April 2022

We cannot watch over the world in any meaningful way while ignoring economic realities. If you want to steer the world towards a better future, you need to realize that a better future begins with a brighter economic outlook. Anything less than that is superficial. Some christians insist they are only interested in spiritual transformation, but then we can see the trajectory of true personal transformation. A truly transformed life will become more productive, transformed lives will produce a transformed society. Increased productivity has a positive effect on the economy of such a society. It is always about the economy.

Several news outlets reported that references to a gay relationship in “Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore” were edited out of the movie by Warner Bros. for the film’s release in China. Over the years, the Chinese Market has made it clear that they would not allow references to homosexuality on screen. Several movies have been edited with such directives in mind. China’s economic might is the reason they are able to do this. Other countries have had similar calls for censorship ignored, with the movie studio opting to not release the movie in such countries altogether. Such double standards are due to the economic might of the countries in question.

Economic power is the prime moving force in today’s world. Economic power makes it easier to enforce your values and principles. You can secure political power with economic power. Traditionally, we have known that whoever controls the gold makes the rules. The watchman cannot ignore the economy and be content to focus solely on spirituality and character moulding. The end goal of everything spiritual and intellectual is for greater fruitfulness and productivity. Economic matters are matters of fruitfulness and productivity. Spirituality and sound character should mould us into the stature of someone whose activities have an effect on the economy.

Real changes are driven by the people that possess economic powers or can influence economic activities. You have not really done anything until the economic conditions of your world improves. We must understand that our mission to steer the world towards a better future has an economic component. You cannot drive any real change for as long as you ignore economic realities. This is because after all is said and done, the economic wellbeing of people is top of the mind for them. People need an environment that empowers them to grow, prosper and create economic opportunities under visionary leadership and strong governance.

Whatever spiritual or intellectual powers you possess that do not translate into economic influence are not relevant. You must resist any effort to sideline you away from the economic arena. You can not function as a salt and light of your world if you are irrelevant to the economy of your world. Spiritual and intellectual prowess are not an end in themselves. They are a means to an end by increasing your efficiency and effectiveness.

You need to position yourself to wield economic power if you wish to make real changes to the world around you. You must be able to influence the economy of your world. The first step is to understand production and commerce. There must be a desire to develop productivity, stimulate productivity in others and then use it as a leverage. There are a lot of agendas been championed in the world today that might vex your soul but you there is little you can do without economic power. Do not stop at spiritual proficiency. You need to consciously build up economic power.

The mission is simple. Solve problems profitably. It is time to discard the idea that the best way to change the world is through a non-profit organization. And that is because it is not true. When you compare the impact of for-profit companies with nonprofits, you see that for-profits are the better model. There is nothing wrong with making money. You can make all the money you want as long as you remember to keep your God-given mission in your spirit at all times. (Deuteronomy 8:18, Psalms 62:10). We have a big problem when you shy away from making money.

It is an oversimplification to claim Bill Gates is now a philanthropist. In the real sense of it, he is hard at work, solving problems. The excellent 2019 three-part docuseries; “Inside Bill’s Brain: Decoding Bill Gates” explores the mind and motivations of this celebrated tech visionary, business leader and philanthropist. You will see how Bill Gates is able to tackle some of the world’s biggest problems, ranging from water, sanitation and hygiene to clean energy. He runs all this through a complex web of several for-profit and nonprofit entities. This is not about making money for him, it is about making a positive difference.

What we learn from Bill Gates is that solving problems in the real world is more efficient when you approach it as a business. Solve problems profitably. Make money from doing it. The consistency and sustainability that comes with for-profit businesses will be a real blessing to your world. If your current ideas of change and making a difference are all nonprofit, set them aside for now. Think about products or services that could be offered to solve problems profitably within that space. You may begin by manufacturing the products you planned to handout for free through your nonprofit. Do business.

One of the major reasons a vision fails is due to lack of enough business being generated around the vision. It is not enough to develop a vision statement. There must be serious business being built around it. You need to understand that without shrewd business acumen, you will not be able to transform the complex world into the image of your vision (See Matthew 10:16). A vision should be a tool that gets translated into strategies and behaviors that drive our everyday business. You will not accomplish much with your vision if you do not approach it as a business.

For a dream comes with much business, and a fool’s voice with many words.

