In Nigeria, a new epidemic has gripped the young and old, literate and illiterate, mannered and ill-mannered, just about every demography.
Many people identify with the movement, including those who know next to nothing about the originator or his “calling.”
Every corner in Nigeria, in Zuckerville, Twittersphere and Instaville, you hear the “I’m a Marlian” declaration. Some of the sacred places of worship are not left out.
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One very true character of Marlians is breaking the norm.
Nigeria’s music star, Naira Marley, started the movement and it is blazing like wild fire. But with the way it is, many people just want to live the Marlian moment. It’s the new fad. And like other trends before it, expiry date beckons.
Marlians seek freedom and independence, irrespective of anyone else’s opinion; hence, they fight to live their lives just the way they feel like. So, you find stories of Marlians without undies (including panties and bra) and belts, weeding off without a care. The other day, the chairman of Heirs Holdings, Tony Elumelu, was associated with the trend because he was spotted without a belt holding up his pair of trousers.
Now, enough of trying to talk up Marlians. Are there Marlians in the business sphere?
Take a ride with me.
Some of the breakthroughs in business are credited to ‘Marlians’. From the banking space to the tech space, there have been breaks by the young and daring. To some, it’s an adventure; to others, it’s an experiment; to the rest, it’s an expression. They needed not be addressed as Marlians before they thought out of the box in their endeavours.
Almost every smartphone user has an Opera News app. That is a product of smart thinking. The guys at Opera had to push their product to the people without waiting for demand. Their news aggregate site is just in the face of every phone user. And they have taken the push a notch further by rewarding writers for publishing on their sites. These tech ‘Marlians’ aren’t here to joke.
The agribusiness sector has witnessed some profound improvements through the deployment of technology in racking up funds from investors to the real farmers with encouraging return on investment, improving yields and connecting farm produce to the consumers in good conditions, and doing well to involve youths.
Innovations from these Marlians have seen a lot of farmers spring back to life and some business-minded individuals become farmers by proxy. Today, you have loads of agriculture investors who have never been to any farm.
Real estate is not left out. Sijibomi Ogundele of the Sujimoto Group of Companies is one entrepreneur whose landmark projects bestride the real estate landscape in the country.
There were people who told us that being guided and told what to do all our lives, like we don’t have brains, was the norm. We strayed with their foible. But some of today’s entrepreneurs all over the world are breaking the norm. Many are actually learning on the go, and doing well.
But one thing others must learn from these young enterprising business minds is dynamism and flexibility in management.
Believe it, the business Marlians are here.
