Something To Glean From Olashile…

Welcome to week 2 of the month of April 2022

This week, we would be looking at the life and money lessons we can glean from a story currently trending on social media in Nigeria. Earlier this month, a young Nigerian (Olashile Adisa) who is presently doing his Youth Service posted a story about an elderly drummer he came across during his weekly service. Olashile, who is also a photographer had taken a picture of the jovial-looking drummer and had shared the pictures on his Instagram page.

Last Friday, he informed his followers of the fact that he had minted the pictures as NFTs and had successfully sold them. He then shared a video of how he delivered 50% of the sales proceeds to the man.

As to be expected, the story and video were warmly received and also stirred up a lot of interest in NFTs as well as the art of selling them.

Below are some of the lessons I gleaned:

  • Seeing is believing: According to Osaretin Asemota, a Nigerian tech investor this story has created more awareness amongst Nigerians about NFTs and Web3 than any paid advert could have done.

This is because, in the video, we were informed that the NFTs had been sold for 0.2 eth and did see him hand over N500,000 to baba. That act alone validated for many people the possibilities and opportunities that NFTs can provide.

In fact, the following day – the 9th of April; a picture of baba holding the money given to him (titled the drummer’s joy) sold for 1.1 eth or  $3,600 – over 5 times the previous amount.

I am most certain, that Nigerians will definitely be more accepting of NFTs from now on & many more would follow suit in minting them in the coming days.

For me, the Yoruba adage “iroyin o to afoju ba” which literally means seeing is better than hearing holds true here.

 

  • In all your getting, get character: I was very impressed by the transparency and honesty displayed by the young man. Not only was he willing to split the proceeds equally, he documented the entire process. In fact, he also included an additional sum of N100,000 that had been donated to baba to the proceeds of the sale.

I find that very commendable because it was refreshingly different from the stories of defaults and unfulfilled commitments, which we have unfortunately been accustomed to hearing or reading about in recent times.

It is very heart-warming that Olashile is reminding us that character matters in our wealth journey.

 

  • Windfalls come when we least expect them: Although they rarely happen, financial windfalls can happen. At least in baba’s case, it has now happened multiple times!

I also appreciated the fact that we viewed the proceeds being lodged in the bank but not before baba splurged on a smartphone.

The lesson here for me is the need to always save or invest windfalls. We can treat ourselves also but remember to do so in moderation.

 

In conclusion, I will like to encourage those yet to start collecting NFTs to read more about them and try to dabble into it carefully. Please remember to take baby steps!

Till we meet again next week, do have a profitable week!

 

Toyin Oguntuyi