THERE IS NOTHING LIKE A BAD IDEA

“That isn't a bad idea” sounds like something you’ll hear in a room where people are brain storming.

It has been found that most inventions the human race enjoys today, first came about from ideas that some people thought were silly. This is why inventors are usually referred to as ‘mad scientists’ because an average mind cannot phantom the amount of ideas that go through their minds in one minute.

From the Stone Age to our Modern World, inventors have been the propelling agents of change in our societies. They identify problems within our living systems and they develop mechanisms to solve them, hence, making our world a safer and better place to live in.

If you’re thinking that “Well, I’m not a scientist, and therefore, this isn’t for me” then, you might want to think again.

Today, we use Hi-tech gadgets that are manufactured by Asian, American or European companies. But most times, the ideas to create those gadgets are actually conceived during the companies’ customer feedback sessions. 

That means, today, if you can spot a way or ways that a model of a product that you’re using can be improved to serve you and other consumers better, then you too could be in for a cash payout or a % profit sharing on each improved version of that product, if your suggestions were to be accepted by the manufacturers.

Also, in the fashion industry, most of the big designer names you see on display in boutiques and in fashion malls are not really the ones who put the piece of cloth together, some of them actually don’t even know how to sew a garment together. However, they get the credit for the finished products with their names labelled on them, because, they’re the ones who originally conceived the designs in their minds and the type of material to be used with it, then they put it on paper for a tailor to bring to life.

The best ideas are yet to be thought of, if only we could get creative. And being creative in our present day seems to be an easy task, because if you study most of the ‘new’ products that come into the market, you will find that they are not novel ideas, and they are just simply an improvement on a pre-existing or out-of-market product.

Only in the Technology industry will you find a massive improvement on products: From Graham Bell’s model of the telephone, to the phones we use today with GPS, Internet and Live Chats on them, or from the Wrights brothers’ version of the aeroplane to jets and war planes that we’ve got today. But in other industries like Music and Fashion, you will find direct imitation of songs or fashion styles that was made popular by someone else in the 60’s, 70’s and the 80’s.   

You will agree with me that the Western World have benefitted a lot from their products going into the global market, and the emergence of the Worldwide Web has helped a lot to achieve that, with people across the globe being able to communicate with each other just by the push of a button.

With the availability of such a portal, it has now become a taboo for Africa to be found wanting in this interesting mix of trade, innovation and international business.

Recently, it was confirmed that our Music can go global, with our own version of Pop Music (Afro-Pop) being made popular worldwide by many Nigerian Music Artistes today, and their music are being purchased online by both blacks and whites alike. Also popular amongst the white community are Fela Anikulapo’s Afro beats and King Sunny Ade’s songs, mainly because of their beautiful synchronized beats and jazz like rhythms.

We Nigerians still have a lot more unique things to share with the world, in areas of our Fashion, Food, Artworks and Lifestyle. The western world has become so much saturated with civilisation, that they will buy into anything that will bring them closer to nature with their arms opened wide. They love antics in their living rooms, they wear foreign attires and they are very willing to explore other cultures through food.

You and I know, that we (Nigeria) have got all of the above in abundance. An average Nigerian is yet to explore all the food available in every part of the country, not to talk of the abundant fashion styles and artefacts that are common in our various communities and culture.

This makes me wonder, now that we all have access to the internet, even on our mobile phones, why aren’t we taking proper advantage of the internet portal? to  push our innovative ideas and culture to the international market and make our presence felt globally. We cannot continue to sit back and watch the rest of the world advance their societies via this modem, and bring their products to us, while we have nothing to sell back to them. We can't continue to rely on our natural resources alone, which of course they rip us off anyway.

It is high time you and I got creative, and get on the internet to aggressively sell our ideas and products to the world out there. You don’t need a large capital to start off; or even an office space, all you need is your Laptop/PC and a creative mind.

Enough of us hearing and using Made in China, Made in America, and Made in Italy products: it’s time for the world to be introduced to MADE IN NIGERIA PRODUCTS, so that our economy can be benefit financially from our creations, as well as gain the respect of other nations of the world and receive the positive outlook of development that our country desperately needs at this time.

So, good people, great nation, there’s nothing like a bad idea, anything you can think of is worth developing, you never know, it might just be the next big idea to rule the world – let’s start brainstorming, we’ve got the whole world ‘literally’ at our fingertips.

God bless you and God bless Nigeria.