If you engage in Digital Businesses as a Cover for Fraud, Your sins will find you Out - Kehinde Odeyemi

As Digital Trends get disruptive by the day, there is every chance at it that onventional work modes will exit the human space soon. We walked the talk with Kehinde Odeyemi, CEO of The Echo Digital. This is what he has to say on the importance of Digital Marketing and how to read the trending signs of our age.

NNI: Can we meet you?

Guest: I am Emmanuel Kehinde Odeyemi, I have a B.Sc in Electronics & Electrical Engineering (Communications). I am a professional Digital Marketer and the founder of The Echo Digital, T.E.D, an online marketing firm, founded in August 2017. Also, I'm a humanitarian at The Echo Care Foundation Africa, founded by me in June 2018


NNI: How has the  entrepreneurship/business journey been for you so far?

GUEST: My entrepreneur journey hasn't been smooth and neither has it been rough all through. There have been big wins, small wins, big losses and small losses. But importantly, lessons have been learnt.


NNI: Like Summy Smart Francis, Bill Gates, Strive Masiyiwa and other world's business models, what and who drives your entrepreneurship/business spirit?

GUEST: My entrepreneurial spirit is actually based on the fact that I have passion to help people. Through T.E.D, we have been able to solve over 650 marketing problems within 32 months and hired people so they can earn. At the moment, our staff count is about 30.

Also, a desire to be independent and creating a better life for myself and my unborn kids is a motivation. I am commited to making lives better.

NNI: In hosting innovative brand programmes like the TED Trade Fairs, Live in Concert and the TEDInvasion, what is your experience?
GUEST:  I own all the stocks at T.E.D,. This means if it goes sour, I lose the most and if goes so well I enjoy the most. One of the major characteristics of an entrepreneur is the ability to take risks, risk is something that I have learnt to calculate. The purpose of these events are: brand awareness, education and empowerment. However, the major challenge about hosting these events is having willing hands that can make it a success. Willing hands will always generate revenues.

NNI: What do you do at the TED Academy?
Guest: The T.E.D Academy is a Division of the T.E.D Organisation in charge of training people in digital skills such as SEO, Affiliate Marketing, Page Management & Development, Sponsored Ads, e.t.c. All done virtually! The participants are issued a certificate afterwards.

NNI: How did you come about digital Skills? 

Guest: Most of my digital skills are self taught.

NNI: What do you think of many youths who claim to engage in digital businesses as a cover for fraud?
GUEST: Their sins will find them out if they don't stop that nonsense

NNI: On the price rates and excessive use of internet browsing data  (positively or negatively) for SMEs and Companies, how does it affect your productivity?
GUEST: I use tonnes of data, that I can honestly account for. In the past 4 months, I have used over 200GB. To a certain extent, data in Nigeria isn't cheap if you compare it to other world countries but at the rate of data being sold, people in Nigeria can still make a life from it by going digital. You just have to understand that if you spend much on data usage, it better be fetching you money in return.

NNI: As a company, Can impact truly be measured? Considering your CSRs, what defines social impact for you at the Echo Digital?

GUEST: Of course impact can be measured. Most people into business are not entrepreneurs. Entrepreneurs are business people but not all business people are entrepreneurs. Entrepreneurship has to do with innovative solution to problems and trying to make lives better irrespective of their field. It is about risk taking, especially at the initial or incubation stage of your start-up. If you can't even afford to take a little risk for your brand, you can't use that word. Entrepreneurs think about people, business people think about themselves!

When it comes to CSR, we are making impact. For instance, The T.E.D Invasion Conference allows you to pick a ticket for a token and you get trained for free in digital marketing. The whole value embedded in the ticket is almost 18,000 naira and participants are asked to pay only 3,000 naira or 1,500 for it.

T.E.D also supports foundations, most importantly, TECF Africa and we have been able to hire many undergraduates to help them build work experience with us and get paid. So yes, results can be measured as we have been able to solve over 650 marketing problems with over 82% success rate.

NNI: What is your view on Global Youth Development and growth? Do you think we are making progress?
GUEST: As a matter of fact, the major targets for our online courses are undergraduate youths and one of the major benefits of the T.E.D Invasion is skill and knowledge empowerment for undergraduates. If young minds can harness the power of the digital age, they would live more fulfilled in various businesses. And yes, we are making progress. We are doing that fast too!

NNI: What exceptional skill do you think every entrepreneur and business owner should have? Why?
GUEST: Simple page management & development skill that helps you to effectively portray your brand properly on social media and it also helps you to grow your audience a step at a time. Quality is better, but in business, quantity should never, I repeat never be over-looked. Some people will automatically not patronise you because of your low followers count. This means so much too.

