Gbenga Uriel Ogunjimi

2012: Opening the Borders of Africa

2011-12-26T08:56:00.000-08:00

Today is Boxing Day, and as I join people around the world to celebrate, I probably also share in the mix feeling of apprehension and excitement that approaching the end of the year is famous for. Apprehension for ticking of the clock for goals we couldn’t hit in the year, and excitement for the possibilities in the coming year. As these thoughts flux in and out of me, I can’t also help thinking of Africa, and the auspicious moment its in. An era where its prolonged birth pangs is about to bring in a fresh start, and a new generation bracing for business, social and ultimately political leadership.

On Christmas Day 2011 Africans still groan in these birth pangs;
Terrorist attacks on churches during Christmas celebration in Nigeria.
Egypt still in volatility of post revolution riots.
Congo pre election violence still erupts, and many more across the continent.

Now with the vantage point of viewing the continent from the eye of a Diaspora, I realize how easy it is to see the continent from the position of weakness and not of strength, and not seeing its challenges as merely the inevitable birth pangs for a fresh start. Moving forward into 2012, and thinking about my role, and a quick audit of 2011; In 2010 my goal was to go beyond borders and thankfully in 2011 I was able to do business, work, live and even impact beyond the borders.

Counting some of my many blessings in 2011:
· Leading across borders; managing Atlas Corps Nonprofit Management Series with participation from 30 countries and a worldwide alumni network is truly a cross border experience.
· Inspiring audiences across borders; from my small social media boot camps in Lagos Nigeria to speaking at George Washington University on LinkedIn for nonprofits.
· Working with governments across borders; interfacing with United States Governments; the US Pentagon and DC state government. Attending the White House Nonprofit leadership Conference, and even a high level session with Ban Ki-moon the United Nations Secretary-General.
· Doing business across borders; my business plan on written regular papers with ink (without a laptop) in Lagos Nigeria was pitched to impact investors on Wall Street. Held Atlas Corps’ fundraising training inside American Express HQ in New York which for me was stepping into Corporate America.
· Found a church across the border; finding a spiritual home with the culture of that of your naitive country could be a challenging search. But thanks to God for leading me to Alpha course family of Jesus House DC, and the New Saints St Paul Baptist church.

These blessings could appear ordinary for some, but for me they are grandiose. I am thankful for the fruition of dreams now within my grasp and now in 2012, my one big goal and mission statement for the year is to Open the Borders of Africa for a free flow of service, work, business and innovation. Like the previous ones, I recognize this is audacious and the prognosis bleak but much more I recognize there is no stopping of an idea inspired for its time.

Afrobeat Culture

2011-11-29T22:51:00.000-08:00

“Human behavior is sensitive to and strongly influenced by its environment” – Malcolm Gladwell

Living in another country truly can be transformative in many ways, and this is true for me as a Lagos man now living in Washington DC. In this blog post, I want to write about my social transformation to what I call an “Americanized African Culture” – Afrobeat Culture.

Afrobeat according to Wikipedia “is a combination of traditional Yoruba music, jazz, highlife, funk and chanted vocals fused with percussion and vocal styles popularized in Africa in the 1970s. Its main creator was the Nigerian multi-instrumentalist and bandleader Fela Kuti, who gave it its name, who used it to revolutionise musical structure as well as the political context in his native Nigeria. It was Kuti who coined the term "afrobeat" upon his return from a U.S. tour with his group Nigeria '70 (formerly Koola Lobitos). Afrobeat features chants, call-and-response vocals, and complex, interacting rhythms.”

Fela anonymous life in the US I think could have being the seeds for what will now emerge as a global culture of music and dance. By living in the US, Fela was able to probably experience an internal transformation, and a whole new appreciation and awareness of his native Nigeria and unique voice. Similar to many during this time, Fela left Nigeria only for Nigeria to find him, and Afrobeat to discover him in a foreign environment.

As I continue to experience living in the United States, I have also found a new appreciation and awareness for certain facets of Me, my native Nigeria, and particularly Afrobeat.

The Fela Shrine in Lagos is arguably the world’s number one source for authentic Afrobeat, though I was born and lived most of my life in Lagos, you will never catch me there!
Whenever I host international volunteers in Lagos, one of their desperate desires is the chance to see The Fela Shrine and dance Afrobeat, not even this take me there!
In fact, not only would you not catch me at The Shrine, you wouldn’t also find any piece of Afrobeat music on my playlist. This was me in Lagos Nigeria, having no association with anything Afrobeat.

Even as the FELA Show continues its nationwide tour in the US, and now world tour, giving every Nigerian a reason to be Proudly Nigerian, and Lagosian an incredible opportunity to brag, unfortunately, Afrobeat is not just my style, nor the Shrine a habitat I could fit in.

But every other day in DC is revealing a new me with a strange appreciation for Afrobeat music. Though you wouldn’t catch me in the Fela Shine Ikeja Lagos, you are sure to catch me almost every last Thursday at Bossa, Adams Morgan in DC dripping sweats from dancing to the hits of DJ Underdog. When not rocking to DJ Underdog’s version of Afrobeat at Bossa, its very likely you catch trying to recruit my converts to the next edition. Interestingly, at the just past Thanksgiving edition, I was able to take about 5 coverts with me to Bossa. What a transformation!

My attraction to Bossa is not just the music and dance though, it pretty deeper. It’s rather the fruition of seeds of an African idea that was incubated in the United States in the 70s and now in 2011 that has become a global phenomenon, even a budding fabric of the many American cultures. At Bossa, I am always in awe seeing American blacks, African blacks, Caribbean blacks and even Latino blacks reaching out of the confines of a known culture to what they consider as the authentically unifying black music and dance culture- the Afrobeat culture!

