I was on the Fireside chat last Saturday in a conversation with the two hosts - one based in Nigeria and the other, a Cameroonian in the U.S. It was very interesting to hear the Nigerian echo many of the complaints we have here about our society. Many of the things Isaac complained were going on in Nigeria also happen to be things we here in Cameroon believe are somehow better done in Nigeria at large-usually urging our fellow compatriots to “learn from Nigeria.”
I have been around here long enough to know Cameroonians appreciate good work. I also know Cameroonians are tired of being blackmailed into not being human by people who want to ignore the general rules of economics, markets, human psychology etc. We saw Tina try to sell overpriced hoodies after she found fame with her appearance on Tzy Panchak’s ‘Na So.’ Even I who had known about Tina before and still find her to be a world class act did not at that point see the value added to the hoodies she was trying to sell above the market price.
I have also written about things like 100 logos on the backdrop of an event that looks like the budget was 300,000 F. And about logo placements and backdrop designs. I even went ahead to show how logos should be placed when they are many and when they are few. I did that for the Cocowols International Fashion Festival (many) and for Saving Mbango (few). Many other organizers have come up with inventive methods of making the red carpet backdrop sturdy and stretched instead of hanging like some old boxer shorts. So for an event happening more recently, a hanging and twisted backdrop which is poorly designed is a NO. People have done it better before you with even smaller budgets.
I wrote a post on my wall once that said “Daphne is our Beyonce” and I hope the many who liked and laughed understood exactly what I was meaning. I was actually talking about professionalism which I find lacking in many people and businesses in Cameroon because they somehow think they are working at a lower level and therefore need not to be professional. I was once accused of being unprofessional by people who wanted communication on a business we were doing to remain on WhatsApp because email is ‘difficult.’ I don’t believe the same people would have asked MTN or Orange to work with them through WhatsApp but since I’m someone they see and talk to everyday on social media, professionalism changes definition. I am talking about kids writing to Salatiel in pidgin, seeking for help with the poorest of approaches because somehow, Alpha Better Records does not deserve their care and diligence. After all, no na Salatiel that weh man be di ever seeam for quarter?
The fact of the matter is, professionalism requires extra time, and extra care and sometimes, even extra costs and that is why we choose to skip it most of the time. Some of those who bought our recent collection were friends of mine. I did not change the procedure for my friends and not email them after the purchase like I did all other clients. I did not put their own products in a less fancy wrapping because they are my friends and they should understand. I did not tell them to come and pick up their own products from my house, or send the products later because they are my friends. If I was late, I did not not apologize for the delay because they are my friends and should understand and support their own.
I remember during the special edition Discovery show in collaboration with Askia, Askia had found someone she wanted to be the host. The person also happened to be booked on the same day for a wedding. I wasn’t informed about none of that only for the person to show up really late when I had already given the host role to someone else and gone over how the show was to unfold with them. The initial person who was to host showed up after we had started, almost half way into the show. Mind you we had already started like 5 hours late - just to show you how late they were.
When they arrived, I was adamant about not letting them take over because I had planned the show and how the performances were to happen and gone over that with the person who was now doing the job -satisfactorily too. I did not want to disrupt the flow and I did not have time to start going over the planning with a new person. In my mind, I expected this person to just understand and allow the other person to continue but somehow, she could not have come late for nothing. Behind my back, they switched the host and of course you now had artists being called and the DJ playing another persons music because they had switched up the order. One person ended up not being called to perform and thats how the rest of the show went.
I also remember rehearsals being the one thing I couldn’t get the girls for the bag concert to do voluntarily. I even had to play tricks sometimes - announcing a photoshoot then taking them to rehearsals when they show up for the photoshoot. Very many events go on here without any tests or rehearsals. Back to the story of the show host above, there were bound to be errors when you just pop in and start introducing artists whose music you haven’t listened to and who you barely know. You just end up dreaming up things to say and what you get is poor presentations which become about the host instead of the people the host is there to present.
I found myself in the inbox of a company asking them to work with their brand ambassador to prepare them for the task. The recently signed ambassador made a post with a bad link to the company’s website. When I clicked the link, it took me to a page asking me to buy the domain name. When I commented on the bad link asking the brand ambassador to rather put the FB page, she went ahead to replace the link with the FB page only for the company to later come and comment with the correct link. It means the brand ambassador did not even know then correct link because if she did, she would have just fixed the link. It also showed she had not visited the company website herself and did not even check the link she was now sharing. How then are you a brand ambassador if you do not even know the website of the company. How do you even share a link without visiting it yourself.
That said:-
There is no excuse for a poorly managed event in Cameroon. There is no excuse for a poor music video for a song. There is no excuse for late coming and starting late, there is no excuse for poor lighting at an event, there is no excuse for bad hosting, there is no excuse for many of the things we want to make excuses for. Nobody wants you to be like Nigeria, we need you to be your best self and to improve on what has already been done. Right now, as I write, another housemate format show is in the works. It is called ‘Hustle Mansion’ with a more entrepreneurial tone and so far, the presentation has been great. You can see what Cameroonians are capable of doing. So again, no one wants you to be like Nigeria. We want you to be professional and professionalism is not Nigerian, it is universal.
- Tino Foy