By TITO PHILIPS, JNR. 
On Tuesday, 16th September 2014, popular Nigerian blogger Linda Ikeji posted on her blog her latest luxury toy; a brand new 2014 Range Rover Sport Supercharged. According to her, this cost a whopping sum of N24m [$153,000]!
This is not her first car by the way, this is her 3rd car following a 2011 Infiniti FX 35 [N8m] and a 2008 Toyota Camry. Conservatively, her 3 cars cost N36m [$228,000], not bad for a blogger right?
The Value of Money
Anyone is free to spend their money however they want.
But stop to think about this, would Linda Ikeji be able to buy these cars if Larry Page and Sergey Brin hadn’t invented Google the company that created the free blogging platform she uses?
Would Linda Ikeji be able to buy these cars if Andy Bechtolsheim the first venture capitalist who funded Google’s startup with $100,000 had gone ahead to buy a Range Rover Sport for $153,000?
Would Linda Ikeji be able to buy these cars if Larry Page and Sergey Brin had used the money they created with to buy a Range Rover Sport?
As a matter of fact, Larry Page whose net worth is $32.1 Billion doesn’t own a luxury car as much as Linda Ikeji. His 3 automobiles valued at $137,000 are all environmentally friendly products;
- Toyota Prius, a hybrid electric mid-size hatchback. It is among the most clean cars of the world based on smog formation and vehicular emissions. This was the world’s first mass produced gasoline-electric hybrid car. $20,000
- Tesla Roadster, a Battery Electric Vehicle sports car. It has the distinction of being the first all-electric vehicle in serial production. Larry Page is also a key investor in the firm and thus was one of the buyer of this car. $109,000
- Zero X motorbike, an Electric Vehicle from Zero Motorcycles, which you can get for just under US $8,000.
On the other hand, Sergey Brin, who has a net worth of $ 30.7 Billion, like his partner, also doesn't own a luxury car as much as Linda Ikeji. His 2 automobiles valued at $129,000, are all environmentally friendly products; a Toyota Prius [$20,000] and a Tesla Roadster [$109,000].
The African Mentality of Wealth
As Africans, we have a very funny way of utilizing wealth. Unlike our western counterparts, who see wealth as a tool for the creation of more wealth and more good in the world, we see wealth as a tool for luxury.
We make money to ‘show off’, to make a statement that we have arrived. Our appetite for extravagancy increases as our wealth increases. We suddenly forget how we once survived without all these luxurious toys and completely lose all senses of moderation.
One luxury car doesn’t seem to be enough; we keep reaching out for more as more money comes in. we decorate our garage with expensive toys that are tying down valuable resources that ought to be utilized for the creation of more wealth and more good in the world.
This is the same mentality common amongst our politicians as well as religious leaders. The open display of wealth and excessive accumulation of luxury toys are all evident around us. And yet we keep on complaining that our economies are not growing. We keep on wondering when Africa will measure up with the rest of the world.
How can we ever measure up when all we do with wealth is to spend it wastefully on consumables rather than re-invest it on wealth creating opportunities. Rather than use of wealth to create Venture Capital firms that will empower startups with seed funds, we spend them on luxury toys that does no one good but our selfish selves!
To Whom Much Is GIVEN, Much Is Expected
That Linda Ikeji rose to such level of affluence while using a free blogging platform that some other entrepreneurs created with their wealth, is enough reason for her to tread wisely.
There is absolutely nothing wrong with her first 2 cars, they were high profile cars already. Going as much as spending $153,000 for a 3rd car, was purely wasteful for someone with her humble beginnings. You would think she should be more considerate with money.
Less than the amount she spent on her 2014 Range Rover Sport, $100,000 was the seed capital that built Google into a global $395 Billion brand that employs over 50,000 people worldwide. If they didn’t use this money wisely, Linda Ikeji won’t be making that much from blogging for free.
Recently, on the 12th of September, the same Google offers $100,000 cloud credit for startups in order to create more success stories to add to its portfolio.