Navy Yard

2011-10-20T21:51:00.000-07:00

Navy Yard Southwest Washington DC according to Wikipedia “currently serves as a ceremonial and administrative center for the U.S. Navy, home to the Chief of Naval Operations, and is headquarters for the Naval Sea Systems Command, Naval Historical Center, the Department of Naval History, the Naval Criminal Investigative Service, the U.S. Navy Judge Advocate General's Corps, Naval Reactors, Marine Corps Institute, the United States Navy Band, and numerous other naval commands”.

But to me, Navy Yard connotes a whole different meaning:

For five years I pursued an internship with the Naval Historical Center department of Navy Yard from Nigeria, and couldn’t get in. Not because the center was unwilling to offer me a placement or I wasn’t qualified enough, rather it was because of certain adversaries that resolutely contended with my stretch over an already flattened wall.

This professional opportunity at this time was the biggest thing that could happened to my career, as an undergraduate of history and international relations this was an excellent fit and the next logical step in taking my career global but adversaries would not let me cross beyond borders. My school wouldn’t, the embassy didn’t and my resources couldn’t. At the height of this contentions the vision to help people like me fenced out of basics (international internships) of academic/professional experience birthed the social enterprise I now lead – Landmark Development Initiative.

In an intriguing interview the visa consular said “you mentioned you are a social entrepreneur so why an internship at the Navy Yard?” without much thought I responded “everyone needs an entry into their global career….and this is mine”. She looked at me with an agreeing posture, and it seems for a second she was going to open the border but did not.

My inhibition to cross to Navy Yard at that time despite relentless leaps wouldn’t appeal to the social entrepreneur in me, rather I invited Navy Yard to Lagos Nigeria to speak to my university. Without a platform of my own, I began making rounds to every international organization that I know operate in Nigeria. While pitching for funding at the South African Embassy for the project, I was inspired to have a platform of my own since the school wasn’t keen to host Nary Yard.

As I stand today at the Navy Yard, every piece of it reminds me of how the pursuit for an internship in this every place would create the building blocks for my path in social entrepreneurship, and the priceless joy of creating this very same experience for the young and aspiring around the world. Today I come to the Navy Yard, Washington DC not as an Intern seemingly at the zenith of his professional goal, but as an Atlas Corps Fellow just getting ready for the global stage, breaking down transnational boundaries for those whose careers hinge on it.

This is what I see that stands Atlas Corps out from other programs; its multilateral, multinational, free flow of service. This is what I can see as my major contribution toward African Renaissance, and the very next big thing to the global development practice. As people cross borders through this fellowship in an ‘open-source’ fashion, the technology that holds back the remaining 2/3 portion of the world from being flattened is freely licensed to them. Like me, we realize that Navy Yard is not just exclusive to the United States; it is reproducible in every single part of the world even in Lagos Nigeria.

This is what Navy Yard means to me.

A Whole New Civilization

2011-04-25T22:01:00.000-07:00

On April 1, 2011 shortly after concluding my very first training as the Atlas Corps Fellow serving in Atlas Corps as the training manager, I quickly headed to One Lounge DuPont Circle where I became engrossed in an interesting conversation with some African Americans on my American experience. This conversation was probably triggered by my conspicuous dressing (meant for the training), I had a proudly African attire on in a happy hour bar on a Friday evening. Just a mere looking around confirms I wasn’t appropriately dressed for that location.

“....and where are you from?” someone asked, “Nigeria I answered”, this response started a thrilling 3 hours stint chat on what my American experience has been, and ultimately the million dollar question “so what is your plan after the Fellowship?” “I will go back home” I said. These guys were probably stunned with the confidence wrapped around those words, and out of a disturbing curiosity they asked, “Why do you want to go back to Africa?”, “Why shouldn’t I” I answered. To further buttress my response, I stressed, “Isn’t the Unites State is just 1 country of out of about 200” why should I die in 1!

And for every other day I live here in the US, the Great Society speech by Lyndon B. Johnson, re-echoes:

“We have the power to shape the civilization that we want. But we need your will, your labour, your hearts, if we are to build that kind of society. Those who came to this land sought to build more than just a new country. They sought a new world.”

In these words I have found faith and fortitude to match forward towards that civilization I seek. Like the infamous Death Strip of the Berlin Wall, many have encountered their deaths at this very boundary I now see behind me. And now that I’ve gone beyond the border, what do I do?

I am taking with me new building blocks;
I am igniting ripples of hope for the aspiring;
I am realizing the prophesies of many; shaping out the civilization deeply lodged in their hearts.

This is what my description of the Atlas Corps Fellowship is – “a cross border experience where civilizations are hatched”. Through this experience I have come to uncover the genius of every great civilization:

The United States of America isn’t what we necessarily think of it as outside of its borders, Americans for centuries have been successfully aligning their vision for the country with global reality. Americans have been shaping the civilizations they want.

Even the Atlas Corps Fellowship isn’t different, for the past 5 years, the program has been conforming the world’s experience to its intended vision; Atlas Corps has been reshaping the conventional practice of international service; creating a new a whole new civilization within the development sphere.

Now that I am in this great country and a member of the incredible Atlas Corps team – I now have the power to shape a whole new civilization.

Let’s Stretch Our Hands across the World

2011-02-15T01:25:00.001-08:00

I was in Nairobi Kenya when Zain changed to Airtel, I didn’t know whether curse or bless. Few hours prior to this, I was showering praises on their One Network service. An interesting rooming service that allows me use my Nigerian Zain line in Kenya without having to incur to the high tariff associated with rooming services. With the One Nework, I get to make calls in Kenya at local rates without charges on incoming calls.

