I have raised a lot of money for my various plays and am in the market to do another whooping sum on Anonymous nipples and sundry millions for Fajuyi, Etsu Nupe and the annual December plays.
One thing that has come to the fore has been goodwill. Goodwill is the vehicle you place value on and push into the marketplace
Goodwill is the penetration vehicle and the delivery mechanism that you use to extract benefit, while value is the elixir that cooks the benefits that both sides feed on
By this, you will agree that Goodwill is looking like the most important abi?
In my sojourn in this Lagos, I have met a lot of men of Goodwill. But recently, especially in these tough times, Goodwill seems to be speedily eroded
What strengthens Goodwill is integrity, capacity, value, and love for self and society.
With these, people, society, and markets will open for you, and you would be able to build structures that will, in turn, benefit society.
But like I was trying to say earlier, tough times have led to the erosion of the ingredients that make up Goodwill and we are now more often than not seeing men of Goodwill fall in standing with no power to move mountains anymore.
In the last 5 years, I have received recommendations and referrals from former men of Goodwill who have worsened my case rather than helped it
A pure example was when I was looking for money for Emotan, and the man said very clearly to me, ‘ tell the man who sent you, that I said, I will never deal’.
That Goodwill has gone. Another example is the that of an elder statesman who sent me to over 20 people, and I received 80% rejection.
His case was overuse of Goodwill. There was no pacing. The Goodwill don tire pple So it led to disrespect and apathy
But Ken Etete seems to have defied all of this as his Goodwill remains one of the most sterling that I have encountered.
I first met Ken thru Albert Okumagba, who had said” Edgar, we need Ken. Take his number and deliver him’
Ken was a hot shot oil and gas man who had influence and was doing great things in the system.
His nack for society was apparent as he involved himself in empowerment, which brought him towards Albert’s radar, who at this time was trying to bring all Federal Government Colleges together to revamp education
From that first day, Ken and I struck a chord leading to him emerging one of my greatest pillars in my foray into theatre.
Now, I have learned very quickly to tap on his Goodwill and push heavily into areas that I would never have entered.
Thru Ken, I have met and made friends with Uche Orji, the fmr MD of Nigeria’s Sovereign Wealth Fund.
Thru Ken I have met super influential Akan Udofia who has adopted me as a brother and who I worked for during his run for the Akwa Ibom Governorship elections and thru Akan I have met Scott Tommey the ebullient and very brilliant businessman who calls me Duke.
Ken also opened me up to Julius Rone, the gas king who is today best positioned to lead our economic renniasance with what he is doing in the gas sector
All I need to do is to call Ken or meet him for lunch and say, “Lord, I dey look for person, and he will immediately take his phone and call and hand it over to me
There is, however, one side in this Goodwill matter o. You never embarrass who is sending you.
You must relate with his contacts with the same level of integrity and respect that your benefactor carried himself so that he will continue to have the confidence to open u up.
In looking for money for Anonymous-nipples, my new mischievous play, it was very clear that the strategy would be built around specific individuals
The strategy has been working as we have crossed the 40% mark in collections and the 60% mark if you add pledges
Then I called my brother B, and he said P is your man. He is the new kid on the block, but call Ken and Ken will open him up
So I had two people I needed from Ken, and I called him, and he said hold and put the first on the call, and I got value
Then he called the second, and instantly, I got an appointment
Went for the appointment and listened carefully to what he said, which prompted this article
Ken sent you. Ken has called, and dt is all I need to know. I will deal. I can never say no to Ken cos he is a good man.
You see,’ he is a good man’ is the key phrase. Not good man say he dey go church or good man say he dey give money but good man cos he has integrity and would not send someone with no Intergrity out there.
As we spoke and he told me about his relationship with Ken, he still ended it with Ken being a good man
Goodwill is all you need even in these tough times..pple must see you the way this person has seen Ken otherwise no matter the amount of money you have, you will not be seen as a good man.
I’m going to have lunch with Ken today to really engage him and dig deeper because I have been inspired to deal with people so that I, too, can be described as a GOOD MAN
Thank you
Duke of Shomolu
