We use his product and that product is the best in the world. Nigeria’s Tope Awotona, the founder of Calendly, organizes the world of commerce and scheduling. And that mission has made him very rich. In the continental America, he is one of the few billionaires of African origin. He is worth $1.4 billion. In technology, there are just two of them.

He was born in Lagos and he wanted to redeem a bad experience: “When Awotona was 12, he witnessed his father get shot and killed in a carjacking”. He left Lagos, went to college in America, found a great job, but one day, he quit that job for Calendly: “pouring his life savings of $200,000 into it and later quitting his job selling software for EMC.”

When you use Calendly as we do in Tekedia, you will see the simplistic quality in its DNA. Billionaire Awotona, congratulations.

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Comment 1: I have a question for you Ndubuisi (and anyone who feels they can answer): why is money or riches the first measure of success, especially when it’s not essentially a primary motivation for wealth in the first place? Is it an underlying poverty mindset or plain show off bordering on inferiority complex?

Response: “why is money or riches the first measure of success” – wealth has an underlining element of brilliance in America. It is impossible to see a bottom of the class guy become rich here. I am not talking of Nigeria but US. Tope becoming wealthy has demonstrated brilliance. This brilliance is not graduating #1 in your class or whatever class they offer. This is brilliance in solving society’s problems and that is “Success” itself.

Comment 2: Ndubuisi, so why is his “Brilliance” or tenacity or courage to take such a risk not the crux of this celebration? Why is it money? I struggle with all these shenanigans around making the Forbes list. It reeks of poverty for me.

There’s a joke that’s been around in Lagos. If you didn’t ask me the source of my poverty when I was broke, why are you interested in the source of my wealth now that I am rich?

I have a lot of comments regarding this and all the negativity that can stem from these celebrations and accolades. Ultimately, I think poverty and inferiority complex have a hold on those who extricate and celebrate money as the main reward for any endeavour.

My Response: ” It reeks of poverty for me.” – fair. But those who understand know that you do not invite yourself to Forbes. Forbes comes to you because you have done great things.  Forbes is not a celebration of money. Forbes is a celebration of innovators who through entrepreneurial capitalism make society better. Nonetheless, the reward for that is money but that is not what is being celebrated.

I expect to be in Forbes in 8-11 years looking at my accumulation rate. If that happens, it does not mean that I am dumb and being celebrated because I am in Forbes. It simply means that I have solved problems in society and Forbes recognizes that just as others do.

Forbes is not the destination. It is one of the TV shows of entrepreneurial ascension.

Comment 3: Ndubuisi, Prof, not everyone who got on Forbes is dumb. And that’s not nearly what I’m saying. And to say Forbes is not a celebration of money isn’t even minimally true. Type Forbes List 1 million time online and you get nothing but money!

You said “Forbes comes to you because you have done great things.” What great things are these things? Nobel Peace Prize, Environmental Protection? Good Governance? Or plain old Money? How many Forbes Listers have committed crimes just to grace their cover pages and promptly tumbled into the resulting deep disgrace?

I can almost agree that Forbes celebrates innovators. However, that celebration is centered on how much money the innovation has raked in Billions of dollars. And this “money-centeredness” has serious negative effects on societies at large.

I believe you know that my opinion doesn’t mean you shouldn’t feature on Forbes when you do hit your billions. My hope is that you insist on telling your story differently from just money. You’re too influential to miss that detail. The influence of money is often destructive but the influence of the journey to clean wealth is almost always positive. That’s what I’d sell any day.

My Response:  have been a subscriber of Forbes for years. Forbes uses cases of innovators to challenge you on human possibilities. That is different from Fortune, Economist, etc. Forbes model is relevant as those, and I hope you respect it even as you may not agree. Without Forbes, the spirit of many will dry. Read Forbes, you receive energy to see what others are doing.

Comment: Ndubuisi, Chief, I do read Forbes and so many others. That’s why I have the confidence to say what I’m saying. There’s certainly some inspiration therein. My issue is the heavy slant to riches.