This change of name was abrupt: ends an all night party at 11pm; it cuts short my feeling of excitement on the network. But not too long to this change, I stumble on yet another blessing from the network- a television advert featuring 2Face (Nigeria), Ali Kiba (Tanzania), Amani (Kenya), Navio (Uganda), JK (Zambia), Movaizhaleine (Gabon), Fally Ipupa (DRC), 4x4 (Ghana). These guys are Africa’s finest music artistes, and with R Kelly as a group they chorus – “stretch your hands across the world”. This instantly became an inspiration, building an upsurge of faith to once again take my enterprise vision global.

The timing couldn’t be more apt; in two weeks time I am off to Washington DC for the Atlas Corps Fellowship flying through London Heathrow Airport. As I fly into Washington Dulles, Ify Ogo, the newly appointed consultant for my enterprise operations will be flying into Nigeria from the very same London Heathrow. She will be coming back from an incredible interface with UK organizations on providing work opportunities for African’s young and aspiring development leaders, and in the coming weeks ahead, she will be repeating this process in Southern and East Africa. Ify will be stretching our shared vision of Landmark Internship International across the world.

As Ify stretches her hands wide, mine wouldn’t be hindered; I will be doing the same across in the East Coast on the United States and in subsequent months will stretch to Southeast Asia. And like the One8 team of Airtel network, Ify and I will be stretching our hands, the network of Landmark across the world.

This year crescendos my very many attempts of stretching my hands globally: back in the in day, there were no physical hands to stretch, like a baby in the womb, my hands were inward, and all I could was stretch my imagination. I worked with one of the world’s biggest travel agency for students, wistfully I oversee travel tickets sales to very part of the world – students resuming to schools abroad, youth going for exchange programs, and international volunteers coming into the country. This was not the only ordeal I put up with; I also had the uneasy task of pitching international travel products to potential clients of all categories and never evidence my inexperience to international travels. Yet, I’d always stretch my inward hands across the world.

From once infantile to now fully grown, I stretch my hands not just to the world but towards a Higher hand; the hands that stretch the heavens and the earth into being. With this partnership, I am confident the entire world is now within reach, I am confident my reach will exceed my grasps and I am confident many more aspiring hands will stretch across the world.

If you would, let’s stretch our hands across the world.

1%: United Nations

2011-02-04T14:02:00.000-08:00

Sometimes in the year 2001, my International Relations lecturer held the class hostage. The class was supposed to have ended by 4:00pm but my watch was saying 7:00pm. For everyone that tried to walk out of the lecture-room, it took a fresh register, we could not dare the implication of not getting on list, as it may worth of our test scores.

At the peak of our collective frustrations he made a prophetic statement - “You all have all come here to study International Relations but only one of you will become an Ambassador(, Diplomat or work with the United Nations)” he said. The resulting silence in the room was deafening, our growing feelings of frustration turned into gloomy mood of depression – most of us never felt qualified or blessed enough.

Having had the best of us, he decided to release us to our shells. We all left with divergent views of that encounter ranging from acquiescence to denial. At the gate of the university I sat with classmate ruminating over those words – “….only one of you will become an Ambassador, Diplomat or work with the United Nations”. Perhaps but for that extra investment of time we made, I might not have made that 1%. We both decided not to take the route of lecture-room but the social service way; we decided to lead a nonprofit from that every lecture-room and we did!

Many thanks to this decision, I now work as a Consultant for the United Nations.

Social Media is a Social Contract

2010-11-29T06:29:00.001-08:00

During the Global Peace Convention which happened in Nairobi this past week, Uriel Gbenga of Landmark Internships, Nigeria, said something quite interesting. He said that participation in social media is tantamount to entering into a social contract with other people. I was/am a student of Sociology and Economics and his statement took me back to my University days when we were learning about the communist manifesto and social contracts. I loved those days – reading about the fathers of sociology, their ideas, arguments, and critiques. Sociology was just the ish. But I digress. Given Uriel’s statement, I wanted to explore what social contracts meant back then and how it can be interpreted today.

The Social Contract then
The Social Contract theory, the modern one at least, was advanced by Jean-Jacques Rousseau. According to the Internet Encyclopaedia of Philosophy, “Social Contract Theory, nearly as old as philosophy itself, is the view that persons’ moral and/or political obligations are dependent upon a contract or agreement between them to form society.” A Wikipedia definition that I also liked mentioned that “the Social Contract can also be thought of as an agreement by the governed on a set of rules by which they are governed.” It also asserted that “Social contract theory formed a central pillar in the historically important notion that legitimate state authority must be derived from the consent of the governed.”

Given these definitions of social contract and how Uriel referred to it during the Global Peace Convention when talking about Social Entrepreneurship, I believe that there is a fundamental connection between how the social contract theory was interpreted then and how it can be interpreted now. The times have clearly changed but the fundamentals still remain the same.

Social Contract in the age of Social Media
As we all know by now, social media has revolutionized the way people publish, find, read, and share content. And with loads of content from all across the web as the world wakes up to the reality of everyone being a publisher or potential publisher, something critical happens – Information Overload. But as Clay Shirky aptly pointed out, “it’s not information overload, its filter failure.” When we have so much content out there, we have to find ways to ensure that we don’t miss out on the valuable content by getting drowned in mediocre content. The filter process involves finding the best mechanism to sort out the best content. In social media, authorities and influencers is what you remain with after you separate the wheat from the chaff. What does this have to do with social contracts?

