The greatest companies in the world do not just meet the needs and expectations of their customers, they go for their perceptions. Great politicians also master the business of perception. Category-king enterprises turn customers into fans just like great politicians elevate the minds and aspirations of a people.

Yes, an unbounded future where the goalpost is a mathematical asymptote, a continuum towards the imaginary infinity. In 2023, Nigeria needs a GREAT leader who can make the people dream bigger than themselves.

Nigeria is looking for a leader, from the local to the highest. Our moments of glory are daily passing, because men are shadowing the sun from shining upon one of the most favored people on earth. We have oil, but we enjoy the darkness. We have engineers, but they have no bitumen to fix roads. We have accountants, but they have no sales records to reconcile. We have doctors, but those that pay them are never their customers. We have teachers, but they are locked out of labs and libraries with no funding. Yet, the government is busy. Busy for what?

But we are Nigerians. We are of the same blood as Achebe, Soyinka, Azikiwe, King Jaja, Ahmadu, Bayero and other heroes current and past. We are Nigerians – smart, ingenious and optimists. We want a leader who has demonstrated the capacity to rally the nation in honesty, hard work and raise our imaginations beyond where we are for a better future. A leader that can engineer a transformation for our nation with bigger and larger dreams that generations of Nigerians will unite for. He is born a Nigerian and belongs to Nigerians but to none.

A leader who can create a society to engage our brightest minds in government by evolving a new political system designed to seriously solve problems. A person who can engineer Nigeria into rebirth and restoration to offer a prosperous nation that is colorful, fluidic, vibrant and open for change. Yes, a person of immense intelligence, competence, pragmatism, and unimpeachable.

A person of integrity, broad knowledge, enormous vision and solid experience; one that can stimulate more vibrancy in the private sector and move the public sector out of its stasis. With that leadership, Nigeria will witness changes in trade, education, and commerce as a battalion of knowledge workers emerges to give us the needed clout in the global arena.

I am looking for that leader. And I know in this great nation and even greater people, they abound. I am searching for a leader for Nigeria. Have you seen one?

Sometime last year, there was news of a staff member who had mishandled company property in his possession. Precisely, he was involved in an accident with the company vehicle, and it had resulted in the death of a pedestrian. The unfortunate part though was that he absconded for fear of being lynched, and the vehicle was set ablaze by angry passers-by.

When the matter came to light, the company decided that it would pay for the burnt vehicle and structured monthly deductions over the span of two years. Within a couple of days, the staff disappeared without any proper resignation or notice, saying that there was no way he could survive on half his salary for two years.

This is a situation no business owner would want to find himself in, especially if he is just getting started and still has to battle with a budget deficit more often than not. Can this be avoided? Or maybe better managed? Yes.

Now to the question of the day; Who should take responsibility for company assets handed over to staff?

There are different assets that companies entrust to their staff. From gadgets like mobile phones, laptops, modems, or internet devices, to bigger assets like cars, houses, and the likes. For tech startups, such assets could mostly include laptops or other mobile devices. These assets are mostly entrusted to the staff, only for as long as they hold a particular position or remain on the company’s payroll. And so, if there is any reason for a suspension, demotion, resignation, or termination of appointment, the staff is naturally expected to return the same to the company.

Generally, we expect the staff to be responsible for the condition of the assets in their care. The error is that some businesses (mostly those without proper structure and processes) do not have a document spelling out the what-ifs of this arrangement.

What happens if the asset is returned in a condition worse than it was given?

Or what happens if the asset is not returned at all?

Is there any insurance cover for the asset, and what does it cover?

What happens if it has undergone the natural wear and tear expected of depreciable assets? For instance, it may not be realistic to expect staff to return a car in the same condition he had received it three years ago.

Is there any point in the arrangement that the asset can be foregone by the company, and fully claimed by the staff?

There are a lot of questions that can be answered in a clear document that will be signed by both parties before the asset is handed over. Some companies would rather avoid all of these by simply having the staff sort out things like transportation and accommodation, while the company pays a certain allowance annually for the purpose.

As a business owner or founder, you could opt for this. Otherwise, you could provide insurance for things like cars, houses, laptops, and the like. Some events are both unexpected and sometimes unavoidable. Some others happen as a result of sheer carelessness and could have been avoided. There should be a clause stipulating what happens in such events.

There is some degree of damage that the staff could be made to take responsibility for, and there are some others that the company may have to step in and bear the brunt. An insurance cover could also have a role to play in all of these.

Some agreements could allow the staff to take full possession of some of the assets after some time. For instance, it is possible to allow staff to lay claims to things like mobile phones and cars, after some years of having it in their possession. This could encourage proper maintenance of the assets.

Whatever you opt for, have it spelled out in black and white.

In my Tekedia’s Empire of the Future presentation, I explained the evolution of economic systems. All nations typically begin as invention societies where ideas are in abundance, but with limited translations into products and services. But over time, some become innovation societies, with products and services, and then prosper.

Using the public stock market in the United States, I explained the redesign of that system, connecting the 2,000 years of GDP for the landmass called America today. In 1917,  the largest publicly traded companies in the United States were in construction; US Steel was dominant. Fifty years later, the tech infrastructure firms took off with IBM leading. And now, knowledge firms like Apple and Microsoft are running the show.

In Nigeria, something like this is happening at a smaller scale. Our largest publicly traded companies are in construction (BUA Cement and Dangote Cement), food (BUA Foods and Nestle) and tech infrastructure (MTNN and Airtel Africa). The only difference is that Nigeria has merged that 1917 and 1967 American evolutions into one, trajectory-wise. I expect, by 2035, the largest companies in Nigeria to be knowledge-driven (I cannot write “largest public companies” since most of our current tech startups will not likely list locally).

So, the ascension of MTNN with its market-leading N1.7 trillion annual revenue and Airtel Africa’s pinnacle moment at N5.4 trillion market cap, are part of the road to the new economic system. As these changes happen, new economic order will form in the nation.

MTN Nigeria Communications Plc (MTNN) has reported turnover in the sum of N1.7 trillion for full-year 2021, a milestone that will help firm up its status as Nigeria’s biggest listed company by revenue.

The Nigerian operation of South African-owned MTN Group attained the new height after the number of its active data users surged by 1.7 million to 34.3 million, helping income from data sales increase by 55.3 per cent to N516 billion.

MTNN cited an extension of its coverage areas for 4G services October through December as the catalyst for the higher earnings from data.

Relative to its figure for 2020, revenue for last year grew by 22.9 per cent.