(Ecclesiastes 5:3 ESV)

A vision requires a business-minded approach. Whatever your objectives might be, you must approach it as a business. Whether your goal is to educate young girls on the evils of sugar daddies or to preach the gospel of Christ, a business-minded person will get more done. Whether operating in a Christian ministry, nonprofits or governance, a business-minded person will always perform better. A genuine vision comes with much business. When we approach vision without the work ethic demands of free enterprise, failure is inevitable.

That is why I am making a case for you to be business minded. Approach this with the mind-set of building a business that solves the social and economic problems that keep you up at night. When people approach their vision without this all-important enterprising spirit, everything is just smiles and games. Nothing ever gets done. They become professional fundraisers and rent seekers. You need to avoid that trap by looking for an angle to your vision that could yield consistent revenues within a “free enterprise” system. Are you building a business? You should.

You do not need to be a genius to realise that the real goal of a business is to solve a specific problem in a specific way at a scale that makes it worthwhile. We see then that it is not so different from the person that aspires to operate as a salt and light of the world. You are also supposed to be in the business of solving a specific problem in a specific way at a meaningful scale. Please understand that to solve a problem at any meaningful scale, you have to build a business around it.

I remember a chance meeting with a young man many years ago. He regaled me with stories about his efforts to improve his community. In reality, all he had were poorly thought out ideas that were having little to no impact. He framed it as giving back to the community. I pointed out that he had not taken anything from the community in the first place. So, what was he giving back? The young man was simply a product of a system that convinced him that this was the best way to do good. The problem with such a system is lack of objective feedback. You keep designing programs that do not accomplish anything.

We need to stop thinking about getting a job to make money and then start a non-profit organization on the side as a way to do good. You should align your daily business with matters of your watch. That is how to position yourself for long-term growth and impact. Businesses that are making an impact in our world today were first and foremost conceived to solve problems. While it is true that not every problem in society can be solved by building a business. People who engage in “free enterprise” develop a robust skillset and mental clarity that makes them better at the non-profit stuff.

Business is a tool and like any tool, its impact and legacy is determined by the people directing the affairs of the business. A business can be a vehicle for crime and corruption. However, it can also be a vehicle for long-term change in the community. For anyone interested in building a consistent and sustainable system around their solutions, a business could be the best structure for it. The big idea here is that you do not need to choose between making money and doing good. You can really do good by solving problems in a way that is self-sustaining and profitable.

Henry Ford famously said, “A business that makes nothing but money is a poor business”. A business cannot simply focus on the bottom-line without giving thought to the impact and legacy in the society. Some of the biggest changes to the way we live, work and play over the past fifty years have been driven by businesses. Corporations such as Microsoft, Facebook, and Toyota Motor Corporation have proven beyond any doubt that one can make money and have an impact at the same time. You see these businesses solving problems and increasing the productivity of nations.

If you are serious about your role to watch the world and steer it towards a better future, you would need to be business minded. You are not doing anyone a favour when you dream up “passion projects” that are not self-sustaining. The idea that you would always need to beg for money before executing projects should be abandoned. You can build out a business around any cause that interests you. And that business makes money and enables you to offer your ideas, services and support to even more people.

Our vision for a better future must evolve beyond handing out money or food to the poor and vulnerable. Handing out money to people is like the “fast food” version of change. It provides instant gratification and a sense of accomplishment. However, we all know nothing has really changed. You will always need to give money handouts to those people. The problem is that handouts are not sustainable and it cannot be consistent. You must be ready to take a long and thoughtful look at a problem and then build systems to solve it.

Apostle Paul writing in Romans admonishes us not to fit into the accepted norms of the world without thinking about it. You will find out that there is so much you can do if only you are ready to take time to think through. Strive Masiyiwa and his wife began a non-profit organization after a staff member of their business died, leaving behind small children. They were compelled to start offering scholarships to orphaned and vulnerable children because it was clear that nobody else was doing so at that time. Scholarships are not handouts, they are a handup. They help people get on their feet in order to lead a better life.

If you want to help people, start a business and employ one more person every year. It looks small, but it is more impactful in the long term. That is real charity. You must develop a deeper understanding of philanthropy. You must discover for yourself what it really means to love people enough in order to think through social and economic problems. And then build a system that will solve the problem in a way that is consistent and sustainable. Real biblical charity will make you invest ten years or more into getting your PhD so that you can be better equipped to invent cures to diseases that have claimed lives.

