Following the release of an article containing various allegations against Flutterwave, Nigeria’s most valuable startup and particularly against the CEO, Olugbenga Agboola, there have been several reactions from Nigerians especially professionals in the tech space.

Lots of tweets have been made from various accounts stating how discrediting of the biggest Nigerian Unicorn would set a bad precedent for other startups in the country as multinational companies and investors would be wary of them, making it more difficult for these startups to grow.

Nigeria is one of the African countries whose startups have received the highest number of funding and admission into incubator programs, and this may affect the startups that are on their way to attaining great heights and put the ones coming after them on hold completely.

What ‘techpreneurs’ are saying about the scandal

Reacting to the allegations Jason Njoku CEO of Iroko TV posted of a thread of tweets stating how we need to hold ourselves to higher standards as telling these stories is important for our growth. He said money and cheques are pouring into the country with no checks and balances.

He tweeted, “Telling these stories are actually important in how we grow our ecosystem into self-sustainability. In the long term thats all that matters. What we have now is hyperbole to an extreme. Been saying it for years.

Hot emerging market money poured into with zero checks & balances. There is so much wrongdoing happening right now across Nigeria. We need to heal. We are fortunate enough to have the & chance need to hold ourselves to a higher standard. Nigeria Inc has been in the mud for a while now. We were supposed to be different. Time to show the difference.

It’s actually great we report on our own. After-all it is we who are on ground. What’s better? That all these things emerge later on Bloomberg? I left a Tech WhatsApp group I was in yesterday because the echo chamber was sickening. Now is NOT the time to close ranks. F&(k your ROI.

My heart broke yesterday as I truly, with my soul believed tech was different. It still can be. What FW did (if proven) was wrong. @TechProd_Arch & team must remedy it. Will FW die? of course not, but penance will need to be paid. Again that’s a good thing. FW will be stronger.

But right now it’s a mad money rush & it’s too early as we haven’t built the foundation. It’s good for the ecosystem. Let investors pause & let us find our own pace to operate. as a country has failed. As our fathers die it’s left to us to pull us out of our current malaise.

Independent media is vital. VITAL to that. VITAL. You may dislike @DavidHundeyin bombastic style. But don’t miss the intent. The receipts are there to see. Former employees were ready & willing to turn the spotlight. Now it’s left to FW. But we must defend independent media.

We need to collectively do better. I am 100% sure founders everywhere are checking internally & adjusting themselves accordingly so they don’t end up on the stake. Again that’s a great thing. It’s we we after-all. God bless”

Telling these stories are actually important in how we grow our ecosystem into self sustainability. In the long term thats all that matters. What we have now is hypebole to an extreme. Been saying it for years. Hot emerging market money poured into with zero checks & balances.

— JasonNjoku (@JasonNjoku) April 13, 2022

CEO of Publicis Groupe and founder of Overwoodng, Dr Tayo Oyedeji also published a thread on Twitter stating how difficult it is to build and how easy it is to destroy. He described the article as simple innuendos, requesting the writer, David Hundeyin to find concrete evidence to his allegations.

“Someone’s life and livelihood should not be decimated because of innuendos, find proof before you write,” he tweeted.

Referring to the sexual misconduct allegations against the CEO of Flutterwave which none of the alleged women has come out to acknowledge and the CEO has vehemently denied, he said;

“He said ‘No, we never dated. She said ‘No, we never dated.’”

“But you report that other people think they had a relationship and you also believe they do.

“You need some proof before you accuse people of these egregious things. These innuendoes destroy lives”

He concluded the Twitter thread by saying, “BTW, I have never met Gbenga and Iyin and I have absolutely zero business with Flutterwave.

“I just think that people should have clear, indisputable evidence before releasing ‘articles’ that can potentially destroy the reputation of a company, a person, and a business ecosystem.”

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