As bombs drop in Ukraine, it is time for the President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyy,  to open a channel and speak directly with his Russian counterpart, Putin. When a war is fought on your land, you are losing despite whatever anyone tells you! Speaking with Putin is not a sign of weakness; it is understanding asymmetric capabilities and saving the lives of citizens.

I expect many to think otherwise, encouraging President Zelenskyy to keep fighting even as his nation is ravaged. But I do think that he needs to make that call by himself. Interestingly, this is the hypothetical 3am phone call moment and only Zelenskyy can make it and help his nation; France, US, Germany, etc cannot.

Mr Zelenskyy, call Putin and have a conversation as men. Your nation has done well but with this war on your soil, statistically, you have less than 7% of “victory”.

I write this as someone  who grew up in a village in Abia State, Nigeria. More than 50 years after the Biafran war, the signs of desecration remain.

War is bad and a major quasi-victory is making sure NONE is fought in your land. President Zelenskyy, it is now time to call Putin and find a way to stop this madness. Forget those telling you that you are winning; you cannot “win” a war fought on your land.

It’s Sunday; peace to this world.

Comment on Feeds

Comment 1: I agree. He needs to call Putin to try and put an end to this. I stand corrected, but, think I read where Zelenskyy said he called Putin and all he got was silence. I don’t think Putin wants to talk. Putin wants to depose Zelenskyy. As a democratically elected president, Zelenskyy needs to convene his cabinet and make a decision. There is no way he can stand the might of Russia. He can AVERT unnecessary loss to life and infrastructure. The objective now ought to be “anything but war”.

Comment 2; Sure, I support him making the call. But What if Russia gives him a condition he can’t accept? What Russia wants is clear enough. Perpetual keeping of Ukraine under her control. Truly, it’s a dilemma for Ukraine as the big boys have suddenly turned toothless bull dogs. Peace to Ukraine.

Comment 3: True, it’s good to be brave and strong but it’s better to be wise. Lives are being displaced, structures destroyed faster than they can be replaced and all for what?

Comment 4: Well done Professor. There is a difference between common sense and textbooks. I see Putin listening to him and ready to help rebuild Ukraine. There is no need for brothers to fight.

Comment 5: Calling Putin directly at this stage is weakness and nothing else. Unimaginable terms will be put forward by Putin. The best way is for a third party to do the calling. Calling Putin at this stage is weakness I repeat! Ukraine can not be under Russia siege forever as an independent nation. We should also consider the body language of Ukrainians, are they telling the president to do what we think he should do?

My Response to #5: Whether today, next week, next month or next year, that call will happen. Russia has more military power and there is no need delaying the deadline. While the probability that Putin will not attack was not 1, but when he did, the signs were there. No need delaying the show of “weakness” because that is evident.

Comment 6: Mr Zelenskky has tried to call President Putin and the response? Silence! So, this post of yours is a little too late, except you mean he (President Zelenskky) should reinitiate the call which will show a sign of desperation from the Ukrainian President. Putin is out to humiliate Zelenskky, so, the windows for discussion are closed, the next step is either for Zelenskky to surrender or allow the US evacuate him from Kyiv (which he has refused to accept)

Comment 7: Mr Zelenskky has tried to call President Putin and the response? Silence! So, this post of yours is a little too late, except you mean he (President Zelenskky) should reinitiate the call which will show a sign of desperation from the Ukrainian President. Putin is out to humiliate Zelenskky, so, the windows for discussion are closed, the next step is either for Zelenskky to surrender or allow the US evacuate him from Kyiv (which he has refused to accept)

Response to 7: good point. I had a post in my blog but did not share it here. I was waiting to see if Biden will sanction Russia’s oil and gas sector. But when he refused this morning, I concluded that Ukraine has no chance. Technically, Europe and the US do not want to bear the pains through energy prices. If that is the case, what is the end goal for Ukraine? The US sanctions are limited. Russia uses less than 0.1% of global semiconductors (it commands 3% of global GDP) and they probably stocked inventory to last for years before this campaign. So, that semiconductor sanction is toothless. The only pain ti Putin will be oil & gas but no one is ready to go there. That shows that Ukraine is alone.

Further comment to Response 7: Ndubuisi Ekekwe I can not agree more. The man is being cheered on, dressed in military fatigue for photo ops and beautiful inspiring speeches, but none of his cheerleaders is ready to pay the slightest price. There is no substitute for experience. If Ukrainians had elected a knowledgeable experienced politician/leader for a president, he/she would know better (1) not to get himself/his country entangled in a fight between 2 powers, and (2) the necessary damage control measures – rather than stubborn belligerence.

Comment 8: Prof Ndubuisi Ekekwe. God bless you Sir. The people encouraging Ukraine to fight on are the number one enemies. They seat at their comfort while encouraging untrained civilians to take up arms against sophisticated Russian army.

