Why I went back to school
In December 2024, I enrolled in the Master of Business Administration (MBA) program at Miva Open University, which was to commence in January 2025. I wrote a newsletter about why I was taking an MBA, even if I had already earned over 70 certifications in my marketing career.
The short version is that I was increasingly interested in pursuing entrepreneurial adventures, and even after working in marketing and business for the better part of six career years, I felt there were still some gaps in my knowledge that I needed to close, and learning core disciplines like accounting, finance, and operations management would help.
I also wanted my credentials to read James Praise, MBA, MCIM UK, ANIMN, PMMC. Today it is James Praise, MBA, PMMC, and I think that is enough for now. The PMMC is the Certified Product Marketing Manager credential from Product Marketing Alliance, which I earned through their 12-week PMA Scholar Program in April 2025.
My argument was that even though it is popularly said that “school is scam,” all your favorite tech entrepreneurs have MBAs, and those who dropped out of school often did so from prestigious institutions like Harvard or Stanford, which still provided a strong foundation and network for their entrepreneurial journeys. In fact, over 70% of CEOs in Fortune 500 companies have MBAs, and Mark Zuckerberg and Bill Gates dropped out of Harvard.
Let’s segue a bit into the Olodo uprising in Nigeria
A while ago, “olodo uprising” was trending. To the uninitiated, this is a cultural debate in Nigeria sparked by rapper Ycee, who used the term to describe the alleged rise of ignorance, illiteracy, and a lack of critical thinking in the digital space. He specifically said that Nigerian society is shifting away from rewarding academic excellence and celebrating “Peller culture” and “Yahoo culture,” arguing that uneducated or superficial content creators are becoming the majority and gaining massive influence.
I do not disagree with Ycee, but for me, this is also market insight. You need to recognize what is appealing and in high demand in the market you intend to sell to, and in Nigeria, the majority has an appetite for the “Peller” and “Carter Efe” kind of content and entertainment. Unfortunately.
So-called intellectuals like myself either have to find the niche minority audience to engage with, or dumb down our content, offers, and products to sell to the majority of Nigerians if we don’t want to fail spectacularly in business. Again, this is unfortunate.
I built resources to survive the MBA program, and emailed my entire cohort
I got into trouble with the university and almost had to face disciplinary action. Here is why.
From the first semester, I was creating resources to help me stay productive and get through the MBA program effectively while managing the load of other commitments that I had. These were study notes, video and document walkthroughs, guidelines, exam and continuous assessment prep materials, presentation templates, study planners, AI prompts, and more.
These helped me a lot and then I decided to start sharing them with my colleagues. I hit the first limitation of distribution and reach as I thought that WhatsApp was not a very efficient medium for reaching all of my colleagues. I got creative.
I found a list of enrolled students on our Learning Management System (LMS), figured out the email combination based on our first and last names and student domain, and used that to reach everyone.
The first email I sent was at the end of the first semester. I even tried to break the ice by name-dropping my understanding of “James Moor’s five dimensions of the information age,” in part to show that I was aware of the considerations for sending unsolicited emails, in part to highlight that the guy was my namesake, and in part to show off. I was being a smart-ass.
I got a lot of positive feedback from my colleagues, but some also opted out of my email list so I obliged as well.
Then I built a WhatsApp Community
By the time we resumed in second semester, I thought email was too distant, as I also wanted to connect more closely with my colleagues, plan meetups, and so on. The next channel I explored was creating a WhatsApp Community. This channel decision was also partly due to the fact that we had been migrated to a new LMS and a new communications platform, from WhatsApp to Telegram, at the same time, and a lot of students needed even more help. I offered two models here. Students could opt into the free community, or join a paid group where they get priority support in certain areas.
The second email I sent was at the start of the second semester.
This is where I got into trouble
Now this second email was where I got into trouble. The school’s admin reached out a few times to bring to my notice the issues regarding sending unsolicited emails, student data use, privacy, and other concerns related to intellectual property reuse without permission.
We had an interesting talk and came to an agreement on more acceptable ways to contribute to the student community. Phew!
They made me an ambassador anyway
In May 2025, I was selected as one of the Postgraduate Student Ambassadors for the University, especially due to my overzealous community activities earlier. The faculty recognized me both for academic performance and for my contributions to the student community. In the role, I would represent the school at official events and help new postgraduate learners navigate their own Miva journey.
I announced it publicly in September, by which time I was already in my third semester.
I did get to the finish line
I managed to balance the demands of work and other commitments with the MBA program as I completed the final semester between February and April 2026.
As a Postgraduate Student Ambassador, I also participated in the Student Buddy Program, where I was paired with some new postgraduate learners to help and support them with my experience as they settled into the Miva community.
At the same time, we all raced to the finish line as we attempted to complete our final research projects and the rest of our exams in April.
For my research project, I worked on a topic that was of particular interest to me: Investigating the Role of Generative Artificial Intelligence Tools in Driving Marketing Innovation in Early-Stage African Tech Startups.
My supervisor, Prof. Ugwushi Bellema Ihua, was the best. Students usually complain about how their project supervisors in undergraduate and postgraduate programs are the spawn of the devil. It was different for me at Miva.
Now, if you are considering an MBA at Miva, or any of their programs, they will ask who referred you. Let us not pretend. It was me! Use my referral code, mivajames5650, so they give me my flowers. 😊
In fact, I am giving away all the MBA resources that I created to help me through the program here. All you have to do is request access. You are welcome.
What’s the difference between a 4.46 and a 4.48 CGPA?
Now, after all was said and done, I did complete the MBA program. I said I was going to do it, and I did it. I put the word out into the universe. It was a prophecy I had to fulfill. I finished with a distinction, a 4.92 Cumulative Grade Point Average (CGPA), to be exact.
This takes me back to my undergraduate program at the University of Lagos, where I finished with what you may call an “almost first-class CGPA.”
In the official papers, I finished in the Department of Biochemistry with a 4.46 CGPA on a 5-point scale.
In my second year at UNILAG, I scored an A in a Chemistry lab course, but it was recorded as an F. This error stretched into my final year, and by the time the error was rectified, the correct grade was not added to my CGPA. I would have finished with a 4.48 CGPA, which was 0.02 grade points short of a first class. Whether it was 0.02 or 0.04 short, the point is that I didn’t make a first class. But it doesn’t matter. It was a (very) strong 2:1 💀.
Today, I am James Praise, MBA, PMMC. I told you so. Now go get yours!
Here are some JPEGs from my office on convocation day, featuring yours truly and my stunning wife. Thank you to my wife.
And by the way, it was my birthday yesterday. I haven’t been able to sit down and write anything like this all year, but maybe I’ll talk about that in another episode. Until then, toodles!
Congratulations!🎉
Congratulations James