The making of a Political Trailblazer - Icon Africa GRV

5 MOST INNOVATIVE COMPANIES IN AFRICA

5 top startups that superseded the idea behind their creation. Their scalability & impact really pushed them to be Africa's Tech Giants

GENDER TIDE:

The history of equality in the telecom industry

Gbadegbo

Rhodes-Vivour

The making of a Political Trailblazer

CONTENTS

pg.1

GRV INTERVIEW

Learn about what makes Gbadegbo RhodesVivour tick & how he plans to tackle the powers that be

pg.12

GENDER TIDE

The history of equality in the telecom industry

pg.14

5 MOST INNOVATIVE COMPANIES IN AFRICA

Impactful Tech Giants in Africa

A BREAK IN TRANSMISSION FROM CORRUPTION

AN

INTERVIEW WITH

GBADEGBO RHODES-VIVOUR

BY NWANNUKWU STEPHANIE

According to many, Gbadegbo Rhodes-Vivour is a representative of a new dawn heralded by the popular Labour Party He is focused on blazing the trail for a brighter Lagos. He gives us insight into what life was like in his early years and why he has given himself up to a super power to be the tool to bring about a greater Lagos.

What’s the one thing you remember in your early days, that shaped you?

There were riots in Lagos when I was in primary school in Chrisland And I remember that teachers literally… I was in Chrisland primary school and I remember there was a problem because my parent worked on Lagos Island and we live in Ikeja and everybody was afraid and people were coming to pick up their kids and take them home, teachers were going home as well and I don't think I was up to 6 or 7 at that time and I got all my sibling together, all the kids that live in our neighborhood together and we all managed to walk home. Now for some that is normal but it wasn't for us

And I remember my parents came back and they were all terrified because they went to school, and they could not find any of us. The neighbours went to school, but they could not find any of us. They came back home and saw all the children chilling in the house. And they were gobsmacked because they did not know whether to be happy or angry. And I think that was the first... My mother later went on to say that that was the first moment I showed leadership and the ability to also factor in the interest of everybody else

This is a very interesting story but were you told or you remembered that incident?

I remember it I remember walking I remember talking to my neighbour's kids because a lot of them do not want to come with us. I remember that. And I remember walking I remember the companies that we walked past.

How do you feel like starting off as an architect impacted your ability to lead Lagos forward?

Architecture is all about design And architecture for me as well as a tool to solve problems My main core, my main passion, is problem-solving. Architecture was a happy marriage for me between Chemistry, Biology, and Math which I am very good at and Poetry and Art So I find myself excelling so much in sciences, but then also have a passion for Art and Creativity

The whole thing about architecture is that it allows you to take on a God view A God's view is like when you look at a plan. And it allows you to have a holistic perspective and system sort of thinking, because it's about systems

You are seeing how things are interconnecting And that's what allows one to be able to think about policy in a system type of orientation

Do you think you will ever explore or go back to architecture?

I am an architect. I still practice architecture. It's just that in this election season, I obviously don't have as much time to focus on my architecture as I normally would. But I have a team that works on architecture projects I am not a career politician

Seguing back into talking about you. What's the one thing in the number of years that you've spent on earth that you regret not doing?

I don't have regrets because I am a doer I want to get into politics, I go into it. I don't hold back punches. I wanted to learn to sail, I went to learn how to sail I’m somebody that expresses myself I don't hold punches. I don't. Even the move to Labour Party, a lot of people at that time were like oh wow, Labour Party, doesn't make sense,

they don't have structure, they don't do this. But I go with conviction So, that's my life In education, I focused and did well. I don't have regrets. I guess maybe I could say I could be better at a lot of things I could be better at my spirituality, I could be better at managing my time more efficiently, I could be better but I don't have regrets

Do you have any Nickname?

I have several There is GRV, which is just my initials My friends in Uni used to call me R-Vizag It is a play on my surname for RV And I think there was a very I'm sure it's not your generation, so you don't know the song Baby single and Jayzee sang the song [tries to sing] So we played on that My middle name is Patrick, so some people call me Paddy.

What's the most memorable moment you can remember that framed your mindset to never hold back and always move forward? A core memory.

There isn't one memory. There are series of memories

My favorite one is when I moved from ISL and went to finish school in France I remember my father talking to the principal about me and just saying how I am this and that And I am looking at him like, I don't think I am all these things o but the way he said it so confidently made me feel like I cannot afford to let him down. So I doubled up on my work, on my reading, on my focus and everything and I was the best in most of my classes. But it was based on that And it is scary hearing somebody talk about how they believe in you without addressing it to you It's psychological as well, parents can actually get their children to behave in a certain way by doing this

Having a conversation so you can hear it but it's like you are not part of the conversation I don't know if he did that intentionally, but whatever he did, it worked sha

If not architecture, what else will you be doing?