Uriel said that by deciding to follow you on Twitter, I am entering into a social contract with you whereby I follow you on the premise that you will provide me with good content. In the same way that “a legitimate state authority must be derived from the consent of the governed”, in social media, your attribution as an authority in whichever field you write on is not up to you but your readers. It is through their consent that you enjoy the authority status. By your readers subscribing to your content be it through liking your page, following you on twitter, signing up for your newsletter, joining your community, or subscribing to your blog posts, they have entered into social contract with you whereby they acknowledge you as the authority in return for quality content/insight, no less.

When this contract is not upheld, you lose your authority as people unfollow, unfriend, and unsubscribe. So the one thing you should always remember is that a social contract is an agreement with an exploding offer. The catch is that you will continue to have our attention for as long as you can provide us with quality content. The same agreement that was struck between the governors and the governed back then is still the same one that is being made between content creators and consumers.

The question then is; are you holding up your end of the contract?

This blog is authored by Marvin Tumbo

The Invisible Boundaries

2010-10-28T04:14:00.000-07:00

I started 2010 by announcing an audacious mission statement for year – Going Beyond Borders; and this I’ve done to every aspect of life. As I press in making this word become flesh, I come to the increasing realization that in this age that we live in, the barriers that hold people back from reaching global impact have not just become blurred, in fact, they are now invisible. And all it takes is a ‘walkthrough-faith’.

How did I come to this conclusion?
Do I have any claims to strengthen this conclusion?

And if I did, are these claims direct products of my experiences?

My answer is yes I do, and out of many I introduce you to 3 personal experiences in the course of the year:

1. Meet by computer engineer from Pune India

In the month of June, my laptop suddenly started having a mind of its own, probably because it’s been compromised; it began drawing back my work flow. My updated anti-virus couldn’t help, online DELL support forums couldn’t help either; I couldn’t tell if the problem was a hardware or software. In a Skype chat with Damola Williams, an IT professional friend in India, he volunteered to fix the computer in the course of our conversation. I couldn’t believe this was possible at first; until he remotely accessed my laptop in Lagos Nigeria from India through TeamViewer, and before I knew it, the computer became normal again.

Because of invisible boundaries, Demola has been able to extend his market share beyond the geography of India to opening up new markets in Africa. Because I have experienced him, I have potentially become an international brand ambassador of his, publicizing this aspect of his service to my local markets. Should Damola decide to pursue this as a business model, he has insulated himself against the economic realities of India and plugged into the global economy. Damola has been able to fearlessly walk through his imaginary boundaries of geography.

2. Meet my conference speaker from Calgary Canada

In this month of October, I hosted the Global Jobs Fair 2010 Employability Seminar. The goal of the program was to open up evolving corporate professionals in Nigeria to global work opportunities through social media. To demonstrate the borderless possibilities of social media to this audience, I decided to extend an invitation to Renate Donnovan, a social media instructor and career coach in Canada, to participate in the program. Without living the comfort of her office, she was able to speak and answer questions from an audience of 120 in Lagos Nigeria through Skype video.

Because national boundaries as we know them have vanished, Renate has been able to stretch the scope of her social impact beyond the students of Bow Valley College in Canada to graduates and young professionals in Nigeria. She was able to make 120 of them see the topics of Digital Identity, Personal Branding and Social Networking from a Canadian perspective. Like Damola, Renate has walked through invisible boundaries.

3. Meet my interviewees across Nigeria

I currently coordinate a national fellowship program for Nigerian graduates seeking professional growth in the Green energy sector through the Green Collar Jobs Fellowship Program. Without the use of traditional media but just posting this opportunity to local social networking websites targeting job searchers in the country, I was overwhelmed with the volume of applications. 3 times, my company’s ISP called that I am exhausting my allocated bandwidth – this was an unexpected success wrapped with unexpected challenges.

In the spirit of creating equal opportunities to preselected, I was compelled to grant all shortlisted candidates interview opportunity, so I resulted to Skype interview. Like Renate, from the comfort of my office in Lekki Lagos Nigeria, I was able to virtually travel to more than 10 states interviewing. Like Damola and Renate, I too have walked through invisible boundaries.

These experiences support that we live in a borderless world, it demonstrates that the walls that hold people back from reaching their dreams are no more, and again, all it takes is just walking through our perceived boundaries.

Who Interviews The Interviewer?

2010-07-06T01:59:00.000-07:00

Interviews: every professional strives for one because this is what it makes her. Be it a one on one, panel, telephone or Skype interview; these few minutes unlock a whole new level of life and the realization of long career dreams.
As interviewers talk to us, seating confidently as if they no longer have need for such, currently at the echelon of their career aspirations. One question we seem to often ask ourselves is – do these guys know what it feels like to have one’s next phase of professional life determined by a series of questions or a few minutes conversation?

For the past couple of weeks I have been interviewing aspiring interns around the world; Young professionals seeking internship opportunities in Africa, Nigerians reaching to intern abroad, Nigerians abroad keen to integrate into corporate Nigeria, Graduates desperate to get their very first work experience, Volunteers impatient to get their own platform to change the world and so on. But little do these folks know that as I interview them, simultaneously, I am being interviewed as well; with the same set of questions I pose to them, I get to answer some interviewers too.

The truth be told, this experience for me is a dream come true; looking back those years I travel pretty long distance to cyber cafés to access the internet, in fact, in other to make the most of my internet surfing, my friends and I would do what was called “all-night browsing”. But this faithful day, I can remember challenging myself; thoughtfully asking, what is really spectacular about these organizations I travel miles to elicit a positive response from abroad? Why can’t I be the one to globally receive and review applications, interview, and determine who qualifies or not?

