Etin Obaseki
“A boy becomes a man in the same way a seed becomes a tree. The seed has to die for the tree to grow and the boy has to leave for the man to show.” — Me
2 min read
Building Nigeria's Storytelling Platform.

If they ever tell my story let them say that I walked with giants. Men rise and fall like the winter wheat, but these names will never die. Let them say I lived in the time of Hector, tamer of horses. Let them say I lived in the time of Achilles.
— Odysseus

This quote by Odysseus from the 2004 movie, Troy, sums up what I'd like to say in this post. We haven't quite reached the point in our journey where we can all look at each other and say "...walked with giants", but, from all the indications, we're most certainly on our way there.

After such a long time, the release of our Android application finally puts us back on track to achieve our goals. Credit where credit is due, without the mule headed stubbornness of our progenitor, Nosakhare, the app would most likely never have seen the light of day. Nevertheless, now that it's done, we must take deliberate steps towards ensuring that we can fulfil our original purpose in starting this enterprise.

However, these steps will have to be taken without me as I have made the difficult, yet necessary decision to lay down my roles within the organization. After plenty of consultation, I have taken this step as I feel it would be in my best interests, personally and also those of the company at large. For the past two years, I have served as TheCommunity's chief storyteller, helping, in my own small way, to shape the narrative in and around the product as it gradually took form, going from small side project to potentially an empire, as the CEO noted in his article. Unfortunately, during my time here, we were unable to convert our not-so-insignificant numbers into actual revenue. This will no doubt be the biggest challenge for the organization going forward, along with expansion into new markets and consolidation of those existing.

TheCommunity has my best wishes going forward and will always have my heart as the birthplace of many of my adolescent dreams. But, that boy is on his way to becoming a man, and a boy becomes a man the same way a seed becomes a tree; to paraphrase the words of Jesus from the Holy Book; A seed has to die for a tree to grow.

Until our paths cross once again, goodbye.

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