And, yes, I do respect Forbes and the work they do. And I also respect those who make the list and the cover pages because I have an idea of what goes into achieving success let alone on a global scale. I’m just not a fan of what I see as underlying factors to such mentions.

Think of it as a meal of Fugu fish. Edible and very expensive but equally poisonous when prepared and consumed wrongly.

It is a novel business model: offer zero-interest loan financing collateralized with household items (furniture, phones, generators, TVs, etc) which clients pay storage fees during the term. If they repay principal, they take their items back. But where they do not do that, the items are kept for the principal. All loans are valued to align with the fair market value of the items during loan origination.

Now the engineering phase: for those kept items, refurbish them and open a shop for people to buy them. That is what Egoras does at scale. It has employed hundreds. It is a fintech, an engineering startup and more.

Everything in this store (see video) is refurbished. The engineers are in Aba and Port Harcourt.  We brought in brilliant young Nigerians and asked them to do amazing things. Ugoji Harry, Egoras CEO, has done very well. A new showroom/store will open in PHC this weekend. Enugu and Onitsha on the way. We’re adding more factories and everything sold in our stores will be “Made in Nigeria”! Simply, no import!

Note: every item comes with service guarantees to give you peace of mind; phones – 6 months, generators – 3 months, etc. It has insurance for the items “All items used as collateral are insured and inventory fees are shared with the third party insurance company”

Watch the video here.

Malnutrition is a physical weakness caused by not eating enough food of the right kind. It can also be described as a situation involving the state at which the human body lacks the required food components known as ‘balanced diet’.

Malnutrition, which is a serious condition that occurs when a person’s diet doesn’t contain the right amount of nutrients, simply means poor nutrition, and can be referred to as ‘under-nutrition’ when the carrier does not possess enough nutrients or ‘over-nutrition’ when the sufferer has more nutrients than he or she requires.

Malnutrition could be in the form of kwashiorkor, anemia, obesity, xerophthalmia, or pellagra, among others. It’s mainly caused by having an inadequate diet or a problem absorbing nutrients from food.

There are several reasons either of the two aforementioned conditions might occur, to include having reduced mobility, a long-term health condition such as a chronic disease, and/or a low income, as the case might be.

It is worth noting that some kinds of medication can increase one’s risk of developing malnutrition. Medical experts are of the opinion that over two hundred and fifty (250) types of medicine are known to disrupt the body’s ability to absorb as well as breakdown nutrients.

One may also be at risk of becoming malnourished if his or her body has an increased demand for energy. For example, if it’s trying to heal itself after undergoing a major surgery or having sustained a serious injury such as a burn, or if the body is experiencing involuntary movements like tremor.

Physical factors can equally contribute to malnutrition. For instance, if one’s teeth are in a poor state, eating could be difficult or painful. One might also lose his appetite as a result of losing his sense of smell and taste. Similarly, one may be passing through a physical disability or other impairment that makes it difficult for them to cook or shop for food.

Social factors that can contribute to malnutrition include: living alone and being socially isolated, having limited knowledge about nutrition or cooking, as well as alcohol and drug dependency.

The most common symptom of under-nutrition is unintentional weight-loss. Other signs may include: weak muscles, low mood, feeling tired all the time and an increased chances of contracting various illnesses or infections.

On the other hand, the main sign of over-nutrition is being overweight or obese. However, persons living with under-nutrition can also be overweight if they feed on a diet high in energy (calories) but low in other nutrients.

It’s noteworthy that signs of malnutrition in children can include failure to grow at the expected rate coupled with behavioural changes such as appearing unusually irritable, sluggish and/or anxious.

In the hospital or clinic, one could be diagnosed to be malnourished or not, by calculating their Body Mass Index (BMI). Someone with a BMI that falls within 18.5 to 24.9 is considered healthy. Thus, one with BMI either less than or greater than the above stipulated range is considered malnourished.

It is worthy to note that malnutrition is a severe and deadly medical condition. Significantly, accordingly to the United Nations Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF), statistics show that about 10.9 million children under the age of five die in developing countries like Nigeria each year. Survey indicates that malnutrition and other hunger-related diseases result in about 60% of the said deaths.

