So how did I end up in Nigeria?

I connected with Gbenga Sesan, founder of Paradigm Initiative Nigeria (PIN), about 3 years ago through an American-based social entrepreneurial organization called Ashoka.  I was tasked to help him focus on running PIN, a non-profit social enterprise that connects Nigerian youth with ICT-enabled opportunities, like a for-profit business.  I have been very encouraged by what I have seen him accomplish, but it was always through photos or stories from 9,000 miles away.  Earlier this year Gbenga mentioned a program that PIN was planning along with a local university in Ile-Ife to help boost entrepreneurialism in Nigerian youth.  They were planning a start-up contest like we have all the time in the US.  He asked if I would be willing to join the panel as a potential investor.  This was six months out, and I gave your typical New Yorker “maybe” which means “no way”.  But to an aggressive, smart Nigerian like Gbenga all he heard was “YES”.  He started all the plans as if I was coming and made everything happen.  He dropped me emails every month with a countdown to which I would respond with questions about timing or safety concerns or logistics.  Again, a New Yorker’s way of getting to NO, but to Gbengna that meant YES.  The day after Thanksgiving, I set up a call with him with the intent to back out with the normal American excuses: holiday season, too many year-end closings, travel is too expensive, the US tells us not to go, etc.  Maybe it was the bad phone service because every time I thought I was giving him a good excuse not to go, he heard YES.   So by the end of the call, which was 2 weeks before the conference, I started searching for flights and working on the logistics.