In 2013, Nejeeb Bello Oyarese, a digital advertising and marketing knowledgeable, alongside his group, noticed the necessity for a Nigerian social media community, however the demand for a N50 million bribe by the federal government of the day impeded their progress.
As seen in a Twitter publish shared on Monday by Oyarese, now the chief government officer (CEO) of a conglomerate of a number of digital micro companies referred to as Baric Group, difficulties arose when his makes an attempt to determine a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the federal authorities got here to a standstill.
Oyarese’s group had constructed a social media community that 12 months, however to stop a possible shutdown by the federal government as soon as the venture was launched, he recognised the significance of an MoU.
After 10 years of Digital Social Media Marketing, I noticed Nigeria wanted its personal Social Media Network which was not a duplicate of the rest, so in 2013 we constructed one and went to Abuja to get an MOU with FG so they will not shut us down quickly as we begin getting thousands and thousands of customers. https://t.co/MtwQVIh2o4
— Nejeeb Bello Oyarese (@NejeebBello) July 3, 2023
READ ALSO: FLASHBACK: APC Threatened to Form Parallel Gov’t in 2015, and Osinbajo Defended It
An MoU serves as a non-binding settlement that may set up partnerships or to stipulate the phrases and situations of a particular venture or initiative.
“After 10 years of Digital Social Media Marketing, I realised Nigeria wanted its personal Social Media Network which was not a duplicate of the rest, so in 2013 we constructed one and went to Abuja to get an MOU with FG so that they wouldn’t shut us down as quickly as we began getting thousands and thousands of customers,” Oyarese wrote on his Twitter web page.
“We had been requested how a lot we wished from Government, and we stated we didn’t want cash, simply mutual cooperation and partnership. Then they requested us how we had been going to ‘see’ the officers who would assist push our file. How a lot bribe did they need? N50,000,000!”
NYSC DEMANDS N50 MILLION BRIBE
Goodluck Ebele Jonathan was the president of the nation on the time Oyarese and his group approached the federal authorities for the MoU.
To know the precise authorities company that demanded the N50 million bribe, FIJ reached out to Oyarese, and he talked about the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC).
“We went to the Ministry of Information and in addition the Ministry of Youth. The Ministry of Information promised to work with us as soon as we had a buy-in from the Ministry of Youth, and the Ministry of Youth directed us to the NYSC. We wished all these our bodies to have the MOU with us, however we confronted the problem of bribery on the NYSC,” he informed FIJ.
FIJ additionally discovered that Oyarese was a co-founder of the start-up and the top of digital advertising and marketing at UNA Collective, the corporate that labored on the venture.
As seen in his Twitter publish, his group determined to remodel the MoU proposal after the NYSC demanded a bribe from them.
“My solely recommendation was since we had invested each funds and energy price lower than N10 million, asking the federal government for N50m might make them the bulk stakeholder, and because the 2014 elections had been coming, if we didn’t permit our platform for use for political propaganda, we might get sacked,” the digital advertising and marketing knowledgeable narrated.
“We had been prepared to remain in Abuja until an settlement was reached. However, 4 days into our mission, I acquired unconfirmed information that my excellent buddy had handed in unclear circumstances. I packed my baggage and headed again to Lagos in tears on March 15, 2013.
“Some months later, we acquired a letter saying, ‘Sorry, an Internet Social Network just isn’t a venture the federal government is all for partnering on presently’, all as a result of we didn’t embrace the N50 million.”
READ ALSO: Osun NYSC Lodge Built 21 Years Ago Now a Safe Place for Wasps
While talking with FIJ, Oyarese stated the plan needed to be shelved afterwards, because it led to inner squabbles throughout the group.
“Some felt we should always have accepted the deal, others felt they might have negotiated a greater deal in the event that they’d gone to Abuja,” he informed FIJ.
Although he declined to share the title of the start-up concept, he hopes the venture would nonetheless be launched below the precise circumstances.
https://fij.ng/article/ceo-accuses-nysc-of-killing-social-media-network-built-by-his-team-over-n50m-bribe/