In addition, the cost of under-nutrition to national economic development in any of the affected countries around the globe is estimated at 20-30 billion US-dollars per annum.

Based on what caused someone to become malnourished and how severe the condition is, treatment may be carried out at home or in the hospital. Dietary changes are the main treatment for malnutrition. If one is undernourished, he might need to increase the nutritional content of their foods or diet, with or without taking nutritional supplements.

If the person in question is unable to eat enough to meet their nutritional needs, they might need a feeding tube to provide nutrients directly into the digestive system or a drip to provide nutrients and fluids directly into the vein.

The best way to prevent malnutrition is to eat a healthy balanced diet, which is indeed vital for maintaining good health and fitness. To stay healthy, one needs to eat a variety of foods from the four main food groups, namely: plenty of fruit and vegetables; plenty of bread, rice, potatoes, pasta and other starchy foods; some milk and dairy foods; as well as some meat, fish, eggs, and beans, among other non-dairy sources of protein.

Considering the aforementioned likely causes of malnutrition, analysts are of the view that the health anomaly could be fundamentally attributed to illiteracy, ignorance or poverty, as the case may be. This implies that the ongoing crusade regarding the eradication of all forms of malnutrition in the contemporary global society requires the holistic effort of all and sundry including the governments, health experts, civil society, the media, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) as well as well-meaning individuals.

The government at all levels in the various affected countries ought to endeavour to establish primary health-care centres within the reach of the citizenry, especially the ordinary people. They must ensure that each of the health centres enjoys the services of at least a qualified resident dietician.

In the same vein, people should be conscientized to visit the health centres situated at their respective localities from time-to-time, in order to acquire the consequential or needed counselling on dietary.

Furthermore, the civil society and NGOs that are concerned with health matters are expected to intensify awareness on the possible causes of malnutrition. It is advisable for them to regularly embark on a door-to-door sensitization campaign and at all times endeavour to organize seminars cum workshops with a view to bringing the less-privileged individuals closer to health cum dietary issues. It’s worth noting that this proposed measure can effectively and efficiently be actualized by involving the mass media.

It’s obvious that most people, particularly those residing at the rural areas, are yet to understand the actual meaning of ‘balanced diet’ owing to lack of education. This is where the informed minds are meant to come in; they should let their relatives, friends, well-wishers, neighbours, and what have you, who are less-privileged – information or education wise – to acknowledge the fact that balanced diet can be obtained within their places of residence such as their home gardens.

It’s no longer news that most individuals are preoccupied with the notion or mindset that a balanced diet comprises ‘expensive’ foods that can only be acquired by high-income earners. On this note, they should be meant to comprehend that anyone can produce essential foods at their houses without involving any tangible or reasonable capital.

Besides, it is estimated that 684,000 child deaths worldwide could be prevented by increasing access to vitamin A and zinc, which can be obtained from vegetables. It’s noteworthy that vegetables can be cultivated and harvested at the comfort of one’s abode.

The schools at all levels to include primary, secondary and tertiary, on their part, ought to ensure that teachings involving dietary are taken more seriously. In this regard, the various tertiary institutions should introduce a General Studies (GS) course that would educate the undergraduates mainly on issues concerning dietary, and agriculture in general.

Such studies as stated above ought to be made to be mandatory and ubiquitous by the various concerned governments through their legislatures. The measure is required to be extended to the secondary and primary schools therein.

Above all, in our individual capacities, we ought to note that malnutrition can easily be prevented if we are continually mindful or conscious of whatever we eat, drink as well as our lifestyles.

Hence, we can avoid any form of malnutrition if the right rules are adapted in our everyday life.

To all the innovators, makers, builders, project champions, creators, and entrepreneurs in Mali, I am very happy to share that something amazing is coming on entrepreneurial capitalism. Yes, Tekedia Institute, through the support of the United Nations, will be working with many of the entrepreneurs in the land.

It will be a festival of entrepreneurial innovation in the land  of Les Aigles. Young people, get ready for a season of learning, applying and advancing Mali and Africa in general. Official announcement coming from the United Nations office.

Nations rise when pioneering entrepreneurs emerge. #Mali #Innovation