There are always voices in my head.
I'm constantly hearing whispers, nothing crazy...far from bordering on a multiple personality disorder; it's not twenty voices like James McAvoy in Glass, there's no Patricia, Norma or Kevin Wendell Crumb... It's just two – two distinct voices, one always begins sentences with Baba, the other with Dude...and on this chilly day in late October 2015, I listened to one of them...up till this day, I'm not sure if it was the right one.
Before we jump on the roller-coaster, Meet Baba and Dude
Baba and Dude are voices; they live in my head.
Baba is uncouth, Baba speaks in pidgin English and starts sentences with Baba, as in "Baba no go dey mumu dey form say you still love di babe'. Dude speaks proper English, with an American accent and is generally considered by me as the 'good voice'.
So there, Baba and Dude.
Note to self
Unless it's absolutely necessary, I won't segue into any side stories for the rest of this chapter.
Back on the roller-coaster, October 2015
The plan was to rendezvous with D at the airport before boarding the plane. I got there a little later than I had planned and D was already there; we went through all the processing then we checked in. We had about 30 minutes till departure so we found a KFC and got a few snacks.
So how did all this happen?
Back in September when I met D and the guys in Ibadan, they were working on a startup - I had no idea that D had made the jump from the corporate world to Tech Entrepreneurship, he used to work at Proctor & Gamble but now he was working on a startup and he had a few guys that I knew from UI helping out in different areas. It was a very nice, cosy setup - located in a serene part of Bodija, it was perfect for the kind of thing they were trying to achieve. D and I bonded during that period; I was the last person to join the gang but I can say that I became the closest person to him by the time I was heading back to Lagos. Like I said, we talked about so many things - and during one of our conversations we stumbled on the Forbes Under30 Summit, a 4-day conference for young entrepreneurs, achievers and doers from all over the world that was scheduled to hold in Philadelphia that October. We both were interested in attending, and what's more, we both could attend as we both happened to have US visas at the time. I came to Ibadan to collect recommendation letters and I did, but the opportunity to travel at that point was too good to pass up - I could achieve so much by going; attend the Forbes Under 30 Summit, visit some of the schools I was applying to, visit my uncle in Ohio and see Chika - and above all, get a break from all that had been happening, or not been happening for me in Nigeria. A chance to clear my head and reset.
D for his part, wanted to take the opportunity to see his brother who lived in Pittsburgh and was part of his startup. We both had so many compelling reasons to go - so we decided on it and bought tickets. I called my Uncle in Ohio to tell him about my planned visit and that I'd like to come and visit him in Ohio. My uncle is a disciplinarian and a stickler for details, so immediately he told me to create an itinerary, to start planning every single detail of my trip, where I intended to visit and when, what my budget was and all that stuff.
I didn't plan my trip as well as I should have – I looked at a few Airbnb accommodations and didn't really create a budget. It wasn't that I didn't have enough time or didn't understand the importance of doing it, it was probably that I was just excited and just wanted to leave Nigeria for the first time since 2010 and the first time since 2000 that I'll be going out of Africa.