The point of this essay is simple, that you have so much is not a justification to waste so much. With the same amount you waste on luxury items, is what others have changed the world with.
It is true that wealth reveals our true nature. The wise become wiser as their wealth grows. The generous gives more as their wealth grows. The greedy acquires more as their wealth grows. In the end, to whom much is given, much is expected!
Conclusion: Linda Ikeji Needs To Stop Showing Off!
As entrepreneurs, we are not like the folks in the entertainment industry who flaunt their toys every now and then. We have a higher responsibility to make better use of the resources at our disposal. Business is an institution of society and the society depends on us entrepreneurs for the consistent creation of products/services that push humanity forward.
Entrepreneurship is not showbiz. Entrepreneurship is not about being a celebrity. Entrepreneurship is about leaving a legacy. Real entrepreneurs change the world by doing stuffs that MATTER. They are too busy making a difference. No time for paparazzi!
Update
There have been a lot of mixed reactions to this post, as it’s normally expected of such unusual article as this. Reading through the comments below as well as other comments via facebook and twitter, I noticed the original context of this issue has been lost. So I’m going to re-iterate my standpoint as clearly as possible.
I am an entrepreneur. I am not an entertainer. Neither am I interested in what goes on in the entertainment industry. I wrote this unusual article on the premise of entrepreneurship. This is a message from one entrepreneur to another. And if my knowledge serves me right, the principles and practice of entrepreneurship can be summed up in 5 steps;
- Starting up a business[es]
- That employs other people
- To create products/services
- That solves the problems plaguing humanity
- In order to make a profit.
Linda Ikeji, unless she states otherwise, considers herself an entrepreneur. So from an entrepreneurial point of view, the whole point of this post is this; can’t $153,000 do better than a 2014 Range Rover Sport?
Thanks to the internet, the entrepreneurial community in Africa, not only in Nigeria is increasingly growing and attracting global attention by the day. The conversation within the ecosystem is getting louder by the day. The level of entrepreneurial awareness is huge, yet, there are very few success stories.
So when a fellow entrepreneur from the ecosystem gradually makes her way to the top, despite all the challenges we all face, it’s worth every attention and admiration. But when the entrepreneur begins to lose sight of the ‘big picture’ mentality synonymous with the entrepreneurial community, and start tending towards flamboyancy, a post like this is not out of place.
Linda Ikeji has the capacity and now the resources to pursue any entrepreneurial dream of her choice. She has the capacity and now the resources to turn her blog into a media empire that can employ more people, create more products/services and make more money. She has the capacity and now the resources to DO MORE, to BE MORE. Why is she choosing otherwise?
Of all the wealth Dangote has, he never stops expanding his business empire. He never stops creating more businesses that will employ more people to create more products/services that will make rake in more profit.
Why doesn’t he stop?
Because that’s what and all entrepreneurship is all about. It’s the joy of creation. It’s the passion to create. It’s not a destination you arrive to and start celebrating; it’s a never ending journey that demands continuous creation.
Does this mean Dangote doesn’t buy luxury toys? Absolutely not!
He does, but is that the story that gets to the news? Are these the things he celebrates? Absolutely not!
This unusual article was NOT written to spite Linda Ikeji, even though I don’t read her blog. In fact, I heard about the news of her latest luxury toy from Enterprise54. I have only involved her blog for promotional reasons on behalf of my clients.
This was written to re-awaken the spirit of entrepreneurship in her, to remind her of the internal drive that got her this far. To remind her that other entrepreneurs somewhere in the universe did their part in creating stuffs that she has leveraged upon to get this far. And to tell her that the baton has now been passed on to her NOT for her own use only, but to make a contribution that will also spur the rise of another entrepreneur someday.
This is to say to her;
“To whom much is given, much is expected. You are here today because of the choices, decisions and actions of others in the entrepreneurial ecosystem made in the past. Your choices, decisions and actions today, will determine the future of so many other entrepreneurs someday. It’s not time to celebrate, there’s still MORE TO BE DONE. It’s time to pass it on. It’s time to create. It’s time to BE MORE. NOT just HAVE MORE!”
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