Also, Content Creation skill (SEO Writing & Branding is important too) and Email Marketing.

NNI: You also lead volunteers at The Echo Care Foundation. What is your Volunteer Experience?
GUEST: At TECF Africa, it's been awesome. A lot of people are volunteers but not VOLUNTEERS, if you know what I mean. Throughout my undergraduate days, I served people without expecting anything in return and today God is making people return the favour. Even before getting into the University, I've been involved in volunteering.

The only thing I have to say is that to volunteer isn't compulsory, nobody will beat you if you don't. But if you do out of your own volition, let your integrity show in your response to your responsibility. Integrity and Faithfulness is key in volunteering.

NNI:  Do you think funding levels for NGOs have reduced? Why?
GUEST: No it hasn't according to my knowledge, there are hundreds of organisations funding  and willing to fund NGOs as long as they can see a track record of successes and impact. Get registered, be transparent too!

NNI: What is your advice to fellow young individuals?
GUEST: Develop yourself at any opportunity. There is no time. What you don't pay 1,000 naira for today, you won't pay 1,000,000 naira for tomorrow even if you have it because having money won't chase out stinginess to oneself. Also if you don't pay a 1,000 naira today, you will be forced to pay 1,000,000 tomorrow.

Make your personal growth a priority. Having phones and gadgets are not important as what we can do with them. If you can't earn a living from them, you shouldn't invest so much in them in the first instance.

Grow and develop your mind and skills!

NNI: What new heights are you scaling at TED and TECF? What should we expect in the near future?

GUEST: The goal is to have T.E.D Invasion quarterly every year, every April in Obafemi Awolowo University though and across states or Universities at the beginning of every other quarter in the year.

We will be going public where 60 young individuals can own stocks or shares at T.E.D under our Academy, Events and Marketing Companies. They talk about investments and many young people still don't get it because they don't know how and why. Investment is the future.

We are going into awards by the end of the year where those that have done exceptionally well as individuals or organisations can be recognised. It won't be a regular event, these events started incubating in 2018. More details later.


NNI: Thank you very much for your time sir.

GUEST: Thank you very much for the honour.

Our Digital Economy is powered by Information Democracy - Ikedichi Egwu

Join us as we walk the talk with Ikedichi Egwu, a brand strategist, digital marketer and Public Speaker as he shares his thoughts on the subject of Digital Marketing. 

NNI: Can we meet you sir? 

Guest: Thanks for having me on your platform. I am Ikedichi Egwu, and I come from the South East part of Nigeria (Ebonyi State precisely). I am a brand strategist and digital marketer.  My journey into the world of branding dates back to when I was in 200L at the Obafemi Awolowo Univeristy, Ile-Ife. I couldn't seem to understand the philosophy driving the African entrepreneurial landscape at that time. My quest to find out stemmed the beginning of what would be later become my career as a brand strategist. Digital marketing for me is a field that encompasses all. Regardless of your industry, sales and marketing drive businesses. Also, the future is digital. Artificial Intelligence is the driving force behind major modern day innovations.

 

It was the above thinking framework that drove me into digital marketing. Today I have gone on to work with several brands as a digital marketer and brand strategist across the country. Currently, I work with Digital Funnel in Lagos as a brand strategist and digital marketer.

Moreover, I have traveled across several states within Nigeria speaking across multiple platforms on the subjects of branding, personal branding, digital marketing and leadership. So, I am who most persons would prefer to term a public speaker.

 

I was once a technical drop out from the Obafemi Awolowo University. My philosophy about life was at the core of my decision to drop out of the university while I was already in 500 Level, my final year. (Laughs.) 

Well, the good news is that I went back and decided that I would finish up my degree program eventually. I was taking a degree in Crop Production and Protection.

NNI: How has the entrepreneurship journey been for you so far?

Guest: The entrepreneurial journey for me has not particularly been easy. It's been filled with mistakes and lessons, like for many brands out there dipping their toes into the water. The journey, however, has been worth it.

NNI: Your emphasis on Digital Skills is strong. What is the relevance and how can individuals leverage them for growth?

Guest: Well, as I said earlier, the future is digital. In fact, the post covid-19 economy would favour brands that are digitally driven. 

Brands would want to look for ways to do things faster and achieve better outcomes. And the solutions that are going meet these needs would be digitally powered. So, your industry not withstanding you either adopt a digitally inclined approach or find your business falling behind your competition.

We are at a time in history when information is highly democratized. What this means for individuals is that there's no digital skill they set to learn that they can't grasp – be it programming; digital marketing; machine learning; IT Support etc. This would confer on the individual advantages that place them ahead of their competition.

