COMMUNITY CELEBRATION: HIVE-NAIJA

Hiv-Naija is a community on the hive blockchain created by @belemo about a year ago. The goal of the community/project is to create a safe space for Nigerians in the hive community to engage and share ideas. Also, we have been keen on improving the user retention on hive by providing relevant information for newbies (mainly from Nigeria) on hive the ecosystem. Currently, we have 217 members on our telegram channel (which is our most active platform), and 251 members on discord.

When I was invited to be one of the moderators of the community I was skeptical. In the past, I have had a bad experience dealing with African/Nigerian communities, so I did not want relive that experience. Secondly, I did not want to take on any responsibility. Having been on the chain for quite some time and seeing projects come and go, I did not want a failed project attached to my name, which is why I never really played an active role in the community until a couple of months ago.

What Changed?

I noticed that there are many Nigerians on the hive blockchain, both old and new, however, we have been unable to coordinate/collaborate which has led to our poor representation on the chain. Also, many individuals who were joining the chain from Nigeria did not have a community support system to help them through their early stages on hive. I know how critical that was for me when I got started here, so I decided to afford people the same opportunity.

So I reached out to a couple of major stakeholders from Nigeria. Unfortunately, my vision did not resonate with most of them, which I must confess was quite disappointing, but I then understand people have other priorities and agendas, so I wasn't swayed. I got @young-boss-karin to join me in the administration of the community and she has, so far, exceeded my expectation.

We kick-started our weekly prompt which has gained traction over months (thanks to @young-boss-karin who manages the initiative). we also grow our telegram channel from 0 to 217 members, have had numerous classes/tutorials for newbies (some of which have become active members on the hive blockchain), coupled with our weekly live meetings on telegram. We have also been able to host two meet-ups during this timeframe.

I feel very proud of the community and how far we've been able to come in a short well. There have been challenging times but we've been able to make it work and I want to use this opportunity to thank everyone who has contributed meaningfully to this project. we wouldn't have come this far without you.

I have a lot of big plans for the community in the long run, and I hope I can achieve the goals with the help of the community. One of my major goals is to raise more leaders in the community and come up with good initiatives to grow the hive-Naija community and hive.

For Nigerians on hive that will love to join our community, kindly join us on telegram (we also have a discord channel). We host a weekly live session on Sunday at 7:00 pm (WAT). We also have an active Twitter account you can follow, as we are looking to expand our reach outside the hive blockchain.