The morning my best friend sold our dream for 2 million naira

Two years ago, my childhood friend and I were building a fintech MVP together. We had been friends since primary school, shared meals, shared dreams. I put in my savings, about 1.8 million naira at the time, plus countless nights debugging until 3am.

Then an investor pulled out at the last minute. I was stressed but not broken. I told my friend, we will figure it out. He said, don't worry, I have a plan.

His plan was to sell the entire codebase to a competitor for 2 million naira and disappear. I found out when the competitor launched our product two weeks later. I called him, he didn't pick. I went to his house, his mother said he travelled.

That was two years ago. I spent six months paying off the debt, rebuilt myself from scratch, and eventually landed a remote role that pays in dollars. But trust? That one still dey recover.

The lesson I learned is this: partnership is not about how long you have known someone. It is about what they do when pressure comes. Some people fold. Some sell. Some stay. You find out who is who when the money runs out.