If i could turn back the hands of Block

In the tunnel

If there’s one thing that a lay Nigerian dreads more, it would be waking up in the morning and going to the bank to make a little withdrawal, then get disappointed for lack of “network” both at the bank and at the ATMs. woe betide you if you get stranded with little or no cash to find your way back home( you automatically become a beggar —yes! A beggar with money in the bank). I’ve lost count of how many times that I've been a victim of this “network wahala”.

And so the search for a more reliable banking service with little or no hitch has been my struggle(and that of every common woman living in Nigeria). It’s almost like chasing the proverbial wild goose. They(banks) are all the same after all — or maybe the ones with a “stable” network cannot be so trusted because they’re not among the “big players” in the industry; Who knows when they could go bankrupt like the one that happened just some months back where Nigerians lost their money kept in the bank due to bankruptcy.

Little wonder Nigerians were one of the first people in the world to quickly adopt and adapt to Ethereum and the blockchain technology when they learnt about the endless solutions and possibilities they provide. You will agree with me that we, the common Nigerians, have seen a lot of shege.

Finally! Here comes the Light

Before july 2020 when i joined the bandwagon of blockchain technology(precisely Ethereum space first), i had heard of bitcoin but the source of that knowledge at the time, was bias or maybe anti-bitcoin, hence i was discouraged knowing that some bad players use it to do shady deals on the internet and the darkweb particularly. I developed a cold feet venturing into the blockchain space.

In July of 2020, I was so done with the frustrations of the financial world and the uncertainty that comes with dealing with Nigeria and their financial systems. One random evening during the lockdown, I came across the buzzword “Ethereum” on social media and I was like “which one is Ethereum again? I only know of bitcoin.” But the curious me would always want to find out what the rave of the moment(Ethereum) was all about. Valaar!!! It’s the solution that I've been searching for. I still couldn’t believe that Ethereum through its novel innovations(at that time) was capable of ending my travails with Nigerian banks. I dug deeper; lo and behold I stumbled on the word “DeFi”. What is this all about?

DeFi(Decentralized Finance) is the technology that allows a woman to own her money and do as she pleases with it with no fear of Theft, network failure and Inflation, and she could still add value to that money through various means(more on that in another writing).

The freedom that DeFi gives is unmatched in the conventional financial world( especially the financial system that I was coming from). At first, the whole DeFi mantra looked too good to be true to me. But then there is no harm in trial. And so this was how DeFi ushered me into the world of endless possibilities with Ethereum. Honestly, it was a bumpy road of information-gathering, trying to learn about the whole DeFi and Ethereum. If only Ethereum would be more proactive about establishing local communities, it would be easier to bring the “gospel” closer to the lay Nigerian( to whom access to the internet is still a luxury). Ethereum should invest in bringing the message closer to the people.

One of the ways this can be achieved is by incentivizing the locals who would volunteer to set up a physical center at strategic locations for people to come learn and ask questions about Ethereum and the technology it provides. This alone would help a lot of people onboard and trust the technology more.

The First Baptism

Ok, I understand the hassle of doing rigorous research because nothing good comes easy; I guess the price is the hassle I had to put in.

I almost ran back to the bondage that I was delivered from, after learning about Uniswap which at the time, was the most popular platform on Ethereum for me to save my funds(with interest on it) and to do all sorts of things in a secured and limitless way. You ask me why?? Fees!! Yes, they call it “Gas fees” in Ethereum. Noo, not cooking gas or fuel, i mean the fee i had to pay for each transaction to be performed on my behalf. Ok no problem, perhaps that’s normal, I understand that. Even in the conventional financial world, the banks used to charge me small small money for helping me “save” my little money(that inflation corrodes).

Now, here comes the shocker of my life. The gas fees that I had to pay for transactions to go through, is a huge amount of money. Yes and I can bet you that the fee in the banks is peanuts compared to what Ethereum used to charge at that time. In fact there were times when the fee was even bigger than the funds involved in the transaction. Whaaaat!! No way. I am going back to using my normal banks, perhaps I just have to be more proactive with how and when I withdraw my money from the bank. Bank fees and charges are nothing compared to what Ethereum is charging, I thought to myself. In fact i felt like crying one time when i converted those fees from dollars into Naira; that’s more than what i earn in a month as salary!

