Boys dey roll dice, Na God dey bring double-six.
Overwhelmed.
That is one word that describes how I felt on the 26th of January.
For this year’s birthday, I spent the first few hours away from my phone and did a bit of a digital fast — so I couldn’t pick calls and I did not get to see the messages until past 4 in the evening.
Last year, the biggest take-home from my birthday was people getting to know me for my work as a brand storyteller with most of the wishes ending with it as a tag or containing thoughts that pointed to that direction. This year, the experiences went a notch deeper, as a lot of the good wishes talked about the soul, what they knew me for, my love for communities and holding up the ladder.
This is very important for me. Cos, as much as I want to make a lot of money, a big part of what drives me is ensuring that I win as a bloc and influence the existing systems to do well for a lot more people. This is why I chose to study journalism in the first place (my Bachelor’s thesis was on the Influence of Citizen Journalism on National Development). This is why I was a part of Fela Durotoye’s GEMSTONE at the University. This is why I ran the Leadership Clinic with DayoNigeria for about 2 years focused on creating platforms to help young people build leadership skills.
It is also a big reason why for the 2years+ I spent on radio in Akure (one of the largest stations in S/W Nigeria), the songs of young artists from Ondo State rent the airwaves and my radio shows focused on beaming the spotlight on startup founders from across South West who were influencing their communities in their little way. In 2017, we launched Zumalo.com to beam the spotlight on emerging cities across Africa, starting from South-West Nigeria and it was run on mostly passion to help curate narratives.
This is me. Learning to be unapologetically human, making plenty of mistakes along the way and building valuable communities of young people towards causing a dent on the current structure. I am 27 now and I know that this is not an easy journey and that the world is not full of people who want the best for others. Crazy.
However, encouraged by the lyrics of the song, Great Nation- Timi Dakolo(Arguably my best song ever) and hearts like the ones of some of the most amazing people I have met on this journey — close circle an as inspirational figures, the recent celebration marks a call to do more.
Everywhere I go, whenever I can and with people who are committed to keeping the lights on for others to see a path to greatness; I want to do more.
In the coming months, I would share a bit more around what work will look like — helping more African brands navigate good and bad times towards standing out in a world that continues to challenge itself in the space of innovation and choices to make.
Again, thank you for your wishes and kind words, I really appreciate them.
Now, back to work — showing Jesus and doing amazing work for brands across the world.