I just sat there in traffic, wishing I could just swap or thumb an app on my Tecno android device and instantly appear at the app summit in Eko Hotels and suites. But this I knew wasn’t possible. Not just yet, maybe in a distant and unforeseen future i guess.

Why had no one thought about that, no one down here (Nigeria) I mean, because I know the westerners whom I like to call the ‘master juju-ists’ definitely will shock us some time soon. Won’t it save us all the hassle and ruffle of driving our cars or entering public transportation? Traffic in my city Lagos is mean. I tweeted yesterday that living in Lagos State is not for the lean, weak or feeble hearted. The gargantuan stress the city people go through is a chief tranquilizer and always something worth mailing abroad about. The same stress I underwent on my way to the Nigerian Apps Summit a couple of days ago.

I mean, this idea of jumping, teleporting, disappearing here and appearing elsewhere precluded with all other possibilities could be conceived properly, developed and converted into an app of which all laws governing it would be fully stated, and its modus operandi explained to save the world and my people (Nigerians) the thought of it being a diabolical something.

I mean explain to me why I pick up a plastic or metallic casing with over a thousand electronic components and wires in it, thumb some digits, place it to my ear and get to hear the voice of a friend or loved one who is thousands of miles away? Explain to me why I sit on my sitting room cushion; thumb another casing with electrons while aiming it at a big black almost flat slab with a glass surface and end up being in control of turning it on, and switching plays of events happening at locations thousands of miles away and then switching it off. Explain to me why this does not sound or looks like a juju something. It’s simple; the sweetness of the yam is in its pudding just as these are in their explanations. Let me end this here.

One can never predict the traffic in my city, Lagos. I’ve lived here for more than 22 years now, and many a time I still fall victim after undermining or miss-predicting it. The same happened on that ‘appful’ Tuesday morning, caught in the middle of it all, the combined sense of decay and vitality, the suffocating, exhaust-spewing traffic, the congestion, the noise, the dust, the bumper to fender, the shouts and abuses, Lagos my city is wonderful and always exhilarating.

While sitting it out and waiting in the drag and draw, I felt the need to catch up on the summit via twitter timelines or a hash-tag. I searched and all I found were just tweets a couple of days old, of which like three to four of them were mine. One was from my blog feed where I earlier pondered on what to expect at the summit. I didn’t find what I was looking for, why? Why were people not tweeting about the app summit? This was my second disappointment. The traffic that held me captive was my first.

Many weeks back I was at the Ted-talks, Tedx Lagos held at the Oriental hotels, and trust me the on a mare search of Tedx or Tedxlagos, one sees live tweets from the event. Tedxlagos (official handle for the event), Spectraspeaks, Aimlegend_ among many other digital culture and tech savvy-ists made sure one didn’t miss a thing if one wasn’t there live. Now here is my question, where were these people on the day of the app summit? Judging by the details of the event from the eventbrite website, I predicted the event would be massive and the twitter timelines streaming with live tweets and remarks. My heart danced all the while I anticipated the very day, pity I anticipated too much.

I got to the venue after losing an hour plus, the sits, the stage, well-arranged, ok, a shiny glass, bottled water, notepad and pen carefully placed for every sitter, ok. What else marveled me; yes the combination of the architectural design of the ceiling of the hall, the walls, and the female ushers both evoked for me something valiant and beautiful, like the Pre-Raphaelite frontispiece showing Helen of Troy in my Children’s Book of Iliad, which I’d owned once upon a time. Above all, the insights from the speakers (which I shall detail in another post) were illuminating thereafter although I must say that judging from how much Ben Lazarus connected with the Nigerian audience at the last Ted-talks in Lagos, I felt the white speakers would have to take a lesson or two from him.

Elo Umeh CEO of Terragon Group and Twine’s speech, slides and infographics on Nigerian apps usage was really on point. I would have loved to share that with you but I’m yet to get the slide although I’ve posted a request for it. Hopefully it’ll be in my next post ‘post ‘Excerpts and Talks from the Nigeria Apps Summit’.

Why the event which was proudly sponsored by Etisalat wasn’t louded much, beats my imagination for were it to be a musical event, fun-fest, comedy show, it’ll have gathered more dust. Or was it that the time of the event just didn’t go well with the digi-culture and Tech Savvy-ists who couldn’t be there? Maybe that was the case. Yet thinking about the Tedtalks which was a huge hit makes me suggest the organizers would have to do more publicity next time. Again judging from the details of the event as it was listed on an event website I expected an apps display or showcase as I was hoping to learn more about the Nigerians who think they are crazy enough to try to change the world.

Lastly I must say that my country people always live up to expectation as many left after the networking and refreshment session. More than 65% of them, although while during this time a couple of execs I met jokingly confessed that they were there just for the food and one was a bit dissapointed that it wasn’t heavy food but mere Coffee, Juice and Sandwich.

- See more at: http://thebusinessaim.com/my-thoughts-and-deductions-on-the-just-concluded-nigeria-app-summit/#sthash.bo8G7pim.dpuf