Well, honestly I just had to limit the number of transactions I performed on the Ethereum network. I was only using it to save my funds in the wallets. Whao!! Wallet? Forgive me, I forgot to tell you about wallets. You remember that I told you that your assets or money are saved with you? Yess!! The wallet is like the purse or “saving box” that you have in your house, however in the world of Ethereum and blockchain, this digital purse is kept in your phone or gadget(PC or hardware and even in some edge cases the wallets could be written and saved on papers but make sure you keep it safe). This wallet is highly secured by some computer program( this is another deep and complex topic).

So as at the time when the Ethereum gas fees were very high, I only saved my funds in the wallets. At least, I can now rest from the banks telling me that there’s no network. Or that they’re on holiday. Freedom is of utmost importance to me, and I can pay anything for it; this alone, is the reason I refused to go back to the banks even after Ethereum gas fees almost chased me back. If not for the proactive and sensitive nature of Ethereum builders, that they came up with the idea of Layer-2s, which have helped curb the gas fees wahala, i would have suggested that Ethereum should come up with a different consensus mechanism that will reduce the gas fee for basic transactions such as movement of assets across wallets. This issue of gas fee you can agree with me, was the major reason a lot of Nigerians went back to the conventional financial world.

The journey thus far

If there is one thing I am sure of, it is the fact that Ethereum is always about the people and how to make their life better each passing day. I am very proud of myself that I didn't give up early and quit in the days of “high” gas fees. Ethereum has made sure that user experience is of premium quality since inception and I can personally attest to that. With the idea of Layer 2 solutions, the high gas fee issue is gradually a thing of the past. Transactions have become faster also with that innovation. And let me mention, the security of your assets and your freedom are not compromised in these improvements.

As a common man coming from Nigeria, I have gotten power over my life, finances and I have been exposed to numerous opportunities through the innovations that Ethereum provides. In fact, over the years, I have transitioned from being a common DeFi user to a smart contract security researcher. There is no space that a lay man can have such opportunities, it can only be in the blockchain and Ethereum world.

I can proudly beat my chest that I now “own” my life. I secure and invest my assets(funds) without involving a third party. I can also send funds and/or assets to anybody, anywhere across the globe from the comfort of my bedroom without fear of network failure or someone intercepting and stealing my funds/assets in the process. This is just one of the most basic and relatable benefits that I can mention for now. With Ethereum, the opportunities are limitless. Ranging from DeFi, to digitizing your physical assets( in what is called RWA), to digitizing your artworks and images or identity with NFTs, to building almost anything on the blockchain called Ethereum. As far as you can think it, it is possible with Ethereum!

The new Kid on the Block

From my wealth of experience, knowledge and exposure thus far in this space, if I were starting out as a newbie, I would first find a community of old users and get real first-hand knowledge and guidance on how to navigate my way in the Ethereum space. With such a community, I get to know what is what depending on what solution I am looking for in the space, where is the goto for such a solution and what I need in order to easily get the solution I am looking for.

For instance, as a newbie, the lack of some basic information cost me a lot of money in the form of gas fees. This was because I didn’t know that there are days and times when gas fees are way cheaper. If i had all that information i would not have paid fees more than necessary. Most often some of this kind of information could be very accessible from the community of experienced users.

Basically, everything in this space is a function of how much knowledge and exposure you have concerning what you seek. Ethereum must not relent in making all this information very accessible and understandable for the potential users. Translate blog articles and websites into local languages that the people understand. For the sake of the users who may not have access to the internet, Ethereum should encourage locals to set up physical booths and/or centers to help with physical training, meetups and dialogue with the people about Ethereum. Ethereum must also continue to incentivize volunteers, builders, devs, community managers and the basic stakeholders who help onboard the people and products to the space.

I look forward to the day that every Nigerian will join me in enjoying freedom, security and boundless opportunities with Ethereum.

Welcome to the ideal world! welcome to Ethereum!!