I wonder what wires our brains to be middlemen in Nigeria

Who is a middleman by the way?

A middleman is someone who adds very little value to a process while benefitting most from it

Most of us long to be middlemen in various transactions because they embody the ethos of

"small work", "big money" ("ise kekere, owo nla" in Yoruba)

Is there anything wrong with being a middleman, or "facilitator"?

Absolutely not!

Where the problem lies is when middlemen and facilitators become more numerous than actual value creators in a society

I want you to

look at yourself and ask whether you are a value creator or a facilitator.

How many value creators are in your family, or circle of friends?

How many value creators do you hang around?

How many are you following on twitter?

How many conversations on value creation do you hold

daily?

How many of your business plans don't involve inserting yourself into the value creation process as a parasite that improves nothing?

Everywhere I look, the voracious middlemen are pervasive enough as to threaten the very core of value creation in our economy.

This isn't sustainable.

Sooner or later, the donkey will refuse to cross the river any longer.

Let us teach our children to be value creators as opposed to economic leeches

Teach them to embrace diversity and collaboration

Let's hold a mirror to ourselves more often.

End