NNI: Why do you think people are skeptical about online courses?

Guest: People are not skeptical about online courses, many Nigerians are. 

One of the reasons is the speed with which we adopt technologies. It would even be safe to say that many times we have fallen between what they term late adopters and laggards in the information diffusion process. It's a huge setback for us as it sees us crawling behind our contemporaries across the world.

In addition, while the other parts of the world are championing the digital revolution, Nigeria is still contesting leadership of a struggling regional artisan economy – a position it can barely hold on to as focus keeps shifting to its bordering counterparts who have shown a more responsible approach toward governance.

NNI: How does startup branding affect the future of digital revolution?

Guest: This is an era where digital visibility has an impact on the success of any start up – a time when relevance and visibility are like two sides of the same coin. You can only attract the business of customers who have heard about your business and or actually  seen it.

So, for a startup that's considering gaining a strategic positioning both online and offline, emphasis must be laid on visibility. 

NNI: Is it necessary for Digital Skills to be included in school curriculum? Why?

Guest: As a matter of fact, digital skills must be included in our curriculum if we must catch up with other parts of the world. The world has gone past the industrial revolution. We are talking digital now with AI, Machine Learning etc. 

You can't continue to teach students skills of the past and expect them to be relevant in the present. To me that's counter-productive.

If the problem of mass unemployment among the youths is to be dealt with, then there's the need for mass investment in human capital as it applies to what is relevant now – digitization.

NNI: Many have results to prove that digital skills do not yield actual conversions. Is there anything they are doing wrong leading to these results? 

Guest: Digital skills yield maximum conversions. In fact, programmers are amongst the highest income earners in the world at the moment.

The challenge, however, is that many persons who come into the digital world come in with the "overnight success" faulty thinking framework. But it does not work that way. You need a certain amount of mastery to begin earning big from your digital skills, and that kind of mastery requires patience and consistency.

Anyone who tries to make you believe that digital skills do not convert is deliberately hiding the truth from you. It's the new untapped oil for Nigeria.

NNI: What is your view on Global Youth Development and growth as regards the digital world? 

Guest: I would say Nigerian youths are way behind on a global index. Of course, you could argue that there are many Nigerian youths doing fine when placed side by side with their contemporaries from other parts of the world. But the question would be how many of us and at what age?

Findings would show you how we are way behind. It becomes necessary therefore for the youths to rethink their approach to life. The day I understood that my competition was global was the day my life found a deeper meaning. 

NNI: What's your believe as regards interconnected growth? Is it absolutely impossible for a brand to develop in isolation and without partnerships? 

Guest: I preach collaboration a lot. In fact, it's my belief that collaboration is the best form of competition. The damage in the country already is something one man can't correct. It's going to take collective efforts to make that happen. 

There's a limit to the number of jobs a business which exists in isolation can create. We need to come together to enjoy the economies of scale.

The digital economy worldwide is powered by the democratization of information. So if we don't come together and share intelligence, our digital growth would be slow.

NNI: Research shows that demand is making price for digital skill courses increase. This is fast becoming a problem and turning back potential students. From experience, how can this be solved?  

Guest: Well, I would rather choose to not agree with this. In fact, the demand for these skills is achieving the opposite – these courses are rather becoming cheap so more persons can get on board and acquire the skills needed to service the fast-growing demand for them. For example, there are less programmers than we need in the world today.

I began learning programming to further enhance my skills as a brand strategist and digital marketer. It may interest you to know that I have not spent as much since I began the training. As a matter of fact, most of the resource I use so far are free. There's Free Code Camp there, you don't pay a dime to learn. There's Gemn, American Internet Business School, Google and YouTube. Interestingly, Udemy has options for partial or fully funded scholarship for indigent students who may be restrained by funding from taking their courses.

So, what's more? Seriousness and the willingness to commit quality time to learning on the part of the individual.

NNI: What is your advice to fellow young individuals?

Guest: My advice is simple! Yes, the government has failed us and continues to deteriorate by the passage of each day but the responsibility is ours not to further fail ourselves. I understand that it's not easy and probably will not be in the foreseeable future. But if you will continue pushing and not doubt your abilities, there will be no limit to how much you can become.

NNI: What new heights do you hope to scale in the near future?

Guest: I am looking forward to building an inclusive digital community for all Nigerians. The goal is to grow into a household name as far the African and Nigerian digital space is concerned. Also, I look forward to more speaking invitations, but this time, from other countries across the world.

NNI: Thank you for your time.

Guest: Thanks again for having me.