I am doing everything I want to do I am into architecture, I am into commodity trading, I am into export, I am into art At a point in time, I own a clothing company which I still own but I'm just not paying a lot of attention to it, Lisorati. There was a time in this country when if you count the top t-shirt producers in Nigeria, you have to mention Lisorati.

It was about culture and I felt that a new generation came. I could not keep up. And I had to get new designers on board, and I've never quite done that. But it's not dead, we're still going to revive it but we need to get new creative directors that can speak to this generation Because it was very successful because it spoke to my generation, but that was almost 15 years ago It started in 2009

Would you term yourself multi-potentialite?

I don't even like the word multi-potentialite. To me, It means you're in the potential stage, but you have not done I am a doer I do, and everything is tied to creativity and problemsolving. At the core of everything, I think the only thing that you might see that does really speak to creativity is probably commodity trading but we have to make money for politics Most of our funding comes from that So, that's the business part of me that's just pure business. But every other thing is either creativity, design, and problem-solving.

A lot of people find it difficult to do a number of things and do it well. So where do you draw your strength from?

Passion Like I said, the only thing that I do that might not necessarily be with passion is commodity trading And someone said I read something about a couple of years ago where he said passion is important but it cannot be the end all. That Dangote is not passionate about cement. He probably does not see cement and he is excited about cement but he is excited about financial success and that's important as well. You don't want a situation where you are stuck on making ends meet and you cannot chase your passion. So you need to have balance. Balance is extremely essential. I will not be able to be in politics if I could not at least make some level of ends meet. A form for Labour Party with everything that they said about not giving shishi cost over 15 million. PDP was 21.5 million. I had to buy two forms in less than a span of three months That's not easy Well, friends and family, keyed into it as well, but people key into people that have value and money is a symbol of that value The core point is one must be chasing their passion but also making sure they have things in play that bring bread and butter money and bring in money, and goods and make things happen

Specialist experience or General experience?

Yes, I don't even know which one is better, to be honest with you Because you then find that there are a lot of people that are not specialists in anything And you can not build a society with people that just have an interest. You need to be able to have a surgeon, and he must have gained practice You need to be able to have an engineer and they will gain practice. To build a bridge is not some scriptwriting. It takes practice, it takes experience So, I think we need to find a happy marriage in terms of planning, passion and execution and being able to have a means of earning a living We can't all be content creators, we can't all be

PILLARSOF SOCIETY

entrepreneurs, we can't all be influencers, we can't all… There must be pillars that hold the society Health care is a pillar in society, education is a pillar in society, construction, and infrastructure is a pillar in society, art is a pillar in society. And there must be people that are dedicating their lives to these things for it to stand and for it to be excellent.

You mention health care as a pillar of the society. I know that you have a health plan on your mandate. What would a working health sector in Lagos look like?

Well, a solid primary care system across the entire state that is evenly distributed in all the local governments with a standard that is evenly distributed So it's a situation where you go to Lagos central and you see a primary healthcare service that is better than the one they are getting in Ajegunle. When you enter there, you should be getting the Lagos standard Also, a lot of training of our healthcare professionals, a lot of equipment for support staff as well. A lot of focus on preventative medicine to ensure that people also understand things they can do to prevent themselves from being sick. Also, education the pathway to get medical service. So there will be call polls. You call, you can talk to a doctor. They can diagnose you. And go to a diagnosis center to get data on what is wrong with how you are feeling For instance, yesterday I went to get a diagnosis test on whether I have malaria or typhoid treated bases on data.

And that then leads to secondary problems like damage to the liver and damage to the kidneys And also take away from this idea of "Agbo" A lot of people self-medicate with "Agbo". Now I'm not saying this to say that we're going to deprive people from earning a living but we're also going to work with those people to make sure that these things are healthy. That's why there is an institution like NAFDAC because it is important to know the concentration of things that are in a product. Because something heals you of malaria today, tomorrow you have liver damage. You have gone from a primary problem to a tertiary problem So for us we want to run a data-heavy health delivery system and educate the people on the pathway to primary care, general hospital, tertiary hospital. You don't say you're feeling ill and go to a general hospital and they tell you there is no bed. And then access to primary health and insurance, micro health insurance. Even me as a candidate, I have micro health insurance. At the police barracks where we were doing a health outreach and I shared about 100 health insurance cards It insures people for a month They can call a doctor, speak to a doctor, get diagnostic tests. It's for free to them because I have already paid. But the idea is to normalize getting diagnostic test done and also get treatment for a certain amount of money and drugs.

BetterPolitics =Betterfuture

In your experience so far, does the quote "politics is a dirty game " believable?

