Obasanjo’s Internet – Fu’ad Lawal

Did you know that there are approximately 4.66 billion active internet users worldwide? Can you imagine all the different ways in which we all use the internet? Obasanjo’s Internet is our interview series where we speak to some of our internet favourites on how they relate to the internet and what it means to them and their work. This week, Writer, Fu’ad Lawal talks to us about how he uses Obasanjo’s Internet. 

What’s the first thing you do when you wake up?

It depends on which of the ‘wakings’. On an ideal day, I wake up twice; the first is a few minutes before 6am. That’s how I know I’m off to a good day. The first thing I do is check on my phone, then I go to the bathroom, after which I have ablution and pray. 

The part I miss most about my mornings is going to the gym. For a few months, my routine included going to the gym every morning. By the time I got back to my desk at like 9 a.m., I’d have been to the gym and back, showered. I just felt like there was nothing the day would bring that I wouldn’t be able to take on. 

How do you use the internet for work or pleasure?

I use it to live. A few years ago when I was a reporter, I told one of my colleagues who used to work on a Tech Desk that the idea of a technology column is going to die in a few years, because it will fold into lifestyle. When you think about the Apple event, ask yourself if it was a technology event or a lifestyle event. They were talking about the environment, how their technology is helping people live more quality lives, get care, and all of that. 

When I think of the internet, I don’t think of it as a destination, I think of it as augmenting my life. So it is not work, it is not pleasure, it is life. If I want to run through my day in technology, it probably starts while I am sleeping. I sleep with my watch so one of the first things I also do when I wake up is check my watch to see how many hours I slept. When I get out of bed, I check my phone – God punish WhatsApp – but that’s where I go to see if I have any messages, and check that nobody died overnight. Sorry for the morbid analogies but Mohbad just died and I was a stan. Then I get to my desk and check my to-do list, where I track household tasks and everything I need to remember. 

What moment or episode in your life would you say captured the essence of the internet?

Oh, yeah, I know this exact moment. One Saturday night in the early 2010s, I borrowed my brother’s laptop and I opened every job site I could find, looking for jobs around what I studied. I found like two across all the job sites and the highest paying one was 30k. For years prior to that evening, my friends had been telling me “Oh Fu’ad you can write. Wow. Wow”. I mean, when I think about what they were reading and complimenting, I know that they are all filthy liars but their lies kept me deluded enough to be like “you know what, shebi my friends say I can write, let me look for writing jobs.” I saw that there were actually jobs I could do as a writer. Everything I have accomplished since then, I don’t know what it would have looked like if I did not have the internet. I’d say that was a major plot point for me, just discovering there’s this entire world where I can work on the internet, get paid and just make a life out of it. That’s why I don’t tolerate a lot of internet disrespect generally. I think the internet has always been a net positive for society. Always.

Your favourite social media platform and why?

I don’t know if it’s my favorite, but I know I open Twitter every day, like the rest of us. I open Twitter and WhatsApp every day. I think of WhatsApp as a social network too. But my favorite niche social media platform is actually Pocket. Pocket is where I find stuff to read. It’s my ultimate discovery platform for interesting quirky stories across the internet.

What was the last meme you saved?

It’s interesting because now that I think about it, memes have actually changed. if you asked me three years ago, I’d say, “oh, yeah, one random Akin and Paw Paw meme” or something. But now it’s actually stickers. I’m very proud of my sticker collection.

Do you remember the first time something you posted went viral? What was it? How did it make you feel

Virality is so interesting because even my perception of virality has changed over the years. 

I’d say the very first thing I published that went viral was a few years ago. I used to do this thing during Ramadan, where I’d anonymously write daily short blurbs which ended up being shared widely. A big part of why I didn’t include my name was because I was just sharing my thoughts and I didn’t want anyone to wake up in the morning and be like “Wow wow Fu’ad Mashallah, Fu’ad” I just used to see those blurbs all over WhatsApp and everywhere. You know what being Muslim is like during Ramadan, everybody is charged. So posters are just spreading. And I’m like “eh God and I’m this horrible person”. I felt guilty because I am not as sensible as people think I am. Like after Ramadan, I’m going to try my best but I’ll probably end up being a nuisance again. 

The time I went viral because of my writing was when I wrote about danfo (commercial buses). It was that era on the internet where people just picked random shit saying 5 lessons you can take from” random everyday things in Lagos. I think mine was “5 business lessons you can learn from danfo riders” or something. And people were like “Wow wow so creative”. I was like “Oh people think I have interesting ideas? What are other interesting, quirky ways to try stuff like this?” So I just doubled down.

What’s the most outrage you have ever generated over something you posted? How did you react to it?

I’m actually a very unproblematic person on the internet. I imagine we all occasionally post stupid things. I’d say this was a very stupid one cause I was just being petty. I really like Rihanna so this was just bants. One day I was like “Rihanna sef, It’s not as if diamonds even shine. Diamonds reflect”. It was just petty, right? But it was the very early days of Twitter, early 2010 when Rihanna Navy was still very dedicated. Oh my god. God of mercy. Omo it was not funny o. Since then, I’ve been in my lane.

What rules do you live by on the internet?

Like I said, I no dey find trouble. I also don’t feel very pressed to engage with trends. I genuinely don’t feel like I am missing out by keeping quiet. Yeah, there’s a downside. The downside is that there is a lot more I could be sharing from my experiences that might be useful to people. But sometimes I type and I just say “who asked you?” then delete it.

From a financial standpoint, the single highest return on the internet – as much as I hate to admit it – is building social capital. It is such a force multiplier. You build social capital and you can monetize the hell out of it. You can use it to drive impact in ways that you can’t even imagine. Having clout on the internet is the attention equivalent of being rich in real life. So even though there are things people do on the internet are very, very cringey. I’m like “what?” This is not unethical, this is not hurting anybody, or innately stupid.  Carry on and go on.