During those days, although we come from different locations yet our goals were all one and the same – to travel abroad either as a student, intern or conference participant. It’s been over a decade now that I’ve traded places, once an unaided internship applicant now a social entrepreneur, creating internship opportunities for the young and aspiring around the world. However, as I give thanks for the remarkable turnaround, the reality remains I’m still being interviewed on a continuous basis.

Just as my interviewees are high in hope; implicitly trusting their applications with me become successful and probably replaying the memory of every aspect of the interview we had; how they introduced themselves, convincingly demonstrating what makes them uniquely qualified, what compelling value they bring to the table and so on. In the same manner, I undergo these discomforting emotions; hoping whatever I had said to my interviewers were well received. And should their decisions be unfavorable, what contingency plan B, C and D do I have in place.

But just this morning, out of a gross gloomy darkness of anxiety, comes a ray of light; a gently mild voice on my inside, a comforting reassurance that my interviewers need me more than I can imagine. My initial response to this conjecture was how do I substantiate this intuition? Then I ask myself, isn’t this evident with those I interview? As I receive their unrelenting follow up calls and emails, trying to ascertain the status of their applications, don’t I smile? Saying to myself, if only they knew how much their applications meant to me, they will contemplate picking my calls.

Although, I am yet to get definitive feedbacks on the outcome of my interviews neither have I done the same to my interviewees, the lesson I take home from the experience is - we are more valuable than we think. So my advice to everyone helplessly stuck on the pending outcome of an interview, be certain that regardless of the outcome, you are so much more valuable!

I end this blog with the lines I picked from the One Tree Hill series – “Most of our lives is a series of images, they past us by like towns on the highway. Sometimes a moment stuns on us and says, it happens, and we know that this instinct is more than a flitting image, we know that this moment, every part of it, will live on forever”. This is what it feels like when we prevail upon The Interviewer to unlock our dream jobs out of their hands; the experience although only lasts for a season, the memory and net effects, inerasably linger on forever.

2010: GO BEYOND BORDERS

2010-01-04T04:56:00.000-08:00

Welcome to 2010, a year tagged around the world by churches, communities, companies and countries with several themes. Although unveiled September 2009, no other tagline completely immerses me as CNN’s – GO BEYOND BORDERS.

For me this is so forceful that it has become my personal mission statement for 2010. So illuminating, it beams rays of light, lights through which I found direction to the musings of my heart; thoughts wrapped in fabrics of intense struggles:

• Struggle of location - Patriotism versus Globalisation.
• Struggle for opportunity - Africa’s limited opportunities over Global expansive opportunities.
• Struggle of conversion - Staying Proudly (Nigerian) African or go Truly International.
• Struggle of limits- Should I decide to stay opportunities abound and if I go greater possibilities await.
• Struggle of callings -The World is calling me, Africa needs me but Nigeria is holding me back.

As this struggle climaxes I ultimately realise that never in the history of the world should one strive to globalise than today, in fact the dangers of staying a local champion far outweigh risks of being global player. In his book The World is Flat, Thomas Friedman writes that “the global economic playing field is being flatten”, and that the world is now ones competition not his county. So this suggests you either globalise or you die!

Some however contend that charity starts from (and should end at) home, and to them it is unpatriotic to ditch the challenges within ones boarders over the opportunities outside. They argue that a true Nigerian entrepreneur shouldn’t move his business to Ghana. Nor an American outsource to China or Philippines even when such operations are not no longer sustainable. Even with the stern odds against world-class brands trying to penetrate international markets, they maintain that patriotism compels you to persist in the futility of keep doing the same thing for years and expecting a different result.

I am however of a contrary position, I am convinced, intuitively, that the salvation of many struggling businesses, professionals, entrepreneurs is actually tied to their decision to globalise. The possibilities outside the boarders are enormous: technology, partnership, funding, employments, immunity, speed are all beyond the borders. And all it takes reaching them is simple - and as means I have come up with a set of 4 principles to not only help reach these possibilities but also that would align the calling of patriotism with our 21st century obligation of globalizing.
1. Reach within and share - because now is the era when dreams are happening on a terrific scale if only you would share them properly on social networks.
2. Share and connect - sharing is important but enough, we must learn the science of global networking; the act of making connections and leveraging them to bring our dreams to fruition.
3. Connect and collaborate -collaboration is the server that transforms “software-dreams” into “hardware- realities”.
4. Collaborate globally and implement locally- as these realities increasingly happen, we being to ignite rays of hope around us.

As we think about our 2010; our goals, families, enterprise, and even our various countries; let us renew our drive to breaking out of ourselves by going beyond the borders where possibilities are vast. A realm of near-immortality that immunes against the limiting effects of the colour of our passports and geography; this is a borderless realm where the scale of our goals become standard with which we are measured. A space that stretches beyond territorial marks, boundaries, limits and parameters; this where we grasp as far as our mind can see. A dimension we overcome gravitational pulls that manifest as class, and counties of nationality and professional affiliations; beyond the borders is where the small thinks globally and acts globally.

This 2010 let us go beyond borders!

LinkedIn for HR Professionals

2009-12-06T08:26:00.000-08:00

I was recently invited to speak to a group of HR professionals on “Web 2.0 and Global Career Possibilities”.

Here is the transcript of my speech:

Gbenga Ogunjimi is my name: I am a Social entrepreneur, Recruiter, Conference speaker and Web 2.0 visionary. Of all the things that I do, I am here to talk to about the Web 2.0 component.

