Many in our community have asked me to comment on the UK schools requiring Nigerian students (secondary, polytechnics and universities) to write standardized English language testing exams before they can study in the UK. I understand that pain: why should the UK tell Nigerians that we do not speak and write “enough” English when few of us can speak for two  minutes in any native language without switching to English?

Looking at it from that angle misses the whole point. The point is that academic “inequality” has widened in Nigeria. Check the last ten JAMB and WAEC results. Look at the best students where they are coming from. If you do not know, most of those A-hitters are products of top-grade private schools. Those extremely expensive schools continue to outperform when the public schools have faded.

But every person wants to travel to the UK since as kids they have been telling us how great the UK is. I knew so much about London in my Geography class than any city in Nigeria! And I was taught how many days the Queen of England spent in Nigeria – and all the places she visited. Who rode a train route? (Nwachukwu). Why would I not like to live in her land if they are so amazing like that?

So, everyone wants to travel to the UK to see those nice things we read in books in Nigeria.  For the UK,  how do you filter? That is where the exam comes into play.

UK, my request is simple: remove the expiration date, and if it must expire, put 10 years there, not 2 years.

People, allow UK schools to run their shows; there are no rights there. I will administer Igbo Izugbe to them any day they apply to study in Ovim, Abia State, and they must pass to be admitted to Igbo Mahadum. Unfortunately, the UK people have no interests for that.

Victory has relations; vanquish is an orphan. A few decades ago, BA would stamp your Nigerian passport with a visa at the counter to enable you to travel to watch Liverpool from Lagos, and if after the game, you have time for the Yankees, you can buy a ticket and as you board, they will put the US visa on the same passport. But we decided the other way, and today, even a PhD English graduate from Nigeria is not spared by Canada on the IELTS exam. O di egwu!

I found quite recently that about 60 percent of apps on the Play stores never get downloaded, and even when they do, they are mostly used once, uninstalled, and never installed again by the same user. What does this mean? The developer has created a solution but the question is, was there a problem with this solution he has created? Has he done it better than everyone else? Has he in any way made life easier, better, cheaper, faster, and more convenient for his target market?

Your value proposition identifies the exact problem you are solving and how. There might be a solution for every problem, but not a problem for every solution. Every product or service you see out there is a solution, but the issue is that some people are creating solutions for problems that do not yet exist or problems that people do not even know they have. What you want to do as an entrepreneur is to ensure that there is a problem you are solving.

The neo-banks or digital banks entered the banking scape in the last couple of years, and at first, it seemed like they had only come to be a digital version of the banks as we know it. But in a short while, they showed their value proposition – zero bank charges, do all your banking transactions from the comfort of your phone, never have to queue in the banking halls, better interest rates on savings, and so on. Steadily, they have been cornering some market share from what one would have described as an already-saturated banking sector. What is the reason for this? They had a solid value proposition.

Your value proposition says what you are offering to do, for whom, and why it is better than the competition. Why would a person download an app, use it once, and then discard it? The value proposition was weak or probably non-existent.

Maybe the app was solving the same problem as several other apps, and not doing anything better.

Maybe the app had so many bugs, lags, and frequent ads that affected user experience.

Maybe the app offered very little for free before asking the user to upgrade to a paid version to access more. No one wants to pay for something that has not given them considerable value.

When building your value proposition, always think of who is willing to pay for what you are offering? There are several things (products, services, and solutions) that people would love to have, but are not willing to pay for. However, there are others that people (the target audience) need desperately and are ready to pay for.

That is the difference between a nice-to-have and a need-to-have solution. Let’s look at Zido for instance. Zido Logistics is reducing and removing frictions and expensive middlemen from Africa’s logistics system. This was an already existing problem that we came into the scene to solve. Zido did not come up with a solution and then start looking for people with the problem.

Businesses already had this problem to contend with, and it was costing them money and also slowing down their processes. By bringing a value proposition that automates the processes, reduces time wastage, and increases efficiency for cargo owners and transporters, breaking into the market became inevitable.

That is what a value proposition should be. Think about your customers and how you can satisfy them.

I have great news to share on healthcare advancement. Lafiya Telehealth will unveil the Lafiya AI HealthChecker next month. With our technology, if you look into Lafiya Camera for 30 seconds, you will get your critical wellness and vital signs data.

Our vision has been one thing: improve marginal cost of delivering healthcare services, and unlock leverages where one doctor can handle 1,000 patients in a day, and thereby expand access to healthcare, for all.

While we understand that our system cannot replace your doctor, our confidence interval is superb to make many calls. I want churches, mosques, villages, offices, schools, families, etc to place order. We will solve the problem of scarcity of doctors by bringing new thinking in the healthcare sector.

We’re also seeking clinics, governments and hospitals to partner because we will put fuel on the rocketship of healthcare in Africa and beyond. Lafiya Telehealth is a Tekedia Capital portfolio company, based in Texas, USA. Our Lagos and global offices are here.

Note: this data was approved for share by the person. We’re HIPAA compliant and you can count on that as I studied in the Johns Hopkins University.

We loaded this device with the following, among others:

• 12 lead ECG, URT (Urine Routine) & GLU (Glucose).
•  UA (Uric Acid) & Blood Lipid (TG, LDL-C, HDL-C, TCHO).
•  Non-invasive Blood Pressure (NIBP) & Infrared Forehead TEMP.
•  Pulse Oximeter/SPO2, Heart Rate (HR) & Pulse Rate (PR).
•  GLU (Blood Glucose) & UA (Uric Acid).
•  GLU Strip 50pcs/bottle & UA Strip – 50pcs/bottle.
•  Urine Analyzer & 11 items urine test strip 100pcs/bottle.
•  Dry Biochemical Analyzer & Blood lipid strip 15pcs/bottle & Adapter.
•  Hemoglobin Analyzer & HB strip 50pcs/bottle.
•  WBC Analyzer & WBC strip 100pcs/bottle for 100 persons..
•  ETC

Lafiya Cloud Hospital – A Telehealth System At Best