On Giants and Footprints: Hanson Johnson
As Irish Blues and Rock Singer, Rory Gallagher, once crooned, “They don’t make them like you anymore, that’s for sure. And when they made you, they made sure they threw away the mould.” Those words may well have been written perfectly for one man alone. That man is Hanson Johnson.
First, a little background. When I was moving to Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, in December of 2016, my first port of call was Hanson Johnson’s office. Prior to that point, I had not met him personally. I had heard him talk at the Google Developers’ Group DevFest SS/SE 2016 in Port Harcourt and I was interested in observing just how he was going about the challenging task of helping to catalyse the growth of the tech ecosystem in Uyo. After a brief discussion, he graciously offered me a place on his team at Start Innovation Hub, his start-up acceleration and co-working hub.
For the uninitiated, Start Innovation Hub (SIH) was founded in September, 2014 and in the three years since, it has helped to transform the tech ecosystem in Akwa Ibom as well as played a key role in the growth of the nascent South-South and South-East ecosystems. This has been achieved by a largely three-pronged strategy: train world-class developers, accelerate early-stage tech start-ups and establish partnerships with local and international companies as well as the relevant government agencies, to ensure the environment necessary for the next multi-million dollar tech company in Nigeria to emerge from the region.
Since those early days, I have come to know the man behind the myth much better. Mr. Hanson’s willingness to invest in people is one that continues to both inspire and amaze. His strong belief in constant improvement means that he is never too busy to listen to suggestions on how ideas can be improved. In his view, your next stuff should always be your best stuff. Never sacrifice quality on the altar of commerce and always deliver more than you promise to the client.
Perhaps this is his most intriguing quality: a proclivity towards human capital development rather than the accumulation of wealth. He has worked hard to grow the local developer ecosystem, in the full knowledge that a community with a dearth of quality developers would struggle to keep pace with the fast-changing world of technology. More importantly, adapting technology to solve our own biting problems, whether in the fintech space, agriculture or education would require people whose focus is less on mere survival and more on innovation, finding new ways to solve both old and new problems.
This need to actively accelerate the shift towards successful and recurrent problem-solving through the same use of technology has been the driver behind Mr. Hanson’s career, as Chief Executive Officer of SIH and Country Mentor of Google Developer Groups (GDG), Nigeria. As he is wont to say, “if it does not exist, create it”.
If a problem exists and adequate solutions to that problem do not, you can take it up. If it is a mass problem, you have good chances of success if you do your due diligence, especially as regards the product-market fit. It is safe to say that without the efforts of Hanson Johnson, the giant strides recently recorded in the Uyo tech ecosystem would not have been as large or as swift.
In achieving all these though, Mr. Hanson has not changed as a person. The same principles and ideas which guided him at the start of his career are the same ones he lives by today, as testified by those who have known him over time. These are: a strong belief in God, humility, character, perseverance, willingness to sacrifice for others, relationship and community building, and an unshakable faith that African youth can change Africa, if given the right resources and encouragement.
I am reminded of William Shatner’s famous line, “I am surfing the giant life wave”. Hanson Johnson is not just surfing that giant life wave. He is a giant, one whose footprints in the sands of the Nigerian tech community continue to open new frontiers for which coming generations of developers and tech start-ups in Uyo ― and indeed all of South-South and South-East Nigeria ― would always grateful.
