I might not subscribe to your school of thoughts, but here’s the thing;
When I hear of Tony Elumelu, the first thing that comes to my mind is how much of a successful banker he is.
When I hear of Aliko Dangote, what comes to my mind is his business conglomerate like Dangote cement and pasta.
When I hear of Mike Adenuga, what comes to my mind is Globacom.
When I hear of Otedola, I first think of Forte oil.
These guys have worked so hard to build their empires from scratch, so they know better than to rub their money in people’s faces.
I listened to an interview where Tony Elumelu said he gives his daughter who is in college, an allowance of 500 pounds every month.
Yes, he’s stinking rich and can afford to give her more than that, but he’s trying to instill what they call “discipline” in her.
We live in a country where unemployment and under employment is the order of the day, but you make a video of yourself throwing bundles of Naira into the air or swimming pools.
How exactly does that inspire the younger generation or the people who look up to you to make their money legitimately?
You’re throwing money in public and you’re videoing people rushing and scrambling to pick them up, and you think you’re helping the poor?
What you’re doing is making them more frustrated and annoyed with the whole system.
If you really want to make an impact, why not gather those people at your feet and teach them how you got to the level you are today.
Give them grants to set up a business. Give them scholarships. Send them abroad.
But they can’t? You know why?
If your hands are not clean, you don’t help people who want to succeed legitimately.
This is the only difference between those rich guys I mentioned in the beginning of this post and the likes of Eze Ego 1 of Kualampar, Okey Money Na Malay and Ome Na Dollars Na Jakarta.
No one is saying you shouldn’t push drugs or internet fraud to make it, but at least, let the ones who still believe they can make it legitimately, keep striving and working hard. Don’t make their efforts look useless by rubbing your ill gotten wealth in their faces.
©Kosi Ugo.
