My name is temi and I am a lawyer. I am working on this case right now and I believe it needs to come to light.

I just read different posts on different blogs about the iROKO staff’s experience, and I felt I had to just speak up and forget. Honestly, this isn’t an iROKO disease alone, other Nigerian tech startups(especially those with german ties) are following this route.

I used to work in a top position for Jumia Nigeria, a retailer whose parent company, Rocket Internet’s hiring and firing speed followed it to Nigeria and Africa.

If you have ever heard about Oliver Samwer’s famous blitzkrieg, trust me, the things that happened in Jumia Nigeria were worse. Labour laws in Nigeria need to be revisited or well publicized. Do Nigerian workers even have rights? In Jumia, you are smiling one day, the next day you are fired.

First in 2012, 50 members of staff were fired, then more were hired, then more fired again, the total number of staff fired in this period was over 100. One of the most annoying things were having to take pictures and smile when members of the press came visiting! Lies! All lies!

Jumia is not a Nigerian company, and for all I care they don’t care about Nigerians! Don’t be deceived by the Cameroonian and Nigerian figurehead “Harvard CEOs”, they have puppet masters pulling their strings. Jumia Nigeria has been sold! Their balance sheets are worse than you can imagine! And in a few months to years they will become subsidiaries of a bigger company and the CEOS are just waiting to cash out on their cheque, and present staff are just pawns to be used till the time comes.

Jumia Nigeria’s strategy was to lure staff from their companies with big salary promises, and after a very short time, leave you with the lower end of the straw, they never leave you even after they “fire” you, but continue to follow you to your new place of work trying to ensure you never get another chance at working. The company leaves out its investors code – hire, fire, move and dispose with rocket speed. They sack staff and hire like the wind.

I worked with over 60 different faces in the period I was there. Working for Jumia was like hell; we would resume at 8am and leave at 9pm for normal staff and much latter for management staff, understandable for a startup but not when the bait is threats of firing and legal actions

The line managers were tools to perpetuate the acts, and the coup de grace would be when the line manager gets fired after he had fired the other staff, I saw this happen in marketing and human resources while I was there.

And if you are wondering, I was sacked and plan to take legal action soon for continued harassment and for wrongful termination. Why was I sacked? Was it for going home early at 9pm or not sacking my entire team? Well I hope a court of law will get it out of them.

Blogs and newspapers should stop being deceived by Jumia's berlin pr team, only those who have worked within the system fully understand the system.

I believe all ex jumia staff need to speak up to help end this madness.

God bless you.

J. U

I hope your disappointment turns out to be a blessing for you IJN.

@Temi, open your email if you can and reply to the PM I sent you.

Ghen ghen

Hahaha!!! About time this came out!

Jumia sales team- that's an apology! Salary and commission was changed every other day - no jokes!

They claim to encourage entrepreneurship - big lie!!! You are not allowed to grow within the company or on your own.

B4 I say anytin lets wait for testimonies either positively or negatively from ppl who have worked there and from ppl who are stil working there.

With your experience create something like Jumia and become their competitor. Leverage on their weakness. That's how Apple Inc began and competed sternly with Microsoft

Jeel: With your experience create something like Jumia and become their competitor. Leverage on their weakness. That's how Apple Inc began and competed sternly with Microsoft

Trust Me this OP can never create nothing.. From the way he already whining like a baby here how is he ever going to weather the tremendous storm of launching a start up .

hhmm?

idupaul:

Trust Me this OP can never create nothing.. From the way he already whining like a baby here how is he ever going to weather the tremendous storm of launching a start up .

#Daft

Abeg, OP, don't mind all these nay Sayers. They are the reason Nigeria will never move forward. if there really was a foul, then cry foul as loud as you can whine, and fight till the wrong is righted. I can't believe some people's mentality. Mitscheeww!!

Trust me this OP is irresponsible. Why wait till you got fired before complaining. While I am not holding forth for jumia, this jumia guys should not be run down in this manner. They have opened a new vista in commerce and for a new line of business, they will still be having a challenge. The govt should move in to assist them before they pack up due to the antics of never-do-good like this OP.Also, we should keep praying for Jumia for God to help them find out saboteurs that may still remain in their employment. I have dealt with employees like this OP and I am sure he is not a complete witness of truth

Most private company in Nigeria are hell . What else can i say than that i sympathy with you about ur job loss:. Every dissappointment is a blessing.

Jeel: With your experience create something like Jumia and become their competitor. Leverage on their weakness. That's how Apple Inc began and competed sternly with Microsoft

Erm shut up..did he mention that hes into retailing? Thats how you people make noise about business after reading those phoney inspirational fairytales.

If you have worked in a private company most especially in lagos state, you will relate to what the op is saying...I can authoritatively tell you that if do not concur with the ops grief about about hes woes while working with JUMIA, you have not had a first hand experience in any of these private coys

onomeasike: Trust me this OP is irresponsible. Why wait till you got fired before complaining. While I am not holding forth for jumia, this jumia guys should not be run down in this manner. They have opened a new vista in commerce and for a new line of business, they will still be having a challenge. The govt should move in to assist them before they pack up due to the antics of never-do-good like this OP.Also, we should keep praying for Jumia for God to help them find out saboteurs that may still remain in their employment. I have dealt with employees like this OP and I am sure he is not a complete witness of truth

Most of you guys dont realiise the gravity of the lexis you use when addressing a situation.