One of Nigeria’s core problems is that we have many “companies”. Of course, the smarter people in the developmental organizations flip everything as signs of vitality and economic progress, and governments push them as evidence of great policies generating the dividends of democracy. Unfortunately, for this village guy from Ovim whose finest leadership moment remains being elected the inaugural President of his village age grade (Uke Udo, the Peace Age Grade), it is an illusion: our weakest link is that we have many companies in Nigeria.

According to SMEDAN (Small and Medium Enterprise Development Agency of Nigeria), about 59 million Nigerians are currently employed by 41 million Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSEMEs).

No matter how you look at it, it is not a healthy ecosystem. Simply, these companies are not growing or expanding. Until we can reduce the paralysis for most to move from micro, small, and medium to large, we will continue to struggle with paucity of good jobs, development paralysis and stasis on the advancement of human welfare. 

Yes, it is like farming where we produce mass hunger with 65% of our working population when the U.S. uses less than 2% to feed itself, and enough to export to the world.

Nigeria needs to find a way to avoid celebrating what should not be celebrated. We need to get annoyed with them. Yes, unless we see them as problems, we will think those things are actually “progress”.  No way, Nigeria does not need everyone to be a business owner!

Of course, I recommend that SMEs register with SMEDAN as even the many we have, we need to know about them.

“On that, we were able to register MSMEs with the SMEDAN unique identification number. The registration is seamless that you can just go into the website www.smedanregister.com and you will be able to register, get your unique identification number and print your certificate. That has been a very good effort and up-till-date we were able to register over three million MSMEs that have full details of their location, the kind of products and services that they provide and their contacts,” Director-General, Dr Dikko Radda said, at the 27th regular valedictory meeting of the governing board of the agency, according to the News Agency of Nigeria.

There needs to be a plan to make sure that some of these SMEs transition into big companies.

On a clearly marked paid Konga statement which was posted on Nairametrics, I picked a line which revealed that Forbes estimates Konga to be worth $2 billion: ‘’‘While the brand eyes its listing on the stock market to fulfill its potential in the marketplace, there are reports that it boasts over $2 billion valuation…” Yet, Konga did not clearly confirm that number in the same piece. 

Read the press release below….

Konga, Nigeria’s leading omnichannel e-commerce group has been identified as a strong player on the verge of dominating the African e-commerce scene.

Forbes, a globally renowned media company, focusing on business, investing, technology, entrepreneurship, leadership, and lifestyle, revealed this in a special feature published in its Forbes Africa edition late last week.

In addition to hailing the remarkable growth trajectory that has seen Konga become the first African e-commerce player to hit profitability, Forbes equally referenced the various thriving subsidiaries that have transformed the Konga Group into a formidable, flourishing e-commerce ecosystem, while also highlighting the pivotal role of KongaPay, a Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN)-licensed fintech platform as a leader in the Nigerian e-wallet space.

Following its 2018 acquisition by the Zinox Group and the tremendous growth it has recorded, Konga, Forbes noted, would potentially attract over a $2bn valuation when it eventually decides to go public, as widely envisaged.

‘‘While the brand eyes its listing on the stock market to fulfil its potential in the marketplace, there are reports that it boasts over $2 billion valuation, thanks to its new acquisition by Zinox.

‘‘Konga has continued to show promise in the online marketplace. After its acquisition, a review of the company’s performance shows the brand experienced over 800% growth. This surpasses expectations in e-commerce sectors across the continent. The new phase of Konga, driven by young, ambitious and innovative individuals, has seen it rake over $3oom in investments, according to reports.’

‘‘Efficient management of these investments has driven the brand to succeed in the e-commerce space, placing the brand on a profitable footing. The transformation has seen the brand recording significant progress in its online and offline transactions. Data shows that Konga fulfilled to the last mile 85% of all orders placed on its online and offline platform. The brand has also navigated and found a lasting solution to issues with logistics, one of the great hindering factors with e-commerce in Africa,’’ the article read in part.

In a chat with Co-CEO, Konga Group, Prince Nnamdi Ekeh who is rounding off his MBA studies at Oxford, Forbes also beamed its focus on the future of e-commerce in Africa, with Prince Ekeh who heaped praises on his Co-CEO, Nick Imudia and the entire Management and staff of the Konga Group for their resilience and dedication, revealing that the future remains bright.

‘‘E-commerce in Africa is set to take off to unprecedented heights in the next decade and players who are well-positioned will reap the fruits. Like I mentioned before, we have already seen triple-digit annual growth numbers and yet there is still so much market share left to capture as we transition people into the e-commerce era.

‘‘I also believe blockchain and decentralized finance will play a great role in improving financial inclusion in the continent which will give people more access to digital services like e-commerce. As economists, we were trained to look at indicators and so far, most critical indicators trend positively: Population, youth population, mobile penetration growth rates, connectivity growth rates. If these indicators continue to improve, I have no doubt that Africa will house one of the biggest e-commerce players in the world, and my job is to make that Konga,’’ Prince Ekeh disclosed.