As a secondary school student, I figured out that I could make money by buying palm kernels from villagers who didn’t need them, cracking them and reselling in the market to the factory agents.
I took a loan from my uncle of 400 Naira, bought two wheelbarrows full of palm kernel, broke it for a full week and sold it in custard containers, earning about 2000 Naira. It was huge money to me, and I began drinking mineral in school, instead of zobo. I ran this codedly for a whole year, and made cool cash.
One day, I told my friends how my business worked and they copied it. In than 3 months, everyone was a palm kernel breaker in my village. The business basically “casted” and we all went broke. Prices pumped, margins dropped and there was nothing left to earn.
There’s a popular mentality I’ve noticed in Nigerians, and I call it “Sharp Guy Syndrome”. It’s a side effect of widespread corruption, especially examination malpractice.
Here’s a thread to explain why it is hurting innovation and growth in Nigeria.
A thread 🧵
I took a loan from my uncle of 400 Naira, bought two wheelbarrows full of palm kernel, broke it for a full week and sold it in custard containers, earning about 2000 Naira. It was huge money to me, and I began drinking mineral in school, instead of zobo. I ran this codedly for a whole year, and made cool cash.
One day, I told my friends how my business worked and they copied it. In than 3 months, everyone was a palm kernel breaker in my village. The business basically “casted” and we all went broke. Prices pumped, margins dropped and there was nothing left to earn.
There’s a popular mentality I’ve noticed in Nigerians, and I call it “Sharp Guy Syndrome”. It’s a side effect of widespread corruption, especially examination malpractice.
Here’s a thread to explain why it is hurting innovation and growth in Nigeria.
A thread 🧵
2/7
Corruption isn’t only when the govt steals money. It starts from copying answers from your classmates.
The problem with copying is that it makes you reliant on others to do the thinking and hardwork for you, and gradually makes you dumber and dumber.
It removes your self confidence, makes you believe that you can’t handle problems on your own and makes you place your destiny on the brains and thoughts of others.
You might assume that you just copied and passed an exam, but you have actually acquired a new bad habit, one of a sheep who outsources his brain to its Shepard.
To you, you’re a “Sharp Guy” who knows how to get results, but in the long run, you’d realize that the path to success is more important than success in itself.
Corruption isn’t only when the govt steals money. It starts from copying answers from your classmates.
The problem with copying is that it makes you reliant on others to do the thinking and hardwork for you, and gradually makes you dumber and dumber.
It removes your self confidence, makes you believe that you can’t handle problems on your own and makes you place your destiny on the brains and thoughts of others.
You might assume that you just copied and passed an exam, but you have actually acquired a new bad habit, one of a sheep who outsources his brain to its Shepard.
To you, you’re a “Sharp Guy” who knows how to get results, but in the long run, you’d realize that the path to success is more important than success in itself.
3/7
Looking at the widespread examination malpractice in today’s world, it’s very easy to deduce why many people outsource their thinking to celebrities and influencers.
Many people find it hard to think for themselves, so they happily copy the thoughts of those they consider “smart”. The same way special centres sing “number 1, A” for waec students, that’s the same way influencers sing ideologies for them.
It’s also why you see media houses copying news from one another, businesses stealing ideas and creating exact copycats of others and musicians copying the style of others.
Looking at the widespread examination malpractice in today’s world, it’s very easy to deduce why many people outsource their thinking to celebrities and influencers.
Many people find it hard to think for themselves, so they happily copy the thoughts of those they consider “smart”. The same way special centres sing “number 1, A” for waec students, that’s the same way influencers sing ideologies for them.
It’s also why you see media houses copying news from one another, businesses stealing ideas and creating exact copycats of others and musicians copying the style of others.
4/7
It’s also why we have so many people investing in Ponzi schemes, and paying people to help them “trade crypto” or “send signals” or do stuff they should do for themselves.
To many Nigerians, if it’s working for this guy, then it would work for me. Due dilligence is basically “e pay one of my guy” and every successful achievement is immediately copied.
We tend to copy a working idea till it “casts”, and we love to wait for a “smart guy” to bring update so we all can copy.
It’s also why we have so many people investing in Ponzi schemes, and paying people to help them “trade crypto” or “send signals” or do stuff they should do for themselves.
To many Nigerians, if it’s working for this guy, then it would work for me. Due dilligence is basically “e pay one of my guy” and every successful achievement is immediately copied.
We tend to copy a working idea till it “casts”, and we love to wait for a “smart guy” to bring update so we all can copy.
5/7
I remember a childhood friend who came to me asking to learn about tech. I sent him lots of YouTube videos to watch and invited him to some founders events.
It didn’t take long before he stopped talking to me and went to learn yahoo. He bought a long pdf document that he called “format” and was using it verbatim on random white people online.
He ended up being scammed by the people he paid to teach him about fraud and the last time he contacted me(I’ve blocked him now), he was marketing some pyramid scheme.
I remember a childhood friend who came to me asking to learn about tech. I sent him lots of YouTube videos to watch and invited him to some founders events.
It didn’t take long before he stopped talking to me and went to learn yahoo. He bought a long pdf document that he called “format” and was using it verbatim on random white people online.
He ended up being scammed by the people he paid to teach him about fraud and the last time he contacted me(I’ve blocked him now), he was marketing some pyramid scheme.
6/7
There’s no such thing as “update”. You have to find your own path to wealth. You have to sit down, do your research, go on the field, test, experiment, and figure out your path to success.
The sky is big enough for all the airplanes in the world to fly. Stop outsourcing your brains, use them yourself.
There’s a saying “when there’s a gold rush, sell shovels”. This basically means that when something is trending, the people who make the most money are those teaching others how to do it.
That explains why your crypto/Affiliate/dropshipping/forex influencers are all rich and you’re poor. You have outsourced your brains to them and you’re engaged in chasing “overnight wealth”, so they basically sell you shovels.
There’s no such thing as “update”. You have to find your own path to wealth. You have to sit down, do your research, go on the field, test, experiment, and figure out your path to success.
The sky is big enough for all the airplanes in the world to fly. Stop outsourcing your brains, use them yourself.
There’s a saying “when there’s a gold rush, sell shovels”. This basically means that when something is trending, the people who make the most money are those teaching others how to do it.
That explains why your crypto/Affiliate/dropshipping/forex influencers are all rich and you’re poor. You have outsourced your brains to them and you’re engaged in chasing “overnight wealth”, so they basically sell you shovels.
7/7
Success isn’t about hammering, or passing the exam. It’s about understanding the concept, learning the necessary lessons and being the best version of yourself.
You shouldn’t be ashamed of failing, or having to repeat.
If you must be called “Your Excellency”, the path you took must be excellent.
Success isn’t about hammering, or passing the exam. It’s about understanding the concept, learning the necessary lessons and being the best version of yourself.
You shouldn’t be ashamed of failing, or having to repeat.
If you must be called “Your Excellency”, the path you took must be excellent.
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