The day #JP2025 hit the internet, it felt like everything else paused, especially last week when the wedding officially broke the timeline. The viral wedding of Nigerian celebrity Priscilla Ojo and Tanzanian singer Juma Jux was more than just a ceremony, it was an event. Photos of the couple made it to Times Square, TikTok was buzzing, Instagram stayed hot, and somehow even LinkedIn found a way to squeeze in “inspirational” wedding posts.

Final thoughts

If you missed it (honestly, are you in Nigeria at all?) JP2025 was not your regular “hashtag goals” wedding. It came with elegance, intentionality, and a budget that made people ask questions about their own life’s direction. The bride? A Pinterest dream. Every outfit was a hit. The groom? Crisp and cool. Guests? Well-dressed to the point of trending.

And just like that, people who were once content with their journey started panicking. “God’s time is the best” believers started rechecking their calendar apps.

Meanwhile, Somewhere Else on the Internet: CBEX Was Crashing

“₦1.2M in 30 days, no stress.”

“This one is not MMM, it’s verified!”

“Just drop your money and watch it grow.”

CBEX, a supposed crypto-based platform, had become the latest “easy money” anthem. People were cashing out, testimonies were flying around, and even the cautious crowd started forwarding referral links. The urgency was insane.

CBEX urgency

How to know a Ponzi scheme?

One of the biggest red flags for me with CBEX was how heavily it relied on referrals to function. It was not just about putting your money in and watching it grow, you had to bring others in to really “cash out.” And that is where it got suspicious.

If a platform is genuinely that profitable, wouldn’t people just keep reinvesting their own money to multiply it quietly? Why the rush to invite everyone else in? Why the pressure to drop referral links like flyers?

Here is the hard truth I have learned over time: When people start urging you to join something “too good to be true,” they are often not thinking about your success, they are thinking about theirs. You are the means to their more. Your signup is their bonus. And that’s how Ponzi-style systems thrive, not by results, but by recruitment.

I did not join. Not because I felt left out (truthfully, I did not feel any FOMO). Two different people tried to convince me to come on board. But I was tired. Tired of watching people chase things not because they needed them but because everyone else was doing it. And that constant pressure to belong? That urgency to be part of every trend, it is not a grown-up problem. It starts earlier than most of us realize.

Let’s Flash Back: Childhood Really Had Hands in This

Growing up, my mum had one unspoken rule: If it’s trending, you’re not getting it. She never said those words exactly, but her actions made it clear.

Childhood resistance

There was this one time a certain style of slippers was trending. Every cool girl had it, school girls, church girls, street girls. You were not poppin unless you had that slipper.

What did my mum do? She went to the market and bought regular slippers for my siblings and me. No branded knockoffs. Just regular, plain, functional slippers.

I was upset. I mean genuinely hurt. It felt like wickedness. I remember wearing it and feeling like I was wearing shame on my feet. I think I silently unfriended my mum that week.

But now? I get it. What she gave us was resistance. She was building inner confidence before we even knew we would need it. That ability to say, “I don’t need to follow the crowd to feel enough”, it did not start in adulthood; it was planted in childhood. That same resistance is why I could scroll through CBEX tweets without blinking. It is why I could enjoy watching JP2025 highlights fill my FYP and still not spiral into “why not me?”

Does peer pressure still whisper? Yes. But me? I smile and say, “Not today.”

(I will explore more in another post how our childhood patterns shape adult desires, our need for validation, achievement, and pace. It’s deep.)

Let’s Get Back to the Real Question

Everyone wants more:

  • More money
  • More peace
  • More love
  • More options

But do you really want more because you need it, or because someone near you already has it?

Sometimes, we are not chasing joy. We are chasing applause. And the thing about applause? It fades. So we keep needing more, louder, bigger, shinier.

Wanting More Is not the Problem. Not Knowing Why You Want It Is.

What if your dream life is just a remix of someone else’s highlight reel? What if your urgency is not from hunger but from comparison?

This is why I often ask myself: Do I really want this thing or do I want the reaction people will have when they see I have it? That tiny shift in questioning changes everything. You stop hustling to impress and start building from a place of peace.

So Ask Yourself Again…

  • Do you want a luxury wedding, or do you just want to trend for the weekend?
  • Do you want passive income, or just want to say “I’m doing big things too”?
  • Do you want to grow, or do you just want to look like you are growing?
  • Do you want to take that course — or do you just want to post your certificate online?
  • Do you want to relocate — or do you just want people to think you have “made it”?
  • Do you want to start that business — or are you just tired of being the only one in your circle without one?
  • Do you want a relationship — or do you just want cute pictures and someone to post on Valentine’s Day?
  • Do you want to leave your job — or do you just want to prove a point?
  • Do you want to go for that degree — or are you trying to keep up with someone else’s timeline?
  • Do you want that expensive phone — or do you just want to avoid looking “broke”?
  • Do you want to create content — or do you just want to go viral?
  • Do you want to buy that car — or are you just tired of being the only one using public transport?

There is no shame in wanting nice things. I want them too. A lot of it. The shame is in not knowing why you want them. Oluwatosin Olaseinde of Money Africa once tweeted that “the world will sell you dreams you don’t need and make you feel like a failure for not having them.”

One of these days, I will write about how many of the things we want are just socially constructed longings, manufactured cravings designed to keep us restless.

Final Thoughts

CBEX came and crashed. JP2025 trended and will pass. Next week? There will be another wedding. Next month? Another ponzi platform disguised as “investment”

The pressure won’t stop. But the ones who last? They are the ones who know that not all more is worth chasing. They define success for themselves, not for Instagram, not for Twitter gist, not even for group chat validation.

As for me? I am still building my version of “more.” It may not be viral yet, but it is real. And it is mine.