What is your guiltiest online pleasure?

God of mercy. I’m going to say this, wow. Occasionally, I check out all the people reading my shit. The bulk of my writing is currently happening on Vistanium. So I’m always searching for who posted, who published or who’s searching. Like “wow so nobody has read this thing since. Nonsense” I think I’m coming to terms, and to a place of full admission where I actually get validation. Like, oh, people like it enough to share it. When they share it, I’m thankful. 

That’s how audience capture starts. Next thing you know, they’ll tell me to start eating frogs, and because of shares, I’ll eat frogs. 

Would you say you have an online persona?

No, I don’t actually. I think everyone who knows me on the internet knows I’m just about the same in real life. The way I tweet is the way I send emails and the way I talk in real life. 

I think the only thing I do less of on the internet is say “fuck” in between every ten words. I don’t swear as much on the internet. What if my helper sees me swearing and is like “Wo, this person has money so let me leave him”.  Words in real life are quite fleeting but on the internet, they are permanent. 

What’s your favorite emoji and why?

It’s the skull emoji. Everybody is tired. Once I’m blank it’s just like *dead*. After the skull emoji is the moon face. 

Are you particular about your feed?

I think one of my great insecurities of adulthood is living in a bubble. I have a very diverse feed. I might not propagate some of the things they say, but I am paying attention. My general opinion about perspectives that we disagree with is that; the answer is not isolation. I have never seen a scenario in human history where an idea, a demographic, or a system that was isolated did not somehow grow in strength in the dark. For example, let me use a real jungle-world scenario. For a long time, Boko Haram was always thought of as “those people’s” problems until it started to hit the fringes and there were bombs in Abuja. Suddenly everyone was going crazy. It tends to start from just saying “oh let’s ignore those people”.

On the internet now people dismiss incels, but those ideas just continue to grow stronger without any rigorous engagement. It’s so important to me that I have a TL that gives me a scope of what is actually happening in the world. I know if I don’t want to engage with that world, I just close Twitter. I follow a lot of people who I will probably not stand in real life. They have to be extremely harmful for me to not follow.

YouTube or TikTok? Which do you prefer and why?

God, I’m afraid of saying this because I tell everybody I’m Gen Z, and I’m really Gen Z, but I am a YouTube guy. YouTube is more enjoyable for long-form content but then TikTok is crack. I think Instagram reel even occupies the space TikTok should occupy in my life. TikTok is for content, but Instagram is for my real-world connections. So if you’re sharing a funny video with me, you’re most likely doing so on Instagram. I’ll always go there and laugh, so that you keep sending me more

Which Nigerian creator do you think the world needs to see and hear more of?

Omo they are plenty o. I follow a lot. I’d say Korty, the world is seeing and hearing more of her. I think she’s one of the fastest-growing YouTubers who did not have a massive following elsewhere. 

I’d also say Tayo Aina. I tend to have a difference of opinion about his editorial approach sometimes but I like that he exists. His perspectives, understandably, are occasionally stressful but most people who share their thoughts long enough have stressful opinions. Long shalaye aside, I’d say Korty, Tayo, Fisayo, Taymesan. The world has seen FK and Jola, I guess the world should see more.

Salem! It’s funny because it took me a while to come around to Salem because I generally have trust issues when people lecture me on the internet.  But I’d say I have a lot of respect for two things. First of all, he’s actually just trying his best, and his best has been impressive so far. The second thing is his consistency. 

Then there are the people the world doesn’t know yet – I mean, this is meritocratic nepotism – but there’s Nana, who has spent a few years grinding it out and just making stuff at the highest level, for the highest people. And now she’s trying to explore making stuff for herself. Excited to see how that goes for her. To be honest, there’s also the bias of everybody who is doing something in Vistanium. For example, Ope Adedeji is going to publish a book in our lifetime, within the next five years – I’m putting her on blast. Everybody whose name is inside Visatnium. Give or take 2 years, the world would have seen and heard more about them. 

Who is the coolest person you follow and the coolest person who follows you?

Omo I don’t know. I’m not going to lie, I follow a lot of cool people and a lot of cool people follow me. 

What is your favourite Nigerian podcast?

I’m trying to avoid meritocratic nepotism, but I tend to lean more towards narrative podcasts. So primarily there is I like girls, Nana’s podcast. But apart from that, I like Tea with Tay mostly because he gets his interviewees to trust him. Taymesan has what it takes to become the best interviewer of this continent. It’s interesting because you can take a guest and compare their interviews in other places with their interviews with Taymesan. You see that the way they speak on Taymesan’s podcast is different. They genuinely sit on that couch and feel safe. I think that is one of the critical elements of good interviewing. The subjects feel like he respects them. He says things that indicate that he respects that the person has taken out time to come and speak to him.

Podcasts I listen to for the culture, not as consistently as the ones above is I Said, What I Said and Submarine And A Roach. I don’t listen as consistently because I generally struggle with podcasts where people talk over themselves. 

Have you ever hooked up with someone you met online?

Ahhh do you realize I’m married? Are you trying to send me back to my father’s house? Alakoba. It’s weird right? Is it that I’d just see their handle and say “Hi I like your handle, sare wa gba?”

I actually have not. I met my wife on the Internet though, but wasn’t a hook up. 

5 people you’d love to see answer these questions 

I’d like to see one of my guys, Ted, he’s currently the VP of innovation at Flutterwave. Mostly because he has basically been at the forefront of seeing how payments evolve on the internet. You are going to make a payment this week because of the technology he has built so I’d like to see his perspective on the Internet. 

There is Nana, I’d like to see Ruka. Nenye and Ezra.