The #YabaManifesto is about Collaboration — It begins with you and I

Dele Bakare
Jul 21, 2017 · 2 min read

First of all, this piece is written not to discredit anyone’s opinion about the on-going conversation about the #YabaManifesto. As a matter of fact, we need to contribute more if we are to develop a proper ecosystem or technosystem like @oonwoye calls it.

I have read a number of articles online and it’s normal to see the different arguments concerning this subject. I think we may have a misunderstanding of this manifesto to begin with.

“The driver of all Growth is Collaboration” — unknown

Since the campaign for #YabaManifesto started, we have seen people from every corner not just Yaba showing interest in making this test bed work as a model that can be replicated across the country.

Mark Essien has shown enough clarity on this issue.

He said — “Right now, the alternative to Yaba is not another place, it’s actually nothing. When we say “no yaba as the tech district”, we are actually giving up our control of the tech story. It will become diffuse and unclear — there will be Tinapa Tech City, a Kaduna tech hub, some media companies in Lekki, a few scattered startups in Ikeja. There is no clarity where or what this tech thing is. Our force is diluted.”

and 'Bosun Tijani also rightly said

“Yaba isn’t a threat to any other ecosystem and it will never be — it is a test bed that will in real sense help birth so many other hotspots.”

So why not collaborate?

If there’s an initiative that makes good sense and will push the ecosystem to the peak, i think we should all be in support. Collaboration is what drives tech. If we get it right in Yaba, we would get it right in Calabar, Portharcourt, Ibadan etc. We know that even in the United states of America, that energy, that spirit has trickled to other places in the USA. You can now build world-class tech startups in places like Texas, New York, far from Silicon valley and Seattle. The reason is simple- Silicon valley is working and has become the de facto template for many other evolving tech ecosystems.

This whole “Yaba” thing is us stakeholders seeking to show rather than just talk. We want to build a thriving ecosystem, the place where success stories would emerge from, where we could paint a picture and show to the rest of Africa or scratch that Nigeria.

This is the time to support this movement. Let’s work together to make this Yaba manifesto a successful case study. If this works, believe me, the trickle effect would be more than another medium article.

“Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much” — Helen Keller

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Dele Bakare

Written by

Founder/CEO at Findworka.com

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