By ANOZIE EGOLE

Obi Asika is a media personality  and an entrepreneur. In this interview, he talks about the forthcoming Social Media Week and other issues.

People know you as a music exponent and  event manager, why are you  involved in the social media week?

Social Media Week is a global and cultural affair. Most people do not understand that it is not about technology. Rather, it is about a new aspect of our lifestyle. It is about culture and it happens in cities across the world. So, it is not a total departure from what you know about me.

Life as we know it, is evolving and social media has become such an integral part of who we are today. It would be detrimental to ignore it. It was my friend and business partner, Ngozi Odita that  introduced me to the platform. She proposed that we should bid for the event to take place in Lagos.

At first,it seemed like one of those ideas but we looked at the ideas closely and said, why not? That’s how the first seeds were sown.

How did you win the bid to host  the  event in Nigeria?

We were asked to explain why the event should be hosted in Lagos, and not in Johannesburg or Nairobi. Our answer was simple: These cities are all gateway cities, Lagos is a destination city.

It’s the biggest city in Africa in terms of population. There is a culture, a lifestyle around Lagos. Lagos is the cultural capital of Africa; the home of music, movies, comedy, and fashion.  The rest is history.  That was how we won the bid!

What have been the experience and the challenges  so far?

Initially, the people did not  respond very well. We heard negative  comments like: ‘This won’t succeed in Lagos’; Lagosians  only attend parties and not events like this; nobody will show up’.

We were shocked when we recorded over 8, 000 participants. Erratic power supply in the country  was issue to us. But I will tell you that throughout the entire week we held the event in 2013, there was no power interruption. It was an amazing experience.

Selling the idea of SMW to  the government functionaries was a big challenge. A few of them  understood  the importance of the event while many others didn’t. It is not a self-seeking venture, it is like a cultural revolution about Lagos. The Lagos State government also supported us to some extent in 2013.

There are 18 tech hubs in Lagos and we had no idea! We didn’t know that Yaba was a designated tech zone. We didn’t know a lot of Nigerians were doing amazing things with social media. It was an amazing eye- opening experience for us and everyone involved.

Would you say it is people-friendly?

Last February, SMW Lagos had almost  9, 000 participants. It was  the third largest  record of  mentions with over 31, 000 mentions in New York and Milan. We had CEOs of the biggest corporations in Nigeria in attendance.

We had ministers, entrepreneurs, businessmen. People thought that students were going to take the centre stage at SMW . But it was a shock that  with the impressive turn-out of people, students constituted about six percent of the participants.

We had people  from across Africa who attended the event. Nigerians in the diaspora also were part of the event. Believe me, the effect was an eye opener for us.

What can you say about the first edition of Social Media week?

Social Media Week Lagos is only in its 2nd  year and it  has already claimed its place  as a premier city for the February event.

Due to its scale and impact, SMW Lagos is considered the largest, tech, new media and business conference on the continent of Africa. It attracts some of the continent’s most forward thinkers, press, media and brands, together with a sophisticated audience of hyper-connected people.

CNN reported  SMW and they noted that, for the first time, investors across Africa  were seen leveraging on  the potential of social media to chart a new direction for  their businesses. This is the time for people to get in and boost  their usage on the Social Media Week platform.

How has the support from government  been so far?

Last year, the Lagos State government supported us. We hope to enjoy  more of that support this year. SMW Lagos is a cultural event and makes Lagos a key destination hub in Africa. Our themes and programmes run the gamut of business and lifestyle in Lagos from real estate to beauty, entertainment, fashion among others.

The government should actually suppor ust When we were in the bidding process, other cities enjoyed incredible  support from their governments. We hope to see that happen soon.

We also had ministers who participated in last year’s edition, permanent secretaries and individuals from various parastatals. I think the participants were shocked, they were prepared to be bored but we could see them sit comfortably and engage especially in the IT sessions.

They had no idea how far Nigeria had gone in this sector. This year, I believe that government participation in the actual programmes would be encouraging.