I start by saying exactly a decade ago I started a career in social services, 5 years after my career took another dimension and I found myself in social entrepreneurship. Just about 3 years ago I embraced Web 2.0 as an empowerment strategy, I was so thrilled with the possibilities in this that I made about 75% of my enterprise empowerment programmes to be focused on Web 2.0

My task today is to show us all how Web 2.0 can realise job opportunities as well as our critical goals as professionals, consultants or entrepreneurs.

So what is web 2.0? According to Wikipedia it means Web applications facilitating collaboration.

Never in the history of the world has there been an opportunity to collaborate as it is today. Ladies and gentlemen, you and I are blessed and privileged to be the generation that has witnessed the transition of a divided world become compactly connected.

And of all the facets Web 2.0 I just want to talk about the intense explosion of social networking sites. In our every glare we watched Facebook hit 350m and LinkedIn 50 million. Right before our very eyes, we are seeing these tools redefining business, governance, social services, governance and even recruitment.
My frustration however is that in a network of this magnitude most people and sadly HR professionals too see it as play grounds rather as collaboration centers.

I know that we all of different goals but somewhat converging interests – we all are gathered as HR professionals. Some of us are here to learn how they can realise their dreams of building their own next Phillips Consulting or KPMG, some reaching the pinnacle of their careers in HRM. Others are here to figure out how to internationalize their professional pursuits; internships abroad, become HR consultants to not just corporations but governments, and some to use their HR expertise career to change the world by pursuing a social cause.

Ladies and gentleman whatever our goals are, would you mind for me to introduce to what can realise them all?

Please meet LinkedIn, the 21st recruiting platform.

I not too ago was introduced to this platform and I still remain in awe of the possibilities of this single network.

Did you know that?

• All fortune 500 companies of America have presence on LinkedIn
• The major Nigerian companies across banking, telecoms and oil sector are there
• This network has over 50 million quality professionals worldwide and more people join everyday
• On the network you have access to presidents of countries, corporations, head of HRs, and all

But to make the most of this network, you have to understand the 4ps of social networking:

Purpose – Ask yourself why am I here and what are the biggest goals of my life?

Profile- Display this purpose, goals as your Web identity.

Participation- Share and contribute by starting conversations in groups you can elicit collaboration from the locals of that geography.

Persistence- Value proposition; network has left the realm of serendipity, coincidences, luck, chance or act, networking is essentially a science.

I conclude my quoting myself from a blog a recently published titled the Web 2.0 approach –

“Now is the time best to dream: when the whole wide world is within reach and resources vast. And all it takes for these dreams to happen is a shift in paradigm; a shift in thoughts, and action, a shift to a whole new approach – a shift to the Web 2.0 Approach” – Gbenga Ogunjimi

Ladies and gentlemen the whole wide world is now within your reach, embrace it!

Thank you.

The Web 2.0 Approach

2009-11-23T02:14:00.000-08:00

On a Skype conference call on 04/11/09 were
Kemi Fadojutimi from Washington DC USA,
Bankole Kings from Maryland USA,
Alao Yusuf from Frankfurt Germany
And myself, Gbenga Ogunjimi from Lagos Nigeria

Prior to this day, none of us had seen each other yet we had reached out to connect and collaborate on a common cause: A new Nigeria.
For us all the vision of a new Nigeria surpasses the tasking demands of our everyday lives, and transcends our diverse identities; age, gender, social class and economic status. This compelling vision as it were became the gluing force that had bounded our hearts, and melted our distances.

Our motivation to this cause was rooted in our coming to terms with the timelessness of the saying -“Evil prevails when the righteous are doing nothing”, and our understanding that right in our hands lie the executive power to once and for all decide the destiny of millions of Nigerian youth stuck in destructive idleness and bleak hopelessness.

In championing this cause, we did not converge in any of the conference halls in the cities we were, rather, we converged in “a hall without walls”, we converged on the Web. A venue that symbolizes the required approach to realise New Nigeria; a universal, time-tested approach, an approach I call:

The Web 2.0 approach:
• An approach that breaks down silos and opens up the global gateway of innovation and collaboration.
• An open-source approach that empowers the individual to freely volunteer his significant contributions knowing that they count.
• An illimitable approach that cut looses passion and imaginations, and allows for healthy competition of ideas on a global scale.
• An anti-tribal approach that seamlessly harmonizes our collective strengths and voices without regards to where we come from.

It’s a decade now that DiNucci’s prophecy of Web 2.0 has continued to manifest: first was its tipping point with the TIME’s Person of the Year: You recognition in 2006, and now in 2009 is the intense explosion of social networking websites. What this underpins for the new Nigeria is that the individual’s empowerment has left the purview the government, and the country’s limitations. What it means is that the Web is now the touch point at which empowerments is springing forth.

Development agents can now expand the frontiers of their saving the world dream knowing that more help wait them on Kiva.org. Entrepreneurs can now cut their creative juices loose knowing that someone on Sta.rtup.biz is willing to collaborate. The young professional can now stop coping and hope again because she knows all it takes is a winning LinkedIn profile. High school grads can now stop praying and start claiming dozens of tuition free universities across Europe. Even politicians can now think twice before they err as no amount of PR dollars can clean up once it get to Facebook or Twitter.

We qualified ourselves for the cause of a new Nigeria not on the ground of the dexterity of our skill-sets but on the profundity of our mind-sets – a boundless imagination that stretches beyond the staggering limitations of the country. We are collaborating with the realization that if Nigeria must change we have to change our complaisance to the critical issues that hold us back: we have to take on personal responsibilities.

For me, since the beginning of the year I have taken on the responsibility of evangelizing the immense possibilities of Web 2.0 business model to entrepreneurs of all sizes in the country. I have taken this gospel to schools and nonprofits, advocating that everyone can now possibly become the best versions of themselves. I have also taken this campaign to professionals in corporate Nigeria with 6 figure jobs and even the aspiring without.

