The Drive

The conference is about 70 miles outside the city, which is roughly the distance to the Hamptons from New York City.   We allowed 3 hours to make this trek on the worst highway I have ever experienced in my life.  It was like driving on a dirt road, and it was the only highway in the entire country.  Everything has to come to Lagos through this road.  Cargo trucks drive on it just like they are on the NJ turnpike with no traffic.  People with baskets and pots balanced on their heads cross the street as if the cars and trucks are driving only 10 mph.  Potholes the size of cars, burnt out cars on the sides of the road that have been picked at for every part possible and left to decay, an accident or broken down vehicle every 3 miles or so.  Accidents on this road are not fender benders.  They often mean death, as was the unfortunate case for one of the students who was planning to attend the PIN conference. He died from internal bleeding hours after the accident, something that we just don’t usually consider in the US.  When you are in an accident in Nigeria, you call friends to take you to the hospital.  There is no 911.  His friends’ noble efforts weren’t enough in the unfortunate case of this young man.

Room and Board

I was given a hotel room in the university conference center.  There was no internet and no air conditioning (and it was quite hot), and very loud music from a nearby church permeated the room.  I decided to go to dinner with Gbegna and deal with my lodging situation later.  Dinner was rice and chicken with a very peppery spicy sauce, which I didn’t touch for fear of getting sick from the unfamiliar spices and ingredients.  After dinner, I found much more acceptable accommodations at the Camaroon Hotel, which was equivalent to a Best Western.  But unfortunately, still no internet.  After a long 2 days of travel and a welcomed second meal of plain rice, I got to bed at 2 a.m.

The Raid

Three and a half hours later at 5:30 a.m., I heard shouting in the hallway.  It sounded like they were going door to door in some kind of raid.  I quickly dressed, put on my sneakers and examined the exits for an escape plan.  I was ready to jump out the window if they knocked on my door.  I waited quietly.  By 6 a.m. the noise stopped.  I still have no explanation for the commotion, but I survived what was to be the only time I panicked during my trip.  I headed down to breakfast to find the eggs covered in the same spicy sauce that was on my rice and chicken the night before.  It took about 5 tries and the assistance of Tumi, a local businessman attending the conference that I had befriended, to fix my order and get me something plain.  After breakfast, it only took me a few minutes to get ready for today’s events since there was no soap of any kind in my room.  My pick-up time was scheduled for 8:45, but there really isn’t any such thing as a schedule here.  My ride arrived by 10 a.m. and we were off to start the TENT Conference.  

TENT Conference

TENT Conference

TENT Conference

The speakers that came before me were speaking English, Nigeria’s national language, to the 200 guests.  The theme was entrepreneurial spirit with a focus on the willingness to fail.  It seems that in this African nation, failing is not celebrated but discouraged.  The problem with trying to promote entrepreneurialism in this culture is that the underpinning of being an entrepreneur is to accept failure as part of your life.  When it was my turn to speak, I focused on my business failures and the many investments I have made that failed.  Failure is a part of business that needs to be celebrated and used as a learning tool.   Many questions were asked at the Q and A session, and it was a great opportunity for me to see the entrepreneurial interests of these Nigerian youths.

Back to Lagos

Back to Lagos

After lunch, I grabbed a ride with Tumi to Lagos.  Upon leaving the university, I realize that Monday is very different from Sunday.  The streets are packed with people.  They are everywhere.  It is crazy.  By 4 p.m. we arrived at the Lagos mainland and visited with Tumi’s mother-in-law.  I was scheduled to get together with a fellow YPOer the following day, so I secured a room at the Federal Hotel across the street from his office.  It was nice and quiet there with lots of security including guards with machine guns and physical barricades.  The steak dinner was no better than any of the other meals I have had to date, and my shower the following morning in cold brown water was not refreshing.  Upon checking out I told the staff how disappointing my stay was, and they just kept saying “Thank you.”  The only plus was that I had excellent internet service.

The Highway Again