33. The Spring Is Not Forever
Let me share three short reflections.
If I hadn’t studied Engineering, perhaps I would have ended up in physics or economics. One of the laws that has always stayed with me in the fast-paced world of chips and semiconductors is Moore’s Law. Gordon Moore, Intel’s founder, observed that the number of transistors on a chip doubled roughly every two years while the cost of computing fell. In 1975, he revised it to once every two years. No thesis, no grand theory — just an observation. Yet this simple idea explains why we no longer carry mainframes the size of a room as a computer. The Economist once put it best: “In the past 50 years, processors have come to operate tens of thousands of times faster, and store a million times more data in the same area. The cost of a transistor has also fallen by a factor of a billion, making technology a global deflationary force.”
But even Moore’s Law has its limits. No matter how small transistors become — down to millionths of a degree — the shrinking process eventually came to an end. While this theory stood firm for over 40 years, many now argue that Moore’s Law is dead. Nvidia’s GPUs and new architectures show that progress will no longer follow that old rhythm. Nothing in life is permanent.
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I think back to my NYSC days in Benin. I reached out to Damen for help, and he connected me to his friend, Henry Omokhaye. I still remember stepping off the bus opposite the Oba Palace, and Henry picked me up. Before taking me home, he stopped to buy me food- fried rice and salad (he did not know an Ogbomoso boy was not given to creamy vegetables). Then he welcomed me into his apartment, where I lived with his would-be in-laws for ten months. Five years later, when Damen told me Henry wanted to join BudgIT, I thought it was impossible. During his years with us, I often found it hard to look him in the eye — that was the depth of respect and gratitude I carried for his sheer kindness.
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And then there is Mr. Joseph Amenaghawon. Yemi Adamolekun introduced me to him during the OccupyNaija protests, as he was interested in offering $30,000 for fiscal accountability. He would be so enthused with our work and the sheer courage and innovation wrapped in our mission. I recalled how he invited me to his Open Society Abuja office and offered to fund a flood accountability project with a grant of $140,000. My face lit up. This project was the precursor to Tracka, our highly successful project tracking platform. He went on to support us more than six times. When he left OSIWA and I invited him to lead Civic Hive, he stunned me by saying yes. Even today, some still whisper, Does he really work for BudgIT?
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I do not share these stories out of spite, but to illustrate how relationships evolve. Colleagues move from being partners to funders. Employees leave and stay in places of authority, offering help along the way. Even champions move from centre stage to the sidelines, as Spring and Fall tell us in stories. Even the most significant fade — Djokovic yielding to Alcaraz in straight sets, Serena chasing Margaret Court’s record and never reaching it. No one holds the crown forever.
No one knows tomorrow. It may sound simplistic, but it is the most accurate maxim of times and seasons. And because nothing is permanent, the only thing that endures is the kindness we offer in the moment. As Pastor Poju recently said, “You can’t be a person of all seasons, since you are not God.” There will be times of silence, times to slow down, times when your energy wanes. That is why it is so dangerous — even wicked — for others to envy the spring and energy of those coming behind who might even leapfrog us in achievements. Life was never designed for one person to carry every season. Each of us must grow into our own.
Titles fade, positions shift, and even laws like Moore’s come to an end — but kindness plants a memory that survives the seasons. The Spring is not ever, always take note of the seasons.
This piece is part of a ten-part series for my 40th birthday celebrations. A decade ago, when I turned 30, I wrote 30 essays on WordPress, reflecting on the lessons, struggles, and dreams of that stage of my life. You can still find those reflections here.
