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Four months that took a Web2 developer apart.

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Executive producer: C.Y. Lee

Four and a half minutes in Ikorodu, Lagos with a developer at the end of Web3Bridge Cohort 12, the fifth episode in the run of short interviews We Them Media filmed as the cohort wrapped.

Web3Bridge founder Ayodeji Awosika opens from the same building, counting the cohort in and out and listing the countries applications for the next one came from.

The introduction is quick: “my name is Ali Onyema Joseph, popularly known as Leo. I’m from Edo State, Nigeria.” Asked for his tribe, he gives the state again.

He came in on a family recommendation. “I got to find out about Web3 Bridge from my brother”, he says, a brother who told him the new web was worth learning and that there was somewhere to learn it fast. He was already a Web2 developer, and the pull was curiosity as much as career: “I’m a man of exploration. I like to explore”, and “I’ve touched so many areas on the web, and Web3 was like still like a mystery to me”.

His case for the technology is about who gets to run things. It is “a way of decentralizing things, making things free for everybody to do things”, so that “everybody can now be their own boss”, their own server, their own computer. His verdict is short: “it’s the next wave, it’s the future.”

The sharpest passage is what the course did to his confidence. “Web3 is very, very exhilarating. It kind of makes you think about your whole stack”, he says, and then the line the tape turns on: “I came here 4 months ago thinking I was good. But then I got here and you broke me down to pieces and then built me up.” He says every developer should go through it.

The evidence he offers is his own year. “my whole experience in the Web3 space started January”, he says. “I came here not knowing anything, and right now I’ve built 2 products like in the Web3 space currently in testing, and that’s like a big win for me.”

What he wants next is a position rather than a job. He has been programming since he was younger, but “I always wanted to be part of the founding guys”, not the person “always coming back from the back”. He talks about “changing the whole scope of things”, building the knowledge base and moving the ecosystem along.

His advice to anyone thinking about applying takes one line: “just pack his bags and come. It’s a great experience.” Then the case for the building itself, made in an inventory: “Give you beds. There’s lights 24/7. There’s data.” What, he asks, are you doing at home.

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Who speaks, by their own introduction on the tape: Ayodeji Awosika at 0:26, Alon Joseph at 1:13. Transcribed from the original audio and corrected for names. Search every transcript →

These are the speaker’s own words. We have not checked their claims.

0:00Yeah. Um, my whole experience in the web 3 space started January. I mean, I was not the web 3 space at all. So, I came here not knowing anything. And right now, I have big super like on the web space currently in like a big win for me. Hello everyone, my name is Aayod Jawushika. I’m the founder at Bridge. For the last 5 and a half years, has been training amazing developers in Nigeria and in Africa. Trust me, Port 12 was amazing. We had 74 guys into the court, 39 guys from the court. They are intense. But then 13 is going to be bigger than this 12 because we had guys

0:47apply from Cameroon, from Togo, from Kenya, from Zimbabwe, from Uganda. And yes, Nigeria is not left out. Trust me, don’t want to miss the experience. Today, I’m chatting with Masio and his team at W the Media. They speaking with the guys that just finished from the course. Make sure you watch that. As we see here at W the Media in 3 2 1. Oh, yeah.

1:07What’s up, boss? So, can you introduce yourself? Tell us your name, where you’re from here in Nigeria, and your tribe. All right. My name is Alon Joseph, popularly known as Leo. I’m from Edo State, Nigeria. Uh, what else? What’s your tribe?

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1:20Yeah, I educate you. Yeah. And I’m curious to hear how did you find out about Web3 Bridge. I got to find out about Web3 Bridge with my brother. Um, so I was in school and my brother was like, “Yo, I was a web two developer.” So my brother was like, “Yo, come into web 3. It’s like the new web, you know, you need to learn about this stuff and there’s like a place where you can learn this practice.” Yeah.

1:42Nice. And why was this opportunity important to you that you came here? You know, you’ve been here now how long? Yeah, 4 months. Yeah. So, I I’ve been a guy like I’m a man of exploration. Like to explore too many years on the web and web three was like still like a mystery to me. So, I was like, let me learn this thing.

2:02Okay. And so, now why would you say you think web three or smart contracts are important? I mean it’s a it’s a it’s a way of um decentralizing things that’s making things free for everybody to um do things making things decentralized in the sense that everybody can now be their own boss can be their own server who can be their own um computer and do things themselves I mean it’s the next wave it’s the future

2:25why do you feel like uh other developers who haven’t yet entered into web 3 should explore this as an option uh web 3 is very very um accelerating It kind of makes you think about your old stack and your old knowledge. I mean, I came here 4 months ago thinking I was good, but then I got here and you broke it down to pieces and then beat me up. So, I feel it’s something that every developer should go for. It’s something I do.

2:51And so, you speak about being broken down and built back up really how would you explain your experience I guess with more detail of being a part of this cohort um in the community that that you were part of, you know, participated.

3:01Yeah. Um my whole experience in the web 3 space started January. I mean I was not the web 3 space at all. So I came here not knowing anything and right now I’ve bu like in the web 3 space currently in testing and that’s like a big win for me. So

3:20what are you looking to achieve moving forward? So yeah um you know I’m more of about um changing the whole scope of things. I always started learning programming while I was like a little younger but then I always wanted to be part of the founding guys. I don’t want to be the one learning always coming back from the back on the be part of the guys that are building and building and building the new things you know setting the old school and creating involving the ecosystem. It’s something I’ve always want to be a part of. I think that’s where I want to move towards too

3:49building my knowledge base moving forward and changing the ecosystem. That’s beautiful. And what would your advice be to someone thinking about applying to up three bridge?

4:00I would tell the person to just park his bags and come. It’s a great experience. You come here, you don’t have to cook. They give you beds. There’s lights 24/7. There’s data. What are you doing at Come here. Come here and just learn.

4:15And then one of the last things like to do is say booya in all of our interviews. How do you think we spell booyah at Wea Media? B O O Y E H. If that’s correct for me.

4:27Okay. Okay. Uh, okay. You want to count us down and we’ll say it? Three, two, one. Booyah.

That was the whole tape.

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