our revolution will be televised

Eight year old me was playing football with my classmates. The football pitch was hastily put together outside our classroom. Our school bags and shoes piled up as goal posts. It was after school, and we were supposed to be going home.

Then one of the teachers showed up.

If you schooled in Nigeria in the 80s, there is only one thing you do when you see your teacher whilst you are playing football. Run, hide and deny everything!

We did.

But he called us out of our hideouts. And invited us to his classroom.

He didn’t reprimand us. Instead he asked us to join his after-school class.

This was not the usual class where you revised Maths, English and Social Studies. He had other plans.

He wanted us to ask him any question related to history, politics, current affairs… anything. So it was an ask-me-anything class.

We did this everyday for the rest of the term. And that was the beginning of my interest in asking questions.

I ask lots of questions. Especially from people that were old enough to live through the 1960s.

I love the 1960s… it’s the most interesting decade in the last century. A lot of African countries kicked out their colonial overlords. A US president was assassinated. Two Nigerian Head of States were assassinated. Patrice Lumumba was killed. And Che Guevara fought in the Congo.

It was not all doom and gloom…it was the best decade for the Ghanaian and Nigerian Highlife music. The legends were at their peak….Bobby Benson, Victor Olaiya, E.T Mensah, Rex Lawson, Roy Chicago, Adeolu Akinsanya. And 22-year old Cassius Clay brought down the intimidating Sonny Liston to become the World Heavyweight Champion. And then Cassius Clay went on to become Muhammad Ali the Greatest . Interesting times.

I ask questions a lot.

But these days, I’ve been asking more about the future than the past.

I’m interested in how innovation will shape the way we’ll live, work and do business in the future. Especially in Africa. We now have unprecedented access to technology. What positive impact will this have in crafting a better African narrative? The one in which we become the protagonist of our own story.

I have been interviewing few people that are playing a key part in shaping the African future. A lot of them are entrepreneurs that have raised significant amount of money to build tech startups in the continent.

Building the Future podcast will be live soon. And you’ll be able to hear their stories.

#buildingthefuture

So far I have spent time with Mark Essien (hotels.ng), Bilikiss Abiola (wecyclers), Iyin Aboyeji (flutterwave), Kola Aina (venture platforms) and Tayo Bamiduro (max.ng). In the coming weeks, I’ll be chatting with other entrepreneurs from South Africa, Ghana, Kenya and Rwanda.

And in June, I’ll be sitting down with Mrs Oby Ezekwesili. She is a former government Minister in Nigeria and co-founder of Transparency International, and a key figure behind the #bringbackourgirls movement. We’ll be chatting about how tech and entrepreneurship can change the African narrative for everyone, and not just the middle class.

In the meantime, I will appreciate if you can do 3 things for me…

First, I’ll like you to register your interest in subscribing to this podcast when we launch. You’ll get a couple of emails from me before then.

Second, I’ll like you to share this with as many people you know will find the conversations useful. This will encourage me a lot.

Thirdly, please recommend and introduce me to interesting African entrepreneurs building amazing businesses that will shape our future. I will like to have them on the show too.

The next African story will be written by Africans. There are people crafting the narrative now. And we need to share that story.

Please sign up to join the conversation.

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Dotun is the Managing Partner at Starta. We believe that billion dollar companies will emerge out of Africa built by Africans. Our mission is to help entrepreneurs that will make this happen.