Oga No Vex But

Oga No Vex But …

Being an Entrepreneur is hard, being an Entrepreneur in Nigeria is even harder and much more frustrating.

Got a call this morning to quickly meet up with a potential investor visiting from Ghana. Jumped into the shower and lo and behold, water had finished.

Called to find out what happened, they said pumping machine spoiled yesterday, so they could not pump water …

“but why did not tell me this since yesterday?” I asked the gateman.

“Oga no vex”

It’s not the first time. Everytime, “Oga no vex.”

So I spend another 20 minutes organizing water, time of course is running fast unlike water. I get out of the shower (actually bucket pouring not shower), and start dressing up hurriedly, and then NEPA strikes! Right in the middle of my grooming session …

So half wet, half with clothes on, body cream still trying to dry, deodorant still crystallizing, water still on the floor, I hop outside to turn on the back-up power.

I hop back to finish up my grooming session. And with clothes finally on, I jump inside the car just as the gate-man says “Oga no vex” for like the fifth time in the morning.

I wish I could trade “Oga no vex” for more time. Because it’s 12:03, the meeting was to start at 12 noon.

I reluctantly send a whatsapp coded message apologizing for my unavoidable lateness, but I have to be tactful with it, so I say “I am on the road but won’t make it there by 12 noon.” At least it’s better than …

“Oga no vex, water finished in my house and NEPA took light but I am on my way, Oga No vex!”

Luckily I get a response almost immediately saying “don’t worry.”

I run into the meeting, my body is probably still drying, my thoughts still floating, enter the room and chat.

We talk books, talk religion, talk okadabooks and what we are trying to do to get more people reading again.

The meeting is a 1 hour success, they seemed impressed.

And as we walk off, the Ghanaian investor says how he just loves Nigeria … and in my head I am like “Oga no vex, but…”

But instead I just keep quiet and smile, because no matter how tough it gets, the experience is still fun.

“You can take the Nigerian situation and complain about it all the time, talk about how frustrating it is, knowing fully well nothing is changing anytime soon, or you can change your mentality and look at it as a fun adventure. The choice is up to you, I choose to see it as a fun adventure filled with satirical hills of bullshit and that allows me survive the madness long enough to make a difference.”

cc:Ofili