Steemit Ibadan Meetup - My Story

“You won the contest bruh!” texted @bisodun to me via my WhatsApp number on Thursday evening.

I was overjoyed by the announcement as it meant that I had a #STACH shirt free of charge, courtesy of the @ejemai lead @stach team. I had to be present at the Ibadan meetup on Saturday 24th February, 2018 to claim my prize; easy huh?

(When you finally get the opportunity to snap with @ejemai [that feeling of AH DON HAMMER, AH CAN'T FIT SHOUT];
I was trying to sell my BIG STEEM IDEA to him about us setting up a Steem Hub in Ile-Ife. More gist about that coming through soonest, watch this space for more information)

Well, there was just one little problem: I didn’t have cash to make the trip to Ibadan for the meetup. Times have been really hard on me and this was an all-time low period for me as I was transitioning from youth to adulthood and most of my folks were giving me little or no financial assistance anymore; they’d rather assist my younger brother who was still in University.

“Where do I get the money to travel to Ibadan on Saturday?” I asked no one in particular, with my roommate, Wale (@gominadafidi) looking at me absentmindedly (he also was interested in attending the meetup, but we were both in the same ship: broke-ship) and didn’t answer my rhetoric question. I ran the thought through my mind for a while and gave up on the idea. Meanwhile, I had already informed Bisodun that I would try my very best to be at the meetup in Ibadan on Saturday to get my shirt.

Friday morning, I went to visit my friend, @olusolawilliams, a new steemian who I invited to join Steemit a few days back. He was also interested in attending the meetup in Ibadan and he agreed to sponsor me and Wale on Thursday night along with himself to the Meetup (trust me, Oga Shola, as I like to address him, is a boss man). On getting to his office, I received a shocker: He could not make the meetup anymore as something came up and he had to travel on Saturday morning. I was broken! My village people had finally gotten me! So after investing a lot of energy in selling the Steemit idea to some folks and getting hyped about seeing the lovely faces behind the WhatsApp chats, I would be stuck here in Ife only to see pictures on the WhatsApp group? I hung on to him for a couple of hours, and he gave me some money to help me make the trip and I was grateful to him. But there was another issue: The money he gave me would not cover my transportation to and fro, just to. I had to look for a way to raise the remaining money back from Ibadan, or I’d sleep in Wennovation Hub after the meetup.

I sat down in his office and weighed my options:
What are the odds that I would be stuck in Ibadan without means of returning to Ife cause of transport?
What are the odds that someone at the meetup would not be able to assist me with something that could get me back to Ife that day?

After cross examination, I decided that the chances were slimmer than it seemed that I’d get stuck, so I made up my mind to make the journey the next day. As I was leaving his office, Oga Shola gave me a branded Steemit Shirt he had just made, to wear to the Meetup and feel among. I was ecstatic (that one na story for another day).

I left Mr Shola’s office at around a few minutes to 7pm and there was light there. Rain had been threatening to pour down heavily but so far, nothing serious had happened. I got home only to discover that light had gone (NEPA don carry light because of rain wey no go fall) and we were left in darkness. I wasn’t so much bothered cause I live in a house where light is a birthright than a privilege (we have one of the most constant and consistent power regimes in the country). My initial expectations were that they’d bring back the light later in the evening when all the rain scare had died down. I waited up till 11pm that night, no light still. I slept off Steeming at around 3am, still no light. I woke up around 6am on Saturday, still no light. I now knew that the powers that be had planned my case well to ensure that I did not attend this meetup in Ibadan. I waited till 12 noon in Ife, hoping that light would return and I’d be able to charge my phone, take my bath and prepare better for the meetup, but alas, OYO was my case.

I picked up the broken pieces of my hopes around 12pm on Saturday and got on the road to Ibadan (ah no baff sef, cause water no dey and where we dey fetch water for well, the entire area don fetch am finish). In the bus to Ibadan, I met an oldie (I think she’s a Dolphin) @gloglo of @air-clinic. She stays in Ife and had been Steeming since 2017. I was thrilled to have some company going to the Meetup, but it was obvious to me (within the first 20 minutes or so) that this babe was not the chatty type, particularly when it came to strangers who had big heads and used fake fashion glasses (just joking) or maybe I was just not her type, I don't even know.

(Me, Gloria & George [@nairadaddy] posing after all said and done)

But she steadily killed the conversation with her dismal responses and I immediately took the cue and shut my yap up before she did for me with something embarrassing. The journey was swift, annoying (driver was acting all bitchy and being a drama queen at times) and overall uninteresting. We got to Iwo Road in Ibadan and we got different modes of transport that got us to the venue of the event: Wennovation Hub, Mokola, Ibadan.

