I Won a Government Competition. But I Learnt a Priceless Lesson From It. 😂 Two years ago, I participated in a government contest to design a logo for an entire state (you all know the state 😂). My design was selected, approved and unveiled. But here’s the interesting part… If there's one thing I've learnt about opportunities, it's that the announcement and the actual experience can be two very different things. The call for submissions was publicly announced, creatives submitted their work, and eventually, my design was selected, approved and unveiled as the winning design. The prize / compensation was #500,000 alongside other promises which was never fulfilled. My issue isn't that the prize was ₦500,000. An organisation has the right to determine what it can afford to offer for a competition. What I have always found interesting, though, is that the call for submissions was publicly announced, If you're confident about the compensation you're offering, why not communicate it publicly as the contest was announced? The work had been approved and presented publicly, yet getting paid required repeated emails and follow-ups. Eventually, someone had to push for the payment, which came roughly two to three months after the unveiling. I moved on and kept quiet. I honestly didn't want any government wahala😂. Then recently, I spoke with the second runner-up, who told me some of the committee sent him ₦100,000 because he wanted to call them out publicly. That conversation made me reconsider whether I should have raised questions about the whole experience. And it got me thinking about all the governments and institutions that constantly talk about empowering young people, supporting creatives and encouraging innovation. But what does empowerment mean if the people / organizations who participate in these opportunities have to struggle to get clear information or receive their payments? If you're a creative or young professional, ask about the compensation, clarify the payment timeline, get the terms in writing and keep records of every communication. Don't assume that a prestigious institution automatically has a well-managed process. And if you're an institution, remember that supporting young people isn't just about creating opportunities. It's also about how you treat them after they show up and do the work.

This is the second part of the story I shared earlier about the Osun State logo. @Osun_State_Gov publicly announced the logo redesign contest in April 2024 and stated that the best designers would be invited and compensated. My design was eventually selected, approved and unveiled. But after the unveiling, getting that money became another story entirely. I sent several emails to get that done. Eventually, @Studio_Hamkaz sent the money to me after I was told that ₦500,000 was what the state had budgeted as compensation. Which I honestly struggled to believe because the compensation was never mentioned publicly after the unveiling. I also received several calls to come for TV interviews about the logo. One was from @Kayodealaka22 of @WStv_NG, which I declined. Not because I didn't have anything to say. I just didn't want to drag anybody or talk about what happened publicly; I wanted to preserve Osun State's reputation and move on. At the time @adedayo_oderinu , who was part of the publicly announced judging panel for the competition, called me about the matter. Part of that conversation was about trying to get us to meet with the Governor. The explanation was that @iwogoke; the spokesperson to the Governor, said @AAdeleke_01 had been busy and the suggestion was that we should try our luck at meeting him unannounced at home or his office. 😂 If a government organises a public competition, selects a winner, unveils the work and there is a payment issue afterwards, shouldn't there be a proper process for resolving that? Why should we have to be the ones looking for the Governor's whereabouts? And then there was another thing I heard; perhaps the committee handling the project might have presented someone else as the owner of my work and settled lowkey. I'm deliberately saying “might have” because I'm not going to present something I heard as a fact. But if that did happen, that's a much bigger conversation oo 😂. And if it didn't, then I'd genuinely like the government to clarify what actually happened. This is why I'm tagging @Osun_State_Gov, @AAdeleke_01, @iwogoke, and @AlimiKolapo I kept quiet for two years because I didn't want government wahala. But sometimes, silence doesn't solve the problem. It only gives the problem more time. So, I have a few straightforward questions: 1. What was the official compensation package arranged for the winners? 2. What was the expected payment process, and why wasn't the compensation communicated publicly same way the competition was announced? 3. Why did payment require repeated follow-ups after the winning work had already been unveiled? Was the state / committee in charge not planning to pay before the follow-ups or perhaps the money had been embezzled? 4. Regarding the second runner-up, why was ₦100,000 paid after he made a public post about the issue few months ago? Was that payment already due, or was it triggered by the public complaint? These are questions that need to be answered. Cc: @davido @DukeOfOsun @AOEgbedun @officialABAT @SodiqTade @OsunDefender @InsideOsogbo @Tunegee @adewumiadeyemii @OoniAdimulaIfe @thecableng @OlamideAlawode_ @DaOptimistic @IyiolaOmisoreDr @OsunTwitta @TitilolaAdeleke