WHY I LIVE IN THE SLUMS.
Have you ever woken up at night because you are utterly uncomfortable with your current situation in life and you know exactly what you want to do and you know you are wasting time by not doing it?
Well this was my story last year. I had just started SENPAI and I wanted nothing else but to build my idea into a full fledged company. Now this may seen very straight forward but we are in nigeria and even thinking about building a company at my age isn't a norm in the society. It's usually, finish uni, get a masters abroad, serve and no one hears from you anymore.
But I am a very passionate person and I would usually wake up at night with my heart physically hurting me and I would ask myself how possible it even was to chase your dreams in this country. So I began to device a plan.. But what plans?
ZUCK VISITS LAGOS.
If you were like me when Mark Zuckerberg came to lagos it must have sparked the curiosity in you and made you wonder.
WHY? WHERE?
I was in covenant university at the time and I remember wanting to run away from school just to meet him. I did some research as to why Mark would even come all the way to africa,Nigeria. Where did he go ? What was he doing?
CCHUB
It didn't take too long before the dots led me to cchub. This wasn't a mere discovery and the day wasn't a mere day for me and the entire tech community. At the point in time I made it my mission to get into cchub. I knew I would be in an environment that would enable me to build my dreams.
I set out to get into the hub and after a series of cold emails and messages and thoroughly stalking Mr bosun one of the founder of the hub. He granted me access to their space, This was at November 2016.
I dont believe in coincidences and I strongly believe everything happens for a reason, The day I got access to the hub was one of the happiest days of my life. But it also was a very confusing time for me, should I leave everything and move to lagos (from port harcourt) , should I not take the chance, maybe it was all too good to be true.
DECEMBER 2016
Have you ever tried to explain to your parents that you want to leave uni and move to a new state and build a tech company in nigeria? Well december was the hardest month of my life because I was discourage more that any human needs to be discouraged by anyone. But I didn't change my mind. Sat my parents down and explained everything to them to which they reluctantly told me if this is what I want to do then I can.
JANUARY — PRESENT 2017
I moved to lagos with nothing but my box of clothes, my dreams and N80,000. but boy was I happy as fuck. I've squatted in over 4 locations from the island to the mainland until I finally got a small place I could afford in makoko, mid april which is a walking distance from the hub. I've worked each and everyday since january till now, A LOT has happened since I got to lagos but everyday is a blessing and I am truly grateful for the opportunity bosun and cchub have given me. I dont need much, all I need is the hub to work from, The slum house to lay my head and PURE HUSTLE to build senpai.
THE SENPAI DREAM IS STILL LIVE AND AS STRONG AS EVER AND WE ARE GOING TO CHANGE THE WORLD :)
