2025 in Review

I recently had a conversation with my sister where she pointed out that I wasn't really living my life.

If we'd had any meaningful conversation that lasted more than ten minutes at any point this year, I am fairly certain I would have said something along the lines of feeling stuck in limbo, waiting for life to properly begin.

I started 2025 hopeful about many things that didn't eventually work out. Sitting here now, thinking back to how I felt then, what I remember most clearly is the hope itself. Hope matters. That childlike excitement is something you should never lose. I always want to be hopeful for a future - the future. I must keep hope alive, for without hope I become satisfied [derogatory]

My favourite book this year was The Message by Ta-Nehisi Coates. I told my sister that I don't usually remember the content of books I read leisurely and don't study - but I remember how they made me feel at the time. The first essay in The Message talks about writers and how good writing should haunt the reader. That book - and that essay in particular - haunted me.

There was an essay in The Message about the Middle East conflict that forced me to sit with some discomfort. It made me realise I need to rethink, or at least challenge, parts of my belief system. Notice how I instinctively say "Middle East conflict" instead of something more politically loaded like "Palestinian genocide" or "Israeli war against Hamas." That alone tells me there's work to be done. I intend to refine my beliefs and evaluate my values more honestly in the coming year.

My energy is finite. This year, I picked my battles and directed it more carefully.

I started a project, Stride markets - a prediction market similar to Polymarket or Kalshi, but with localized African context.

It was a success.

We crossed 5,000 users and processed around ₦100m in transaction volume. That period was one of the most exciting parts of my year. Running Stride was hectic, stressful, chaotic - and I loved it. Watching it grow as fast as it did was thrilling.

Eventually, though, we needed external funding. Up until that point, I had been funding the project myself, and we weren't profitable. I didn't secure venture funding, and I made the decision to pause operations.

I'll be honest: I didn't try as hard as I could have. Part of me had doubts about the business model, and I didn't want to force something I wasn't fully convinced about. Maybe I restart Stride next year, maybe I don't. We'll see. In the meantime, the parent company has a few things in the pipeline that I'm genuinely excited about.

Outside of Stride, I built a lot this year. Some things shipped, some didn't. Stride. Searchlytics. Zyg. Zlate. A graveyard of experiments and a handful of wins. But I must keep going, I must keep building.

Lately, I've had this persistent feeling that I let some people down. That I could have done better at advocating for the people I love, at showing up more consistently. Maybe this is my saviour complex talking - I don't know yet. I hope I understand this feeling better in 2026. What I do know is that I want to be dependable when it truly matters, especially for the people I care about.

I'm bad at friendships. I'm bad at checking in, following up, doing the maintenance work. I'm not even sure this is something I want to radically change next year - but at least I'm self-aware enough to admit it.

I'm intense. A little too obsessed. I don't plan on losing that obsession, but I do need to hone it - to channel it into the things that actually matter.

I relearned an important lesson from my 9–5 this year: at the end of the day, it's just a job. Not a family. Not a mission. Not a group of friends pursuing some grand collective goal. Just a job - and it should be treated as such.

As part of this whole "living" thing, I got into wine. I might even take a WSET qualification, which feels ridiculous and perfect at the same time. I want to play more tennis. More squash. I want to learn how to swim.

I got my first car this year. I think that counts. It's exciting and incredibly convenient. You should probably get one too. While you're at it, get a Starlink. Get a good notepad. Buy comfortable tennis shoes. The best pizza in Abuja is the frozen one from Dunes. If you're a programmer, use Claude Code. If you have a lot of meetings, use Granola.

I'm willing to bet you don't use AI half as much as I do — and I don't use it half as much as I should. This is one of the most important technologies we've seen since the internet. Ignore it at your own risk.

I want to read more long-form work next year - books, essays, things that require patience. I want to debate more. To sharpen my thinking through conversation, not just solitude.

It was a rough year. But it was an important one.

I'm grateful. Grateful to Jesus Christ - without whom I am nothing. To my sister, Tosin, who challenges me. To my parents, who inspire me - I genuinely think my dad is the greatest man I know, and I aspire to be the man he is. To Iko, my girlfriend. To everyone who read the internal Stride memos and gave thoughtful feedback. And to you, if you're reading this. Let's talk more next year.

And folks, remember like Winston Churchill said - Never give in. Never give in. Never, never, never, never - in nothing, great or small, large or petty - never give in, except to convictions of honour and good sense. Never yield to force; never yield to the apparently overwhelming might of the enemy.