The goal should not be to make money and do good by setting aside some money for “charity”. There are documented studies and research that has shown such interventions to be superficial. An example is the “big man” who gives a village ten bags of rice and claims he has solved world hunger. While we are grateful for his kindness, we need to identify such gestures as superficial. They are not the real changes we need. Setting aside money for charity can never replace the need for wisdom, insights, discipline and proper planning that is required to actually tackle social and economic problems of your world. We need to understand charity and philanthropy on a deeper level.

Eyebrows were raised when Elon Musk, the man occupying the number one slot on the Forbes Billionaires list described his businesses as philanthropy. Philanthropy means “love of humanity” in Greek. Elon Musk running several companies that make him the richest human in the world, is not the common understanding of what qualifies as philanthropy. Musk noted that Tesla is “accelerating sustainable energy. This is love… philanthropy. SpaceX is trying to ensure the long-term survival of humanity with a multi-planet species. This is love for humanity. Boring Co. is trying to solve traffic, which is hell for most people”

“If you care about the reality of goodness instead of the perception of it, philanthropy is extremely difficult”

Elon Musk

There is no betterment of society when our best brains focus on enriching their private pockets through any means necessary while paying lip service to stewardship and service. Your core business is to look for the toughest problems in your day and develop the might to solve those problems. You would discover that if you really want to do good in a way that is consistent and sustainable it has to be a business. We need to begin to understand philanthropy (love of humanity) this way.

I think it is up to us – you and me, to shift the conversation from money and material possessions towards ideas. We should debate ideas more often, not get caught up in gossip about people. This is a major failing of Nigerian society. We are glued towards discussing people and enjoy the chance to slander and mischaracterize them. This has fed a toxic culture of celebrity worship and now, every young mind wants to become a celebrity. Celebrities represent everything Nigerians hold dear: money, power and status. Everyone wants a piece of that action. However, progressive societies drive conversations around ideas and not money, materialism or people.

As the saying goes, “Great minds discuss ideas, average minds discuss events, small minds discuss people.” You may have noticed that in the buildup to elections in Nigeria, the conversation is focused on the people running for political offices and not their ideology. The public discourse is centered about their personal character and conduct. This is a recipe for disaster and we have seen that play out for over two decades now. When the average Nigerian hears about right-leaning and left-leaning politicians in Europe or North America, they have no idea what that means.

Ideas rule the world and we must carefully curate the ideas that form the heart of our society. It is more difficult to talk about ideas and events, because this requires a certain amount of intelligence and reflection and information. A society that values money and materialism over everything else will always be enslaved by societies driven by ideas and ideals. You should be discussing ideas, frameworks for growth, progress and economic prosperity. You cannot steer your world towards a better future when the conversation is centered upon the hustle and making money.

If you live in Nigeria you would observe that money and material possessions are the center of most conversations. From the town square to the Ivory Tower. From the corridors of political power to the sacred pulpit. It is all the same. These are a people united by their drive to make money in order to buy themselves a better future. This logic is flawed because money does not guarantee a better future. A better future is created by people working hard collectively to tackle social and economic issues in their day. You must not play the money game. You must understand value creation and your contribution to your world.

The bank robber Willie Sutton did rather well at his odd profession: Over the course of his career, he stole around $2 million. One day, journalists asked why he robbed banks, and his response was simple, eloquent, and humorous: “Because that’s where the money is.” This is also similar to what we observe in society today. When the goal is to make as much money as possible, enterprising young minds will go all out to get it by any means possible. This “make money” drive has eroded the nation of values and ethics. If the goal is to make money and the work does not matter, you might as well steal, scam or even get the money through money ritual.

A common trap is the idea that we will change society when we have money. Or thinking that your success in life is measured by how much money you have. This money drive has eaten away at the fabric of society so much that we don’t notice it anymore. Money does not solve problems. It is arrogant to think that throwing money at problems will solve it. At the end of the day, wisdom, creativity and inventiveness is what solves problems. Ideas, not money rules the world. Money will always take a second place to ideas and value creation. You have to make up your mind that you are not playing the money game.