“It’s only after we see failure that we can know if we misjudged the risk…a decision can be right even if it leads to failure.” – Shimon Peres (No Room for Small Dreams)
We managed to convince the poets and the service providers that all outstanding expenses would be settled early 2020.
We expected the video clips and pictures of the competition, as well as other post event activities to catch attention of potential sponsors and investors. And of a fact, it did.
In January 2020, we got talking to two potential sponsors. Everything was sweet and talks went on great. Well, until the news of Covid-19 started to be a major distraction. These two individuals were international firms. So one by one, the hot leads, turned to warm leads, then became cold leads and eventually no lead.
COVID came and did its thing and the outstanding was still pending. One good thing about COVID was that it saved me the trouble of 3rd term school fees. It was not hard convincing my wife that home schooling was a good choice for our children. Even data was becoming an issue.
As we embraced the financial impact of COVID, I was told our brand was going to be dragged online because of the outstanding expenses. That got me worried for a long while. I started to wonder if I got the vision (i.e. to help develop a vibrant and profitable Spoken Word Poetry industry in Nigeria and beyond) all mixed up. Maybe I should have kept my money and spent it on only my family and myself. I could not even remember the last time I truly had a vacation with my people. All my past leave allowances had always gone into poetry.
But after two months of some deep thinking, I realized controversy and conflict can sometimes help a brand.
After all, M.I and TuFace sang that, “if nobody talks about you, then you are nobody…“
Bad news spreads fast. So if we were dragged, it would make people who didn’t know we exist, know about us. Most people would curse and ‘yab’ us well well, but a few of them would dig further to know what all the fuss was about. And knowing that we’ve done more good than harm in the past. As well as, na condition cause our present predicament, we just might win new friends, investors and/ or sponsors.
However, it was just a rumor, they were not going to drag us. I was almost tempted to ask that they do.
But I remembered what Falz the bahd guy sang, “if you fake your own death, you still fit no blow.”