Melanin Monroe

What I will say, personally, is that you cannot overrate the reality of what Nigeria is. Ive been advising people on this even before I moved. You are not likely to move back here and replicate your life in that country youre moving from. You must first embrace and accept this. You must internalize many of the realities and immerse yourself. Personally, I have never been in delusion so I don’t regret moving back, for me, in my position, it is a no brainer. The problem with many who move back is that they start from a place of delusion, usually influenced by people they know who seem to be doing better than they are and/or a short trip in December or for a wedding and especially one of these conferences or events - like Moonshot last week or CANEX this week where the ecosystem feels so vibrant The first thing I tell people is, start from your parents house, and if you don’t want that, embrace that renting in Ikoyi or VI might not be the start you need. I bought my apartment in Ologolo, the money I spent can be leveraged, the area floods, it’s not the best but I came in 2023, and I have a long-standing “no rent” policy which turned out to be a master stroke as the landscape has changed dramatically since then. My home has also been able to generate income for me when I travel - I designed it with that flexibility. I have other hacks too (like my car is dual use) My friends tease me all the time that I live here but I’ve never worried about making rent payments and I am very involved in how the complex is run. Over the next year or so, by God’s grace, I’ll move to a bigger space hopefully in a better area thats closer to Phase 1, but even if I have to move farther, the next phase of my evolution is, at least, à semi detached home where I don’t have to be restricted by service charges or other communal payments. I want to be able to go off grid and have live in staff. If I achieve it by next year, it will have been a 4-5 year build. Many who have moved started or hope to start from my year 4-5 projections and the struggle to sustain, with added pressure of keeping up the appearance (because yes, people are constantly watching and asking).