President Muhammadu Buhari Friday in Abuja commended the Chief Executive
Officer and Co-founder of social networking website, Facebook, Mark Elliot
Zuckerberg for sharing his wealth of knowledge with Nigerian youths, and
inspiring a new generation of entrepreneurs.
Receiving the internet entrepreneur in the State House, President Buhari
said the various meetings held with Nigerian youths since his arrival were
most timely as the country was already exploring opportunities to spur
development through entrepreneurship.
“Nigeria has always been identified as a country with great potentials
for growth, especially with our youthful population, but now we are moving
beyond the potentials to reality.
“I am impressed by your simplicity in sharing your knowledge and wealth
with those with less income,’’ the President said.
President Buhari noted that the simplicity and magnanimity of the
entrepreneur, who is among the world’s richest men, had also challenged
the culture of lavish wealth display and impulsive spending that had
become peculiar to Nigerians.
“In our culture, we are not used to seeing successful people appear like
you. We are not used to seeing successful people jogging and sweating on
the streets.
“We are more used to seeing successful people in air-conditioned places.
We are happy you are well-off and simple enough to always share,’’ he
added.
In his remarks, Zuckerberg said he was impressed by the interest, energy
and entrepreneurial spirit displayed by young Nigerians in all the ICT
camps that he had visited.
“I was highly impressed by the talent of the youths in the Co-creation
Hub in Yaba. I was blown away by their talent and the level of energy that
I saw,’’ he said.
Zuckerberg said he was in the country to promote the penetration of “fast
and cheap” internet connectivity, Express-wifi, that would help people
create online businesses and reduce poverty.