I am impressed by your simplicity, Buhari tells mark Zuckerberg

Olalekan Adetayo, Abuja

President Muhammadu Buhari on Friday commended the Chief Executive Officer and Co-founder of social networking website, Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg, for sharing his wealth of knowledge with Nigerian youths, and inspiring a new generation of entrepreneurs.

According to a statement by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Mr. Femi Adesina, the President spoke while granting audience to Zuckerberg at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

Buhari said the various meetings held with Nigerian youths since his arrival in the country were most timely as the country was already exploring opportunities to spur development through entrepreneurship.

He said, “Nigeria has always been identified as a country with great potential for growth, especially with our youthful population, but now we are moving beyond the potential to reality.

“I am impressed by your simplicity in sharing your knowledge and wealth with those with less income.”

The President 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 said.

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 added that he is 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.