All I have been saying is - Now is the time best to dream: when the whole wide world is within reach and resources vast. And all it takes for these dreams to happen is a shift in paradigm; a shift in thoughts, and action, a shift to a whole new approach – a shift to the Web 2.0 Approach!

GOODBYE CHICKENS, THE DUCKS ARE COMING

2009-07-21T04:42:00.000-07:00

Every morning in Africa the Chicken crows to signal a dawn of a new day, as the day breaks she gathers her little chicks behind her and in her leadership they unquestionably follow. This is unlike the Duck because for reasons best known to her, she trails the leadership of her baby ducks.
Part of these reasons, I think is to instil the values of responsibility, accountability and leadership at a tender age: To seed a Yes You Can mindset.
I can only imagine this as a Duck mantra - I wholeheartedly believe in you still; although with certainty you will slip, and sometimes slumber, and stumble as you search your way through the sapping situations of life, but know that the price you are paying for the gains of tomorrow far outweighs the pains of today. And this is the reason I have yielded to your leadership at such an early age.

The above depicts the conflict of ideas in the leadership of Africa. A clash of thoughts between the old-school generation of Chicken leaders who unashamedly believe leadership and innovation are synonymous with age versus the new school generation of Duck leaders whose source of ideology is the maxim of Albert Einstein - “the significant problems we face cannot be solved with the same level of thinking we are at when we created them.”

Year in year out, Africa’s ruling elite class continues to cling on to an obsolete season of Chickens and fiercely resist every attempt of the Duck generation to emerge.
Why? Could it be they hate this change to happen, or are threatened by the possible resultant effects? After all, we have seen what the Ducks can do when giving the chance in Corporate Africa.
We see Ducks build globally competitive enterprises amidst far reaching avalanche of obstacles.
Whenever the door of opportunity to compete on a parallel field in any part of the world, field, or human endeavour is opened, repeatedly we’ve seen the African Ducks rise to triumph.

As Nigeria continues to painfully take in the scoff and slap of the world on her Chicken dominated leadership- Obama’s preference of Ghana, G-20 snob among others. Now is the time to trade this dispensation of Chickens for the long held back era of Ducks. As the country comes to terms with the futility fixing its international brand without examining what happens within its borders, may she also cut-loose millions of her Duck population in hibernation and eagerly awaiting their season of manifestation.

“To every leader there is a season”, Peter Drucker, the father of managerial Ducks rightly opined, so are a swarming generation of Ducks preparing to outface the long overdue season of Chickens in Africa. To all the Chickens like Mugabe, El- Bashir, Mr. 7 points agenda and his team that see power is their birthright, ready or not, take it or leave it, the Ducks are coming real soon!

The Nanosecond Networlders

2009-06-29T05:48:00.000-07:00

I recently had the honour of reviewing The Nanosecond Networlders: Changing Lives in An Instant Forever - A Modern Business Fairytale by Melissa Giovagnoli and R. David Stover.

Below is my review:

Revealing! Captivating! Compelling!

It uncovers the source of opportunity and explains how to unlock it every single day.

The Nanosecond Networlders: Changing lives in an instant… forever identifies and contends that values-driven networking is the intersection between (internal) intentions and (external) collaboration. The authors establish that the principle of Networlding remains an efficacious key to building synergies and making the most of our formal and informal networks.

By moving a step beyond Tipping point and 8th Habit, and standing in sharp contrast to conventional networking techniques: Networlding is the 21st century ‘technology’ of turning adversarial situations into real opportunity regardless of cultures, personality types, work environments and enterprise visions.

When searching for an entrepreneurial opportunity, the wisdom of The Nanosecond Networlders is to subordinate this pursuit to cultivating relationships that align with ones core values, resultantly a mutually beneficial opportunity would evolve via collaborative effort.

Nanosecond Networlders see the formidable adversaries around them not as a test of their human competencies nor the resilience fighting spirit, rather as a compass to reach within and draw from an ever increasing strength of values to overcome. In the very midst of a clogging darkness they shine, because they know how to; they have found the learnable knack of deciphering the overpowering force of shared-values, and leverage these values toward collaboration in every relationship.

For a start up entrepreneur pitching to investors, a team leader demanding group alignment, single parent frustrated by her teenager’s unyieldingness; regardless of who or where we are, this book shows us how to turnaround the lingering drawback from realising our intended goals and getting the unreserved buy-ins we’ve always longed for.

The Nanosecond Networlders unpacks how to create your opportunity, and ignite the hidden genius dimensions both within and around us!

You can learn more about the book on this website

Geography is a big deal!

2009-06-16T10:04:00.000-07:00

31st December, 2006 my entire family and a network of intercessors were in a fierce prayer: battling to save the life of my sister and her about to borne baby in a caesarean operation. She was already cut opened when power was abruptly interrupted. In desperation, the hospital staff that tried to put on the generator ruined the ignition, sadly again the backup generator had no fuel. We couldn’t find a hosepipe to get out fuel from the other generator or the cars around. All through this fiasco she was under sedatives, stuck between heaven and earth while we kept battling her life and the baby within. Sorry I didn’t tell you where this was – Lagos Nigeria!

Stories like these are classic in my geography, our maternal mortality rate is unbeatable in the world. Thank God, our prayers prevailed but had we lost them both to the epileptic power situation in the country or the inefficiencies of the hospital staff, someone surely will recite the cliché - “God gives and he takes, who can question him?”

