Transcribed and speaker-separated with AssemblyAI from the original audio, so nothing is masked. The letters are the model's speaker labels, not names; fillers are dropped by the model. Names corrected. Published in full so it can be read, searched and quoted. Search every transcript →
0:00AWhen you see people using smart contracts, you understand, I’ve come to discover that they use it in ways that you most times we feel is just based on what we were taught and all that. We feel it’s just based on money, the DeFi aspect and all that. But then you get to go deeper and deeper and you begin to see things like NFTs, DeSci, and the rest and the likes. Yeah.
0:23BSo.
0:33CHello everyone, my name is Ayodeji Awosika. I’m the founder at Web3 Bridge. For the last 5 and a half years, we have been training amazing developers in Nigeria and in Africa. Trust me, 412 was amazing. We had 74 guys into the course, 39 guys graduated from the course. They are intense. But then 413 is going to be bigger than this 412 course because here we’ve had guys apply from Cameroon, from Togo, from Kenya, from Zimbabwe, from Uganda. And yes, Nigeria is not left out. Trust me, you don’t want to miss the experience. Today I’m chilling with Matthew and his team at WeBe Media. They are speaking with the guys that just finished from the court. Make sure you watch that. As we say here at With the Media, in 3, 2, 1, whoo!
1:14BAll right, so how you do?
1:16AI do fine. What’s up now?
1:17BCan you introduce yourself to the audience?
1:19AOkay, my name is Joseph and I’m from Anambra State and I’m Igbo by tribe.
1:25BOkay, yeah. And how did you learn about Web3? Were you already a developer?
1:29AYes, I was already a developer. Stack JavaScript, Python. Yeah. So I got to know about Web3 from a friend, an ex-classmate, Oluchi by name. So she introduced me. She’s from the past court.
1:46BAnd what is your favorite memory out of being a part of this this 12 corporate Web3 bridge has?
1:50AOh oh I I have a lot of memories, like a lot of memories. It’s been both good bad. The good bad. the ugly, you know. So yeah, I can’t really like pinpoint one at the moment.
2:04BThat’s okay. Yeah, uh, how would you describe your experience to someone though?
2:08AOh, uh, I would say it is, um, mental draining. It’s, it will get you to think outside the box, think beyond what you, or how, like your patterned kind of thinking, you understand. You have to like widen out, so If you’re coming, you have to like be mentally prepared.
2:27BMakes sense. And how would you describe the, the role of the, of the community in your experience here?
2:33AThe, the whole community, uh, it’s, the community is vast.
2:39BYeah.
2:39ABut, um, you know, you start from somewhere.
2:41BYeah.
2:42AYou, you network. It starts actually from here, from the classmates and all that, meeting a lot of people. Then, um, Web3 Bridge gave us the opportunity to go for events. Yeah, and from there we network and meet several people, and yeah, it goes on from there.
2:58BAnd as this cohort just wrapped up, I’m curious, you know, what are your reflections on this experience and how you’ve seen yourself grow?
3:03AOh, okay, I, I have a lot. Like, first of all, there’s a lot more to learn, so this is not just where it stops. Yeah, more learning and learning and learning. And, um, yeah, right now we are actually like building something. I am 19, RaceTree and all that. RaceTree is an app, a dApp that connects investors to founders easily. So investors and founders, investors are always like, there’s this shortchange whereby they give grants or they give things to people like funds, they fund the startups and yeah, there’s nothing to show for it. There’s no gauge. So the app is trying to like bring in that limitation, you understand? through the milestone concept, you understand? So funds are being released based on milestones. Yeah. So that’s actually what we’re working on.
3:56BThat’s beautiful. And I guess another question I have is, I’m really curious, when you look at the problems you see smart contract developers solving, what gets you excited?
4:10AA lot gets me excited. I, I, I see smart contract as like a, a whole -- it’s, it’s something that is like very, very, very, um, I don’t know how to describe it, but when you see people using smart contracts, you understand, I’ve come to discover that they use it in ways that you most times we feel is just, um, based on what we were taught and all that. We feel it’s just based on money, the DeFi aspect and all that. But then you get to go deeper and deeper and you begin to see things like NFTs, DeSci, and the rest and the likes. Yeah.
4:52BAnd you mentioned like NFTs and DeSci. Is there like, I guess, a side of crypto that interests you the most?
4:58AThe side of crypto that interests me the most is the gaming aspect, although I’ve not like been able to like go fully into it because Mainly what we like based on here is actually the DeFi aspect, how to make sure that, um, your funds are secure. You write smart contracts that are, um, that’s, that are like security-proof, you understand?
5:22BYeah.
5:22AAnd yeah, there will be no stories of, oh, you know, based on the whole hackings and all that going on, you understand? But I hope to -- I’ve actually like explored Aavegotchi because we -- I was given a contract to review Abegochi’s Alchemical Facets. So I’ve actually like reviewed some things about it and I’m hoping to like do more exploration on that. Yeah.
5:46BAnd I know you all have attended some events throughout the cohort. I’m curious, what’s your perspective on what the adoption and general degree to which people know about crypto here in Nigeria?
5:55AOkay, I think it’s going to take a lot of time. It’s not something that will like happen ones. Because, um, one thing I understand about the Web3 space and all that, it is because it’s that, um, the terms being used, you understand, it sounds new to the layman, sounds very, very, very, very entirely different, you understand. So it would take a lot of time. I feel we need like more, uh, it’s not like we should stop building, but I feel there should be like more education, you understand, more, um, What’s the word? You know, to sensitize the community, sensitize people, not just stay at the top layer, go deep, go to the markets, like penetrate and actually like teach people to understand this thing so that they will not just think that oh the Web3 and crypto space ends in tap tap tap tap tap. I mean the tap swap. No offense.
6:48BYeah. I got that best though. I think it’s definitely important for people to go beyond the tap, tap, tap. I agree. Yeah. And I’m really excited to bring this kind of content to people because I feel like most African Americans in the US don’t really have a deep knowledge of crypto, let alone even if they can tap to make money. And so hopefully people hear stories like yours, perspectives like your own, and feel compelled to learn more, to get more involved. Of course. And be builders, be investors, be people who are supporting people like yourself, thinking about what the future of the landscape looks like. My final question. All right. We like to say booyah on our content. I’m curious, how do you think we spell booyah here at We Them Media?
7:21AOkay, B-O-O-Y-A-H. Then I’ll just add the exclamation, you know, that’s for the fact that you always like, yeah, say it out loud.
7:32BYeah, I like that, I like that. Nice touch. Okay, exclamation point. That might be the, the, the part you got right. No, but you want to count us down so we can say it?
7:39AAll right, all right, in 3, 2, 1.
7:42BBooyah!
