I believe in Nigeria!

I wanted to share this video a while back from a bikers point of view of his journey in Lagos, then I came across a post from a friend today who’s the CAO of Srialto.ng and I just had to share both right way.
Here’s the video by @onodivine:

Here’s the post:

Great News – Harley Davidson to Launch in Nigeria!!!

I met one of Harley Davidson’s executives, Enrico D’Onofrio at an event put together by the University of Oxford (Said Business School) recently, the man’s exquisite sales type of mannerism struck me in a good way when he spoke.

He made his way to where i was talking with a bunch of people and introduced himself, “My name is Enrico, Managing Director Harley Davidson and i happen to sell a dream but people call it Motorcycles…” – The ability to connect your product to people’s wishes in a short sentence just blew me away!

After intros, he turned and looked at me and asked, “where are you from?” to which i blurted out “Nigeria Enrico, I am Nigerian” and to my disbelief, he was pleasantly surprised. So i asked, “why are you excited to meet a Nigerian?”, he replied “Harley Davidson is launching in Nigeria next year and we are all excited about it; the market, the people, and the opportunity to reach across Africa through the country – that is the future for us!”.

Oh Wow! Harley Davidson in Nigeria???!! What came to mind was the amount of jobs that will be created and the power of the brand associating with the name Nigeria! Wow!! He and I then went into a bubble discussing the execution of ‘product launch’ in Nigeria as i had to share my plans for the launch of Srialto.ng with him.

How refreshing it was to discuss Nigeria as a market without any form of bias – it was just all about business and opportunities! But you see while i listened to Enrico talk, a discussion i had a month ago with a couple of Nigerians who i was unfortunate to have met in a social gathering flashed through my mind – you see a gentleman at the table that day said “it is foolish and unwise in this day and age to be connected in any way to Nigeria” – that statement alone spoilt my evening. To say i was mad was not an understatement!

My anger at the statement that the Nigerian made was not directed to him alone but to the general population of Nigerians that think like him (and unfortunately they are the majority!!). We do not see the good in each other as a people that is why we are where we are today! Unfortunately there can be no growth or change in our circumstances until we change this sadistic point of view!

Anyway as i bade farewell to the newest member of my network i said to him, “Enrico i really like the statement you used earlier on when you were introducing yourself”. He replied, “Chika i have got one specially for you “I don’t sell a destination, i sell a journey!”.

Maybe it’s too early but I will like to wish my fellow Nigerians congratulations for attracting a company like Harley Davidson to Nigeria and also I will like to wish you all the economic prosperity to be able to afford Harley Davidson’s products so that we can all stop hurrying up to a destination but instead enjoy our journey to our destinations.

– CAO

(Chika is a serial entrepreneur and a social commentator).

If you are wondering why I’m posting this, the answer is simple. I am proud of my country Nigeria, and good things also happen in my country. We have both beautiful and ugly places, we have beautiful destinations, we have beauty all around us amidst the bad stuff too. 

Think again, if you think Nigeria and the only thing that comes to your head is a slum, poverty ridden people or corrupt and bad people. You my friend must be a joker! Ciao.

P.S – Be on the lookout for my next vlog on my My Travel Vlogs, I will be taking you through the roads from Ijebu town, to Lagos, to Abuja, to Kano, to Jigawa, back to kano, Abuja, through Okene, Akure, Ibadan to Ijebu town. 😍