians, which I can speak more about, you know, we have this Christians men's group. I have a lot of male mentors and father figures in my life, not just my father, but like, you know, I've got the chairman of my company at Flutterwave, you know, was like a father to me as well. So it's something that celebrated being a man and being a father figure, not just to your kids, but to, To, to other people's kids as well. Even today, like, I'm like godfather to like 10 kids, you know, I don't even know how many of them I have now. You know, I have one every other week, and I got all these kids, I got, you, you get into a role where very early you're taught how to take responsibility, and so there's certain things you can do. There are just certain things you never think of doing, like, you have a kid and you're abandoned, that's not possible, you can't do that. You know, um, or you, you know, if you're, you know, you, you, you are the head of your home. And you are regarded and respected as such.

AI assessment note: “like for Christians, which I can speak more about, you know, we have this Christians men's group”

Q So tell us about how Indela got going. Like, like, what do you have to do to get this started?

A It was, it was just a process. So I saw this thing and I realized that, look, I'm, Probably in the wrong business, because my business at the time, you know, first of all, I started out very well, intentioned, of course. I wanted to help university professors to be able to do distance learning, but it was a little bit too early. You know, the internet penetration wasn't there, the regulator wasn't having it, and so I thought, okay, you know, since that's not possible, why don't I just start selling online courses to young professionals who want to get an MBA, but they don't want to, they can't afford to leave their jobs and go away for 18 months to get an MBA. So I was like, okay, that was, that was going very well. It's a beautiful business. It's going very well. And then I had this encounter. And the problem was I couldn't unsee it because it was like, well, all these people who already have jobs, you're helping them get more education. They just want it for a promotion. There are kids out there who don't even have a job.

AI assessment note: “I realized that, look, I'm, Probably in the wrong business”

Q So tell us about how Indela got going. Like, like, what do you have to do to get this started?

A It was, it was just a process. So I saw this thing and I realized that, look, I'm, Probably in the wrong business, because my business at the time, you know, first of all, I started out very well, intentioned, of course. I wanted to help university professors to be able to do distance learning, but it was a little bit too early. You know, the internet penetration wasn't there, the regulator wasn't having it, and so I thought, okay, you know, since that's not possible, why don't I just start selling online courses to young professionals who want to get an MBA, but they don't want to, they can't afford to leave their jobs and go away for 18 months to get an MBA. So I was like, okay, that was, that was going very well. It's a beautiful business. It's going very well. And then I had this encounter. And the problem was I couldn't unsee it because it was like, well, all these people who already have jobs, you're helping them get more education. They just want it for a promotion. There are kids out there who don't even have a job.

AI assessment note: “I had this encounter. And the problem was I couldn't unsee it”

Q These are Christian and Muslim men's groups both, or?

A Well, I mean, I imagine there are. I think with Muslims, you know, they even kind of worship men and women, as you know, but like for Christians, which I can speak more about, you know, we have this Christians men's group. I have a lot of male mentors and father figures in my life, not just my father, but like, you know, I've got the chairman of my company at Flutterwave, you know, was like a father to me as well. So it's something that celebrated being a man and being a father figure, not just to your kids, but to, To, to other people's kids as well. Even today, like, I'm like godfather to like 10 kids, you know, I don't even know how many of them I have now. You know, I have one every other week, and I got all these kids, I got, you, you get into a role where very early you're taught how to take responsibility, and so there's certain things you can do. There are just certain things you never think of doing, like, you have a kid and you're abandoned, that's not possible, you can't do that. You know, um, or you, you know, if you're, you know, you, you, you are the head of your home. And you are regarded and respected as such.

AI assessment note: “for Christians, which I can speak more about, you know, we have this Christians men's group”