Nancy Ouma

Kenya

When Lagos and Nairobi Collide

It was a good day, one of those beautiful sunny afternoons. And he was just sitting there, on a bar stool, eating his lunch quietly. He looked unsettled, like something was bothering him, like he was quite out of place. He had what I have now come to know is his go-to black trench coat. But all I could think was, “which part of Nigeria is he from?”

This is the day I first met Osaze, one of my best friends in this world. And this is his story, my story, and in many ways, the African hustler’s story. You see, Osaze traveled from Lagos to Nairobi to attend a career launchpad program that he believed would change his life. And I just couldn’t believe that someone could be so brave, especially for something we were not sure would work.

Now 3 years later and several collaborations in, we have come to the same conclusion – the creative spaces in Kenya and Nigeria face the same challenges. Their storytellers are still overlooked in the same way. And though we are separated by kilometers of land, our stories are so similar they could be indistinguishable.