10 noteworthy things Facebook Founder, Zuckerberg said while in Nigeria
By Rita Chioma
Facebook billionaire, Mark Zuckerberg, who visited Nigeria and was excited to interact with developers and entrepreneurs in Lagos may have left the country, but we have lots to remember of his short visit.
During the interaction, he cleared the long-standing war between Ghana and Nigeria’s Jollof rice. The supremacy race has been taken everywhere from Twitter to Facebook to Instagram and even, physical altercations.
Well, its official as Mark Zuckerberg has given a well-deserved endorsement to Nigerian Jollof rice.
When the Facebook CEO was asked to compare Nigerian version of Jollof rice to others, he said, “Yesterday, I had Jollof rice and shrimp. It was delicious, fantastic.”
Meanwhile, here are some other noteworthy things he said about his visit to Nigeria:
1. The ecosystem will keep getting better, it may be in 10-15 years but in the future we will have AR products that can be able to put virtual stuff on it – it will get to a point that those kind of glasses will cost 100 dollars, instead of what Oculus costs now – 600 dollars. Anything that is a screen, a game does not have to be physical. That is what I have in my mind of where I want the world to be.
2. WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger are both different. People feel comfortable using WhatsApp because it’s fast, you’ll probably find it easier to use WhatsApp – it’s focused on being a utility while Messenger is all about expression. We will leave them both to leverage on their strengths.
3. Having an engineering style growth thing, and not a traditional business way of solving problems, was a really powerful way we’ve addressed Facebook’s problems.
5. One of the things we are incredibly proud of is that 60 million businesses use Facebook, for free. That’s historic
On Facebook connecting families, Zuckerberg said:
5. I love being here, but I miss my daughter. Being able to get pictures and videos of her from Priscilla, her mother – who is with her and her on a swing etc – really makes my day. That’s what connecting families is all about.
6. People will run into me on the streets and say, “I met my wife on Facebook, now we have this baby.”
Responding to a question on Facebook’s plan for media, news and publishing platforms in Nigeria who are going through the transformation from news print to digital, Zuckerberg said, “After being here for a short period of time I do believe that there’s no way Nigeria will not end up shaping what is being built around the world. Once people appreciate that, I think the whole world is going to be better of.”
On Nollywood, Mark Zuckerberg said:
7. Nollywood sounds like a national treasure – being able to create content that is moving and creative – there’s no way this place doesn’t end up being a place that contributes to shaping every part of the world. Now that we’re here, we’ll be visiting Nollywood to see how you do things.
On diaper changing:
8. You gotta slide the new diaper in before pulling the old one out, otherwise you’ll go from a routine diaper change to a whole outfit change.
On Jollof rice and his endorsement of Nigerian food:
9. I ate pounded yam but Ime said I have to eat it with one hand and saw something in the soup and it’s snail. I don’t come to Nigeria often – so I ate the snail.
10. The world needs to come here and see the amazing things happening here. This is where the future is going to get built.
Photo credits: Facebook @Mark Zuckerberg
