“Trust the process…”
This is what I repeat to myself every single day. I say it when my alarm goes off in the cold morning, I say it when my legs feel too heavy to move, and I say it when the weight of my life feels like it’s about to crush me.
My name is Abisuga Gbolahan. I am a 300-level Law student at the University of Lagos (UNILAG). To my classmates, I am the guy always buried under thick law textbooks at the Law Student Library. But the moment I step outside those library walls, I carry a hidden double life.
For the past four years, I have been living in the fast-paced, high-stakes trenches of tech growth marketing. Right now, I juggle the heavy demands of my law faculty with my role as a Marketing Advisor for fast-growing startups.
If you look at my CV, it looks clean and shiny. It shows that I started out writing content at Boomplay when I was just 16.
It shows that I helped lead a massive partnership campaign for MiniPay by Opera Mini that grew daily transactions by 50%. It shows internships, marketing strategies, and data metrics.
But a CV never tells the whole truth. It doesn’t show the tears. It doesn’t show the exhaustion.
The honest truth is that this 16-hour daily journey is incredibly difficult. My day starts sharply at 7:00 AM. As soon as I wake up, I have my prayers, check in on my siblings and parents, have my bath, prepare my breakfast, schedule my tasks for the day, reply to urgent emails and messages.
By 8:30 AM, I am on my way to school, prepping my mind for the intense environment of the UNILAG law faculty.
Once I am on campus, my morning and early afternoon are swallowed entirely by the legal world. I am sitting through hours of lectures, taking detailed notes on case laws, and engaging in legal and fun discussion with my friends.
When lectures wrap up, my steps lead me straight to the Law Student Library. I spend a majority of my time there, surrounded by heavy silence and stacks of textbooks, trying to keep my academic grades at a top-tier level.
But my brain can never completely shut off the tech side. While analyzing law cases in the library, a notification will pop up on my phone about a live campaign.
By late afternoon, I am shutting the textbooks and rushing down to Nithub on campus for a scheduled presentation or a high-level video meeting with tech founders who are looking for Silicon Valley-level scaling strategies.
Shifting my brain from rigid legal definitions to fluid, creative marketing frameworks in a matter of minutes is mentally exhausting.
By the time the school day ends and I head back home, most people are winding down but my second workday is just beginning. I log back into my laptop to dive into the digital growth trenches.
There are nights I sit in the dark until the early hours of the morning, balancing marketing budgets, tracking user retention statistics for international companies, and drafting campaign proposals.
The anxiety of keeping up my academic standing while executing global tech campaigns can be terrifying. I sleep late, knowing I have to wake up at 7:00 AM and do it all over again. I am human, and sometimes, the sheer pressure makes me want to scream.
But in those weak moments, I find my strength in something much bigger than myself. My relationship with God is the absolute center of my life.
Without Him, I would have broken down a long time ago. Every morning before the chaos starts at 7:00 AM, and every night when the noise dies down, I pray.
I hand over my worries, my exhaustion, and my dreams to Him. My faith gives me a quiet peace that a tech career or a good grade can never give me. It reminds me that my steps are ordered and that I am never truly walking alone.
To survive the heat, I have learned the value of slowing down. You cannot run a 16-hour day without finding spaces to breathe. When the pressure in the library gets too high, I shut the books.
I relax by playing a game of chess with a friend, it’s a quiet place where I can focus my mind purely on the board.
On other days, nothing beats the simple joy of listening to good music or just sitting down to gist and laugh with my close friends about nothing in particular. Those small, human moments keep me sane.
Whenever I get the opportunity to connect with established CEOs, startup leaders, or respected industry figures, I am always reminded of a powerful concept popularized by the legendary African business leader, Tony Elumelu:
“Africapitalism; the idea that the African private sector has the power to transform this continent through long-term investments, creating both economic prosperity and social wealth.”
When I look ahead, my heart beats with massive excitement for the future. I am not doing all of this just to get a job or build a nice portfolio. I am doing this because I am on a mission to build a venture that will change how businesses across Africa make seamless cross-border payments.
I want to use my unique blend of legal precision and growth marketing to become an active builder, an investor, and a philanthropist who lifts others up.
So, to every young person reading this who is currently struggling, tired, or doubting their journey: please, do not give up.
The late-night tears, the difficult balances, and the silent sacrifices are all part of the story you will tell tomorrow. Keep your eyes on God, find time to laugh with the people who love you, and remember to trust the process.