   

How Tech is Scaling through Coronavirus

At the height of global suffering in the deadly hand of novel Coronavirus virus disease, accusing fingers have been pointed at fifth generation Internet technology (5G) as the main cause of the pandemic.

5G is a fifth generation of mobile technology which is an improvement on today’s 4G technology with enhanced capabilities. The technology provides the platform for new and emerging technologies such as Internet of Things (IoT), Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Big Data to improve the way we live and work.

Indeed, the world over, arrival of a new technology is often celebrated, just as the 5G technology was not quite long ago. However this 5G technology has been indicated once that it poses threats to life, even when these have not been scientifically proven.

It can be said therefore that the ongoing outburst against 5G technology by concerned individuals is understandable, particularly in the light of the current delicate global health situation which has been claiming lives in thousands.

 

Emerging evidences from authorities have, however, shown that the concerns raised so far were merely laced with fear, emotion, conspiracy theories and these are further given bonus by the level of ignorance of the populace about the subject matter..

Telecoms operators in the Nigeria have corroborated this, saying “Even with all the virtues of the novel 5G, our BTS Sites across the country are still bereft of this technology. We will want to re-emphasize that several studies have been carried out even before the 5G emergence, indicating that the microwave emissions from these infrastructures have no harmful effect on human health.”

It has been approved by the government agencies concerned with radiation protection and nuclear safety across the world as not having the negative health effects of more intense radiation.

There is high hope from the new 5G technology, but it's until one gets to know pretty much about the technology, it may be easy to see it as another of such technologies that campaign in poetry but end up governing in prose. But by all standards, this is not the case as far as 5G is concerned.

Car Theft: IGP launches stolen vehicle report portal

The Inspector-General of Police, IGP Usman Alkali Baba, psc(+), NPM, NEAPS, fdc, CFR, has successfully completed and commissioned the digitalized Central Motor Registry (CMR) Command Centre at the Force Headquarters, Abuja which is domiciled at the Department of Information and Communication Technology. This is in line with the IGP’s quest to ensure a digital environment for policing the country for robust and more proactive measures in crime prevention, investigation, and prosecution.The newly digitalized Central Motor Registry Command Centre will make it possible for members of the public to report vehicles stolen from as far back as 1st January, 2018, and yet-to-be-recovered to input the vehicle details on the online platform to serve as a reliable data point for the possible recovery of the vehicle. The platform will also process motor vehicle information to support police operations and efforts toward enhancing national security.

The digitalization of the CMR is complete with 2 Command Centres in Abuja and Lagos, 37 CMR Information Centres across the Country and in the Federal Capital Territory, 200 e-Enforcement Operational Patrol Vehicles with automatic number plate recognition on each vehicle as part of the first batch.

The Inspector-General of Police has therefore admonished Nigerians and other residents in the country to take advantage of the platform at https://reportcmr.npf.gov.ng to upload their vehicle information on the website with effect from today 7th December, 2022, as a security step for preventing it from being stolen and re-registered.

Ondomind

Photostory: Stadium 974 is one of Qatar’s stadiums that will be disassembled after the World Cup

It was named 974 because it was built by using 974 shipping containers, which makes it fully recyclable structure.Qatar spent $717 million to build the Stadium 974. The multimillion dollar stadium will be completely dismantled after hosting seven World Cup games. It is the first temporary venue in FIFA World Cup history.

Africanreportfiles

That was the stadium where Ghana played its match against Portugal.Qatar announced t that it will give away the 974 Stadium as a gift to Jordan as an expression of appreciation for the Jordanian assistance to Qatar during the World Cup.The stadium will be disassembled back into 974 containers and shipped to Jordan to be re-assembled again there permanently.That is called: innovative engineering

Ondomind 

Uniben Student Produces Utility Vehicle

A doctorate student from the Faculty of Engineering, University of Benin, Igbinosa Eghosa, has produced a lightweight utility vehicle.

Eghosa of the Department of Production Engineering developed the vehicle under the supervision of Professor Akaehomen Ibhadode, who also led the team to present the vehicle to the University’s Management.

In a statement shared on the Facebook page of UNIBEN on Thursday, the developer opined that the lightweight truck will re-shape and power the growth of the nation’s transport and agriculture industries. He added that with adequate funding, the vehicle could be produced in large quantity as the design was capable of addressing transportation needs even in local communities.

On his part, the project supervisor pointed out that over 80 per cent of the materials used for the production of the truck was sourced locally.

Meanwhile, the Vice Chancellor, Professor Lilian Salami, praised the team for promoting local production and expressed the University’s readiness to partner with the Faculty in the production of some units of the vehicle for the Institution’s use.

Ondomind