Last Sunday I listened to my pastor preached that “geography has nothing to do with fulfilling destiny”, and was of this view until now. It is not I have acquiesced to the barriers associated with my geography but the lately realization that my exception doesn’t change the reality. Geography unquestionably plays a big role!

I certainly agree with him and Andrew Carnegie that “no individual or race is improved by arms-giving”, but agree more that “the best means of benefiting the community (a geography) is to put within its reach the ladders upon which the aspiring can rise.” Sadly true, not all geographies have access to these ladders.

I listen to the podcasts of ecorner.stanford.edu and wistfully see an awesome ecosystem for sustainable entrepreneurship in that geography: an unparallel synergy between students, angel investors, venture capitalists and Silicon Valley. No wonder the inventions changing today’s word like Facebook, Twitter, Google, Yahoo… are all coming not from mine, but that geography.

Are those from other parts of the world less creative or entrepreneurial in their thinking? Are they all destined as consumers and not inventors/entrepreneurs? Is it their choice not accessing infinitesimal seed funding at every window of opportunity that opens to them?
Don’t they practice the principles of imagination, positive thinking and affirmation when Western immigration fences them out the global mainstream of career and enterprise aspirations?

The fact that some of us are insulated or have found a way out of the limitations of our geographies doesn’t unmake the formidable adversaries still holding most of our people back. Right from the times of Slavery in Africa, Apartheid in South Africa, Racial discrimination in America, Marginalization of Niger Delta (Oil producing area) in Nigeria, The Holocaust in Germany and even Genocide in Sudan, some pretty few have always found a way of escape.

I end this blog with the words Robert Ashton.co.uk when we began changing the way the West sees the Nigerian enterprise landscape:

“Say Nigeria to the average Western businessman and his eyes widen and his chequebook closes. They get too many dodgy spam emails from Nigeria to take the country seriously. Sure there are kidnappings, armed muggings and unsafe aeroplanes – but you find those all over the world!

Geography is a big deal!

Re:The Immensity of one

2009-06-16T10:00:00.000-07:00

Below is Janet's response:

Hello Dear Uriel,

It's wonderful to hear from you, and what a lovely letter...and blog! I am truly touched by your thoughts and also deeds, and delighted that I could be of such help to you. You have made immense strides and done us all proud with your activities, commitment, and leadership. It has been a pleasure to watch you grow and spread your wings! And you have truly proven yourself to be a model for "the immensity of one" (I love that phrase)!!

I will close on that note with greatest thanks and immense appreciation, and look forward to reading your blog from now on...and not just when it's about me :)))!

With infinite blessings and millions of cheers, and know that I will love you too, throughout all the years! Your MM 4-ever, Janet

The Immensity of One

2009-06-10T07:01:00.000-07:00

What makes entrepreneurial dreams happen?
What exactly actualises the ideas of visionaries against all odds?
My answer to this lingering curiosity of mine is what I call The Immensity of One -The significant relationship that makes all the difference. Malcolm Gladwell calls this the power of a connector.

My immensity of one was my relationship with Janet Feldman, my first mentor in social services. For years I have strived relentlessly to overcome the drawback of my country’s borders to my enterprise vision. The internet couldn’t do this. It sure creates borderless opportunities but the immigration barriers of West attempt to fence strivers (from my part of the world) out of the prosperity of a flattened world.

What else can a striver do when his name, colour and nationality hold back his dreams and mute his voice?
How can she shine when darkness of ubiquitous proportions clog within and outside?
Again I say reach out for the immensity of one.

Among many doors that Janet opened, I will forever remain grateful for GK3, Malaysia:
This was where I won the Global Young Social Entrepreneurs’ Competition, signed my very first international partnership contract and profiled on an international magazine. It was at GK3 had an epiphany with my reality as a social entrepreneur and a launching pad to a global stage; where my dreams suddenly came within reach and subsequent successes are resting upon.
Amazingly, my enterprise was just spotlighted by TakingITGlobal.org, thanks to GK3.

Janet Feldman, GK3 I dedicate this blog to you both because you are my immensity of one!

The Uncertainties of a Searcher

2009-06-04T11:23:00.000-07:00

This is my very first time blogging and I hope I haven’t missed out too much. Lol

I’m young social entrepreneur running www.landmarkinternship.org

I stand on the threshold of the next significant chapters of my entrepreneurial quest:
I can see ahead my deepest dreams for my enterprise unfolding and opportunities vast, and behind me I see once impossibilities that I overcame, but within me I feel the uncertainties of a searcher, striving in faith toward a dream of colourful tomorrow.

Keeping the dream alive is not a fun:
Everyday life on the streets of Lagos Nigeria echoes to me to retract from this path, the ticking of time brings the nagging fear of unsung entrepreneurs beaten, chewed and spat out by life. My daily share of the inevitable adversities of an entrepreneur scoffs at me but nonetheless I have chosen remain resolute to this calling.

As I occasionally slip into the thought to retracting, I get encouraged by the words of my spiritual father and mentor when I left my last employment to pursue this enterprise full-time:

“Gbenga, I congratulate for now walking the talk but can I inform you ahead that the journey of entrepreneurship is the journey of the unknown, but God that has called you would keep you.”

I have also found faith in the lyrics of The Prophecy of TY Bello’s Green land album:

The prophecy:
How can I give you up?
I am the one that chose you, I am the one that did.
How can I let you fall, you know I won’t?
You should see life through my eyes,
I knew that I would love you long before time began.
You should never, ever, ever, doubt me, I have never told a lie
I will keep my promises to you, everything I said I will outdo.
You know my word is life, my word is integrity.

So should I eventually allow my feelings hold sway, please hold me accountable and say big shame on me for letting my today’s feelings hold my vision for tomorrow captive.