Politics became a dirty game because all the good people left it to the dirty people. It is really that simple. Selfishness and greed are dirty things. It is a disgusting quality for a human being to have. Where you ' re stealing all the money for a state. Putting it in your house and then you ' re seeing young women that the state should take care of but they have to result into prostitution You're seeing young men that the state should take care of, but they have to be on this street carrying plastic, hitting cars, and being on drugs Looking at the lives of so many people being destroyed is that not It's even more than dirty I don't even know the word to use Evil I say evil It's more than just saying, he's a guy, he's a politician And also our society does not help matters because you see people that should be stoning their politicians but they will be clapping for them Their children are superstars In the club, they're clapping for them, they are popping bottles They're clapping for them Those drinks, those champagne bottles, it's your money that he's spending It's your primary school that he did not put tables and chairs in that he's spending It's your doctors that are not getting paid and striking, that's your money they're spending By God's grace, people are waking up

Do you think they have woken up enough to make so much of a difference?

Well, this damage has gone on for over twenty years People like me will be in this game for a while trying to push people to, say, get involved If we leave this thing for these people, it will only get worse And that's what has been happening I'm 39 years old, and I'll be 40 next month I can already tell my children that I know a Lagos, I know a Nigeria that works better I can already say that My parents told me of a Nigeria that was better, their parents told them of a Nigeria that was better That's not normal It's not normal for a country to constantly be on a downward slope We need to do better as a people And I feel that with this election by God's grace the will of the people will be heard

Politics became a dirty game because all the good people left it to the dirty people.

The Vision

What do you think you should be the governor of Lagos state? What gives you the audacity? The mind?

Well, first and foremost, I've prepared almost 10 years for this Even while in school my thesis was on communal waste management. Real waste management, not the picking and packing that these people are doing that they're calling waste management For me, waste wastes in Lagos state Waste management to do with recycling, upcycling and concerning waste to wealth So that was my thesis and for that I got a distinction As at that time I was at MIT. After that I worked with the American government in relation to urban planning in New Orleans which has to do with flooding Again i mention that project because of its similarities to Lagos and flooding Being on a low coastal place in terms of water level After that I worked with the Chinese government on urban planning in terms of density. Trying to increase density in a space and at the same time ensuring that they don't lose

Long & short, I am here to bring about efficiency & effectivitness to all parts of Lagos state

Thecoverstoryexploresthedichotomyofan incumbentGovernorshipaspirant&analready sittinggovernmentandtheriseofapossible changemaker

Asalways,wehopeyoufindthisedition informativeandengaging.Wewelcomeyour feedbackandsuggestionsforfutureeditions.

Editor’s Note

Nwannukwu Stephanie

Editor-in-Chief

Ouida Lagos is a 3-floor cultural space in the heart of Ikeja GRA that caters to the creative and artistic mind. We have a publishing house 'Ouida Books' where we publish high-quality fiction and nonfiction books.

We also have a cafe, bookstore, workspace, seminar room and a recording studio and we hold creative events like Open Mic Night and Book Readings.

Visit their site to learn more - https://ouidabooks.com

Gendertide:Thehistoryof equalityinthetelecomindustry

OluwabusolamiAdedoyin

The history of telecommunications is a long andrichone,datingbacktothe inventionofthe

telegraph in the 1830s This invention revolutionized longdistance communication and paved the way for the development of the telephone, which was patented by Alexander Graham Bellin

1876. The telephone became widely adopted and eventually ledtotheestablishmentof telecommunication companies Gender equality played a vital roleinthisdevelopmentaround the globe. The approach thrust towards global evolution and stands as a good strategy for the industry & firmness. Although the industry attempts to promote gender equality, there were notable gaps in their revolution inthismale-dominatedsociety.

At first, the female presence in the industry is undersized, however, historyrecordsthatwomen have played a vital role in the telecommunication industry since the birth of thetelegraphand telephone in the 19th century. First from the telephoneexchangeoffices &;cablegirls& recruited. Then, during the First World War, while men were away fighting, telephoneexchanges became even more appealing to female operators to ensure vital communications through the rightchannels.Atthattime, the working conditions wererigorous Everyaspect ofthe&cable girls&lifewascontrolled

and they were paid 30 to 50% less than their male peers.Thisdisparity in women’s wages was nullified in 1946 by the French legal system, the sameyearthatwomen wontherighttovote.

As time progressed, new technologies, such as radio and television broadcasting wereaddedto the growing field of telecommunications In the latter half of the 20th century,computer technology was developed which led to the creation of new forms of communication,including email and instant messaging.

Many telecommunications companies implemented diversity and inclusion policies, and have set targets for the representation of women in the workforce.

internet brought about a revolution in communication and information sharing, making it possible to communicate and access information from anywhere in the world The rise of mobile technology in the late 20th and early 21st centuries further expanded the reach of telecommunications, with smartphones and other mobile devices becoming ubiquitous

diversity and inclusion policies, and have set targets for the representation of women in the workforce. They also launched initiatives to encourage women to enter and remain in the industry, such as mentorship programs and flexible working arrangements Despite these efforts, the telecommunications industry still faces challenges in terms of gender equality Women are still underrepresented in senior positions, and often earn less than their male counterparts They are faced with other barriers in the industry, such as a lack of role models, unconscious bias, and a lack of access to networking and development opportunities.

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Reliving