Chika Uwazie recently shared a deeply personal post on Instagram about her decision to leave a comfortable life in Washington, DC, for the uncertainty of building in Lagos. What she wrote resonates with anyone who has ever felt trapped in stability while longing for purpose.
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She had everything society says defines success: a six-figure job, a degree from Georgetown, and big tech clients. On paper, it was the “American dream.” Yet, beneath the polished surface, there was restlessness. Each placement felt like moving chess pieces on someone else’s board. Each metric measured someone else’s vision. And each Sunday night came with dread.
A short trip to Lagos shifted everything. What was supposed to be a two-week vacation exposed her to an ecosystem alive with grit and possibility. Founders were building payment solutions for the unbanked. Developers coded through power cuts. Entrepreneurs tackled problems Silicon Valley had never even imagined. They weren’t waiting for perfect conditions; they were creating with what they had.
Back in DC, the contrast became unbearable. Her office felt like a cage, her salary like golden handcuffs, her career path like slow death. So she made what looked like an insane choice: quit, pack up, and move to Lagos with nothing but conviction.
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The transition was not romantic. Investor calls cut short by power outages, demos ruined by poor internet, and the reality of “Nigerian time.” Yet, within the chaos, she saw resilience. Founders bootstrapping million-dollar businesses. Innovation born from necessity, not convenience. People turning obstacles into blueprints.
And that’s when the real lesson came:
- Comfort kills creativity.
- Constraints fuel clarity.
- Limited resources force focus.
- Purpose outshines predictability.
What Lagos taught her is that survival itself can be the KPI, and that hunger for impact is worth more than a comfortable cage.
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Three years later, she’s built Afropolitan into something real. Not because Lagos made it easy, but because Lagos made it honest. Her post ended with a reminder to anyone sitting in their “comfortable cage”: that restless feeling you can’t shake isn’t ingratitude; It’s growth knocking. Sometimes the bigger risk isn’t leaving. It’s staying.
Featured Image Source: Tech Women Lagos
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