Jack Ma, the Chinese tech billionaire co-founder and former CEO of online behemoth Alibaba, flew 15hours to Nigeria last week. He affirmed the greatness of Nigeria, her population, the economy, and her innovative young people. He said he and his team are looking at supporting Nigeria through four Es namely, E-Infrastructure, for internet connections; E-Entrepreneur’s support for business development; E-government support for government to become more efficient, and E-Education, knowing how vital the service has become to countries aspiring to be among the leading countries of the world.

Many people I know are excited but many others are already jittery and feeling threatened knowing the pedigree of the gentleman.

Among those who are excited at the flamboyant billionaire’s planned inroad into Nigeria, are those who are convinced he will do a Fela not many months from now. He knows the power of connecting with young people. He has a strong history in that regard. And as one who does his homework very well, he must already know Fela’s place in Nigerian music, and how strongly he connected with, and still connects with young people.

So like he did at Alibaba’s 2017 annual party where he donned superstar Michael Jackson’s famous costume to perform Billie Jean and Dangerous tracks, he will likely don a Fela to perform any of his classic songs, not many months from now. The only little issue is how he will work his way around appearing in underpants! I doubt it very much if he will come out smoking a big-sized joint but make no mistake about it, a wide grin will splash on his face the moment he sets a few hot tech brains to crack this puzzle. Music is big among young Nigerians and Ma will surely find a space there. Believe me.

Next, he will star alongside popular actor, Richard Mofe Damijo, RMD, in a Nollywood movie. Just like he did in 2017 when he starred alongside Jet Li in a 20-minutes kung fu movie titled, The Art of Attack and Defence. I am looking around in my head for possible themes for this movie. What kinds of theme would he like? Do you think he will be interested in scripts built around money making rituals, charms? Or do you think he would prefer something more along the line of his passion?

Whatever story or script he chooses, the fact of the matter, like they say down town, is that players in Nollywood should begin to prepare for the inevitable moment.