You are welcome to Oba Adeyemi Oluwasegun's Blog.

One of the most powerful lessons about life is hidden in a simple game of chess. On the chessboard, the pawn is often the least noticed piece. It moves slowly, has limited power, and is usually the first piece people are willing to sacrifice. Yet, there is something remarkable about the pawn. If it survives the journey, overcomes the obstacles in its path, and reaches the other side of the board, it transforms into a queen, the most powerful piece in the game. That is where the saying comes from: "It takes time to become a queen from a pawn." The statement is a reminder that greatness is a process. Nobody starts at the top. Every successful leader, entrepreneur, professional, athlete, or statesman was once a beginner. Before the recognition came the preparation. Before the influence came the sacrifice. Before the applause came the struggle. Unfortunately, we live in a world that celebrates the queen but rarely pays attention to the journey of the pawn. We admire s...

There are some experiences that quietly reshape the way we think about leadership, teamwork, and growth. Recently, I participated in an onboarding program, and while many may see onboarding as just another corporate routine filled with presentations, introductions, and policy sessions, I left with something far more valuable, a deeper understanding of what truly sustains great organizations. As I reflected on the experience, three words kept replaying in my mind: Competence. Culture. Collaboration. At first glance, competence and collaboration seem to be the most obvious ingredients of success in any workplace. Competence is the ability to deliver results, solve problems, and perform effectively. Collaboration is the ability to work with others towards a common goal. These are visible qualities. They are easy to identify, easy to measure, and often the first things organizations look for. But during the onboarding process, I realized there is another factor, one less visibl...

There comes a point in life where you stop explaining your pace, your silence, and your decisions to everyone around you.  Not because you have changed for the worse, but because you have finally matured into someone who understands that not every season needs an audience. Don’t confuse my ambition for desertion. There are moments when stepping back looks like walking away. Friends start asking, “Why are you no longer around?” Colleagues wonder why you have gone quiet in group chats. Even family may think something is wrong because you are no longer as available as before. But what they don’t see is that you are not disappearing, you are repositioning. Think about the student who suddenly reduces outings, stops attending every event, and spends long nights studying. To others, it looks like isolation. But months later, results come out, and the same people understand. Or the entrepreneur who goes off the radar. No more frequent posts, no more constant updates. People as...

For years, many people move through life trying to be liked or respected. You soften your edges, adjust your tone, and listen closely to what people say about you. You enter different rooms and, without realizing it, become slightly different versions of yourself, just to fit, just to be accepted. But over time, one thing becomes clear: the admiration , the resentment , even the criticism you receive is rarely about you as a person. It is often about what you represent to others, their fears, their expectations, their insecurities, or even their own limitations. This is where many get it wrong. In trying to gain approval, they lose consistency. They begin to shape themselves based on reactions, not on values. And in doing so, they attract people who connect with a version of them that isn’t real. They wait for consensus that never comes, and end up surrounded by people who think they know them, but don’t truly understand them. Now, place this beside what we see in politics...

I was honoured to join Value Female Network Africa’s Women-Empowerment Safety Programme as a facilitator for master-artisans from two local government areas in Ekiti State. The programme’s aim—to equip master trainers who will then step the training down to girls and young women learning a trade—felt especially powerful. In two sessions I led, I explored what information and communication technology (ICT) and innovation mean for artisans today, and how those same technologies can be used to facilitate gender-based violence (GBV). My goal was practical and person-centred: to give master-trainers clear, everyday language and usable strategies they can pass on to apprentices so that learning a trade becomes not only economically empowering but also digitally safe. I began by framing ICT and innovation in a way that connects directly with craft and apprenticeship. Technology is not an abstract concept meant only for programmers; it is a set of tools — phones, messaging apps, s...

There is something about the way I was raised that made caring come naturally to me. I grew up believing that life’s true measure isn’t in what you have, but in what you give. Over the years, that belief shaped how I relate with people, family, friends, even strangers. I have always been the one who wants to see others smile, even if it costs me my own comfort. It’s not an exaggeration to say I could give my last kobo to someone in need. I have done it before, too many times to count. Someone calls, someone cries, someone explains how bad things are, and even if I don’t have much, I’ll find a way to make something happen. Sometimes it’s not even because I have plenty, but because I can’t stand the thought of someone I care about suffering while I still have something left. But here’s the part I never used to talk about, the flip side of that generous heart. Because while I have built a reputation for being kind and dependable, I have also learned that caring without control...