Ìbàdàn in recent times has happened to be a choice location for young creatives who offer remotes services. Ìbàdàn as a city is home to a lot of peace, quiet and serenity; which are very important factors for young creatives, who want away from the daily hustle and bustle of any metropolis.
Ìbàdàn is one of the leading cities with arts antecedents — a city where everywhere is a muse, landmarks, cultural marks and educational marks saturate the topography of this great city, which helps and aids a creative process; photography, writing, designing, content creation, and other creative means of production.
The ambience of the largest city in West Africa is one that aids creativity especially for remote workers, as remote working seems to be taking form and shape in our present dispensation, which can be attributed to the existence of the pandemic.
For young creatives, the ambience of their immediate environment sometimes helps to spur their creative process. A young designer once told me, “I’d rather work in Ìbàdàn here as a self-employed working from the comfort of my home, than go to another city where I will have to be beating traffic congestion every single day, getting home late and using painkillers, only to wake up the next morning and repeat the same draining cycle — for an amount called a ‘salary’ that I can make easily from working remotely from Ìbàdàn, with less or no stress from my environment at all.”
Another young photographer and writer said “I served in Ìbàdàn as a youth corper, but I grew up in Lagos; born and bred. When I came to Ìbàdàn I knew I wasn’t going to leave the city anytime soon. It has a magical serenity, pleasurable habitat and aesthetic cultural appeal. I became a part of the city spiritually. Even though people tell me, “your crafts will sell more in Lagos”, I always reply with, “I am always available to travel, but Ìbàdàn is now my home, and I can always create remotely without anybody having to see me, especially for my writing gigs.”
These accounts are two from the numerous true-life stories I have heard and witnessed. It is evident that young people are beginning to choose the sanity and peace of mind, over supposed hustle and bustles which is the physical illustration of fighting for mass transit as early as 4:30 am in a city, to get to work by 9 am, close by 5 pm and get home by 10 pm at least — only to wake up and repeat such vicious cycle; a circle that can affect the production of creativity if not nipped in the bud.