How will a sane employed individual come to an abhorrent conclusion and his first line of statement is to state that the op is irresponsible? Do you use your brains and human discretion to analyse a situation at all

You have dealt with employees like the op? You were lucky i never met an employer like you, i ll screw your business over!!!

onomeasike: Trust me this OP is irresponsible. Why wait till you got fired before complaining. While I am not holding forth for jumia, this jumia guys should not be run down in this manner. They have opened a new vista in commerce and for a new line of business, they will still be having a challenge. The govt should move in to assist them before they pack up due to the antics of never-do-good like this OP.Also, we should keep praying for Jumia for God to help them find out saboteurs that may still remain in their employment. I have dealt with employees like this OP and I am sure he is not a complete witness of truth

Must you talk? Check ursf...!

nutty_hnic:

Most of you guys dont realiise the gravity of the lexis you use when addressing a situation.

How will a sane employed individual come to an abhorrent conclusion and his first line of statement is to state that the op is irresponsible? Do you use your brains and human discretion to analyse a situation at all

You have dealt with employees like the op? You were lucky i never met an employer like you, i ll screw your business over!!!

Trust me you can't. A smart employer will always be at least one step ahead of the employee.A leper can't milk a cow but can spill the milk CARELESSLY PLACED IN HIS CARE.
I am sure you didn't read the part that "he did nothing until he got fired".Most Nigerians have poor work ethics and most organizations are paying dearly for it. If you are currently grappling with disloyal staff but your organization is fair minded and supportive, most employees will hardly encourage you to do more. They can't wait to finish your organisation and move on.
Jumia may or may not be culpable but they are new and they need our support and prayers. I don't have any apologies. Since the OP claims to be a lawyer he should study his terms of employment and company's code of conduct for reasonable course of action, going online to run down his former employer is resorting to self-help and except he retraces his tracks Jumia may end up suing him for defamation and libel

good riddance to bad rubbish

...

onomeasike:


Trust me you can't. A smart employer will always be at least one step ahead of the employee.A leper can't milk a cow but can spill the milk CARELESSLY PLACED IN HIS CARE.
I am sure you didn't read the part that "he did nothing until he got fired".Most Nigerians have poor work ethics and most organizations are paying dearly for it. If you are currently grappling with disloyal staff but your organization is fair minded and supportive, most employees will hardly encourage you to do more. They can't wait to finish your organisation and move on.
Jumia may or may not be culpable but they are new and they need our support and prayers. I don't have any apologies. Since the OP claims to be a lawyer he should study his terms of employment and company's code of conduct for reasonable course of action, going online to run down his former employer is resorting to self-help and except he retraces his tracks Jumia may end up suing him for defamation and libel

Most Nigerians DO NOT have poor work ethics.
A nigerian employee can only be questioned on a professional level and nothing more.
Most nigerians do love their organisations and are easily comfortable by mere compensations such as an average pay, good closing hours.

The problem is MOST EMPLOYERS ARE THREATENED BY THEIR EMPLOYEES. They always feel insecure, this is where the problem kicks in.

Its easy to get a nigerian emplyee going its only on a professional level that their "ethics" can then be questioned. Just do your part as an employer, dont use people without compensating them. Be nice to your staff, it doesnt cost anything.

nutty_hnic:

Most of you guys dont realiise the gravity of the lexis you use when addressing a situation.

How will a sane employed individual come to an abhorrent conclusion and his first line of statement is to state that the op is irresponsible? Do you use your brains and human discretion to analyse a situation at all

You have dealt with employees like the op? You were lucky i never met an employer like you, i ll screw your business over!!!

Do you believe in the concept behind the Karma philosophy!!

It will still happen to you when you have something of your own !

Your "lexis" doesn't really portray good employee attitude either

I know "employers" can really be a pain in the a.SS but resorting to tarnish a company because of a sack which is a norm in the employment world doesn't augur well with me !

#TeamEntrepreneurship anyday anytime

BarryX: Do you believe in the concept behind the Karma philosophy!!

It will still happen to you when you have something of your own !

Your "lexis" doesn't really portray good employee attitude either

I know "employers" can really be a pain in the a.SS but resorting to tarnish a company because of a sack which is a norm in the employment world doesn't augur well with me !

#TeamEntrepreneurship anyday anytime

I wouldnt treat my emplyees like they dont have a life.

Why is this in Politics?

Following..

[size=13pt]Guys don't be deceived by the nay sayers! Jumia Mgt may have seen this thread and got some of their "slaves" to counter and turn people against the op or "GET FIRED!"

Be smart and wise people, the op is doing what people like the late Gani of blessed memory would have done!



@OP, Gather as much testimony as you can and proceed to get justice served!

God be with you.

ps: Be careful for your life, they may not hesitate to go even dirtier!


[/size]

some people are born with a slaves mentality. whenever they see somebody who has a different approach to issue,they consider such a person as bad or rude.

op, you dont need nairalanders to further your course .

hmm

Pls I like this. Are there more staff who have things to say.

LOL.
Actually the Rocket guys are crazy.
But they did initially hire a lot of incompetents in the beginning, which they had to fire. In fact, they've been hiring and firing since the company started.

Amusing the way the OP is making them sound sinister. They're not. Just that Nigerians on the average still work with a civil-service entitled mentality, which can't be good for a high-tech startup. If your temperament is suited for a First Bank or Chevron, you should not be working in an Access Bank or Jumia. There are actually high-octane, pressure-cooker-mentality people who function successfully in these environments. It's not for everyone.

But most of us just assume erroneously that a job is all about the good pay.

BarryX: I have a friend who works there presently and trust me the dude complains like hell.

Truth be told, The first time I got to their new office at Adeniyi Jones , I was very impressed with the general youthful nature of staffs

Therein might lie the problem.

Besides, isnt nl run the same way?