Once I alighted from the cab in front of the building, I started seeing the faces and usernames written all over them. I first met my friend @mediahousent, then I met @phait, then I met @fisteganos, then @tojukaka, then I started meeting them in hoards and droves. The feeling was very orgasmic as well as fulfilling. From around 3pm I got to the venue of the meetup till around 7pm that day, I didn’t remember that I had financial issues and my transport fare back was already very short based on unexpected hike in the cost of transport from Ife.

We dem boyz!!! I know that @phait & @bisodun is in this picture, but I can't remember the other bros)

Due to my nature and my kind of personality, (I really don’t do well in a place idle. If I get to a new place and I notice that there are issues there that I can solve, I jump right in and try to solve them), immediately I got there, I noticed that the projection was having some slight misdemeanor and it was within my capacity to solve, so I offered my assistance and it was taken up swiftly. That kept me stuck at a spot (in front though) but for a good cause. I had the pleasure of taking loads of notes and also seeing some of these Steemit Nigeria Whales firsthand. I felt made mhen!

I was able to take some notes from a few of the speakers, and I’ll be sharing that in another post. The light refreshment they promised us too wasn’t that bad: Pie and Soft drinks, Domino’s Pizza, and cake baked by Ifeoluwapo (@iroyal) that we never got a taste of at the end of the day. The photo session was a crazy one as everyone wanted a taste of the Red Carpet and no one was willing to step aside for the other (typically Nigerian of us all).

(See the cake ooooo, very sweet looking to the eye, and mouth watering to the heart, yet ah no see am chop)

Trust me when I say that this experience was so much fun. @fisteganos made a post the next morning asking us to rate the event and pass our comments. (https://steemit.com/steemib/@fisteganos/my-steem-ibadan-story)
For me, it is the most amazing event I have attended in a while and I am extremely glad I could make it there and return back to my house in one piece.

How did I even return back home? Someone must have asked. Here’s the story;

So after all the jamboree and philandering in the event, it became very clear to me that I had to leave Ibadan for Ife cause I never planned to stay back in the first place, so I was in a dilemma of who to run to for assistance to make my tfare complete. The MC, Samuel (@mediahousent) was there and we’ve known each other from Ife, so I placed a call to him stating my case and what I needed and he helped me out one time. He gave me something extra that made up my fare and put me at almost a balanced account. My next problem was now how to get to Iwo Road to take a bus to Ife. I spoke to @mosunomotunde about it and she hooked me up with @optimistdehinde who I already had an unsettled score with from a conversation we had online a few days back. Well, Bros Dehinde was the angel allotted to take me to Iwo Road and from there I boarded my bus to Ile-Ife and got to my house around some minutes to 11pm (which was the official time they locked the gates to our house).

Thanks to all the members of the planning committee for the awesome experience, thanks to all those persons who gave me the opportunity to meet them and interact with them (trust you, the real me is very loud and extroverted). When next we have a meetup, you guys would have a DEEP FEEL of me.

Till I come your way again (in writing or chatting), I remain that humble boy from the high side of life, The David Adesina, saying:

Hasta Lavista people!!!
A few photos to show for the efforts after all...

(Gbenga delivering a session on Steem Abuse Flagging and how not to do it - @gbenga)

(TojuKaka and this very fine damsel from the North - @tojukaka)

(Mummy Mosun and myself posing for the Selfie contest; @tojukaka promised to give me SBD for this and he hasn't fulfilled his promise... Oh God of my forefathers, disturb his heart till he has wired it all into my account - @mosunomotunde)

(Me & Samsticks... Man talked about Cryptocurrency and Steem and mhen, I felt immersed in anointing afterwards [I can't find his handle, but I will make sure he sees this too]

(Myself and Sparklez... I have a tingling feeling on the back of my neck that this guy is either gay or tending to become one very soon. But he'll be the feisty type, not the Bobrisky mumu type that wee be doing like Ode - @sparklez)

(Behind me, with the camera is @olufisayo [the cameraman] baba can take photo in the Olympics and win multiple gold medals; big mummy @mosunomotunde was also present behind, handling matters as she was supposed to; there was also @gee1 who gave a session about Newbies and was adorable to promise me SBD (for volunteering myself outside) without redeeming the promise [Father, you that disturbed King Ahasuerus in the bible not to sleep till he had rewarded Mordecia, don't let my case be different. Make an example of this case today and let your name be praised, AMEN]

(I just wonder what @gbenga was telling @tojukaka here.... Lemme try:
@gbenga: Baba, sheybi you talk say you do video this morning and e don $500 already?
@tojukaka: Ehn, anso?
@gbenga: Make ah jus kiss you now now for public, in front of all these people, we fit make like $5,000 from the traffic wey the video go generate oooo...
@tojukaka: Oga gimme the microphone jhor, kiss me nikan ko, Kiss Daniel ni!

And that my friends, is the end of my Story.
I'll be uploading the important notes I took down at the meetup later in the week. Thanks for reading through this post, plenty SBD fall on all of you!!!
#TheDavidAdesina