By Jocelyn Ademiluyi
There is a popular Nigerian slang: “To drink water for this country na by connection.” Usually said with a laugh, it captures a familiar frustration — the feeling that sometimes, even access to something as basic as water can seem to depend on who you know.
It is funny because it is exaggerated. But beneath the humour is a serious conversation.
In business and professional life, we often hear a similar sentiment: “Na connection.” Getting an opportunity, meeting the right person, entering the right room or opening the right door can sometimes appear to depend more on who you know than on what you know or what you can offer.
But perhaps the conversation should not be about rejecting connection. It should be about redefining what connection is for. Connection should not be a shortcut around merit. It should be a bridge to opportunity.
Relationships have always been an important part of business and professional life. People introduce people, share information, recommend talent, exchange ideas and create opportunities for one another.
The problem begins when connection becomes a substitute for competence, or when access is controlled by favour, lobbying or nepotism.
There is another kind of connection — one that opens legitimate pathways. Over the years, through the annual Honeycedars Impact conference, I have had the privilege of seeing what can happen when people from different professional and business circles come together.
These are the moments that remind me that sometimes, the most valuable thing that happens at a conference is not just what happens on the stage alone. It is what happens when one person turns to another person and says, “Let’s talk.”
And even the stage itself can become more than a presentation. It can become a personal conversation about the challenges people are facing and the possibilities for solving them — all in one intimate breath. A speaker shares an experience, someone in the audience recognises their own challenge in that story, another person offers a perspective, and suddenly what began as a conversation on stage becomes a possibility for someone in the room.
That is the kind of exchange that stays with you. One example that stands out is the coming together of two business community leaders through the conference. What began as an introduction developed into a stronger relationship between their organisations. Today, they collaborate in ways that create value not only for themselves, but for the members they serve.
That is what building bridges looks like in real life. It is not simply about two people knowing each other. It is about creating access between two networks that might otherwise have remained separate — and allowing that relationship to benefit many more people.
Another experience involved a business owner who was already running her business successfully without a website. At the time, having one was not something she considered an immediate need. Through an opportunity that came out of the conference, she ended up with a website.
Today, that website has become a practical business tool. Customers can find her products more easily, make enquiries and complete purchases faster, while parts of her sales process have become automated.
What strikes me about this experience is that the value was not simply in getting a website. It was in being introduced to a possibility she had not yet recognised as necessary for her business.
Sometimes, access does not give you something you already know you need. It introduces you to something you did not know could change the way you work.
These are the moments that remind me that meaningful networking is much more than exchanging business cards.
Over the years, I have watched people arrive at Honeycedars Impact simply looking to learn, meet people or promote their businesses, and leave with conversations they did not expect to have. Some of those conversations ended when the event ended. Others did not.
A business owner may meet a potential partner.
A professional may discover a new perspective or collaboration.
An entrepreneur may meet someone whose experience helps them avoid a mistake or see their business differently.
And sometimes, someone simply discovers that a solution exists.
This is why I believe a conference should not be measured only by the quality of its speakers or the number of people in the room. There is another layer of value — the conversations happening around the programme, the ideas being exchanged, the introductions being made and the relationships that continue long after everyone has left the room.
This matters even more in uncertain times. Economic pressures, changing technology, shifting consumer behaviour and increased competition are forcing businesses and professionals to rethink how they grow and remain relevant.
Being good at what you do remains important. But increasingly, people also need to be visible, informed and connected to conversations beyond their immediate circles.
There are businesses with good products that lack visibility. Professionals with valuable expertise remain within networks that already know them. Entrepreneurs have ideas and ambition but may not have met the people who could help those ideas travel further.
Talent exists everywhere.
Ideas exist everywhere.
Ambition exists everywhere.
Access does not.
This is why creating spaces for meaningful interaction matters. Not spaces where connections replace competence, but spaces where people can meet, learn from one another, exchange ideas and discover legitimate opportunities beyond their immediate circles.
The goal should not be to know someone who can bypass the rules for you. It should be to create more doors and more legitimate pathways to them. Perhaps that is the real conversation behind the slang.
When we say, “To drink water for this country na by connection,” we can laugh at the expression while also asking ourselves what kind of connections we are building. Are they connections that benefit only those already inside? Or are they connections that create access for others? Are they shortcuts? Or are they bridges?
Because if connection is inevitable in how people, businesses and opportunities grow, then perhaps we should make our connections count. Not as a favour. Not as a shortcut. But as a bridge. A bridge that allows people, ideas, businesses and opportunities to meet — and sometimes creates possibilities far beyond what anyone initially imagined. Possibilities that last a lifetime and may, in time, become a legacy.
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