Reflections: Scrum Day Nigeria - Lagos 2025

Seven weeks after Scrum Day Nigeria - Lagos 2025, and the last of the edited footage has been delivered.  Scrum Day is a community-driven event that brings together Scrum practitioners, Agile coaches, product owners, developers, and organisational leaders to share knowledge, experiences, and emerging practices around Scrum and Agile ways of working.

Scrum Day Nigeria - Lagos 2025 was organised by the staff of ValueHut Consulting and a team of volunteers as a pioneering event in Sub-Saharan Africa, with the theme: Innovation and Products for Better Outcomes. Our goal was to deliver a world-class conference that would highlight the impact of business agility in driving innovation and building better products in Africa. 

As the first Scrum Day Conference to be held in Lagos, Nigeria, securing partners and sponsors was quite a challenge. However, with the help of the local network of Agile Enthusiasts with Nigerian descent, we were able to raise approximately 62.5% of the budget from our sponsors. A day before the Scrum Day Nigeria - Lagos 2025 conference, a speakers’ social mixer was held,  a casual, yet strategic gathering where speakers connected, aligned expectations, and shared final thoughts on the conference agenda.

On the 5th of March, 2025, thought leaders, industry experts, product managers, and other agile practitioners gathered for a day dedicated to talks and workshops on the theme: Innovation and Product for Better Outcomes. The event was scheduled to start at 9 am, with breakfast scheduled from 8 am to 9 am. We learned very quickly that it was too early so we are planning a 10 am kick-off for next year, 2026.

Kicking off the conference, Sam Adesoga, the Managing Partner at ValueHut Consulting, started by welcoming everyone to the conference, and he introduced the Keynote Speaker, Nigel Thurlow, former Chief of Agile at Toyota, to the stage to deliver an insightful presentation titled "Continuous Improvement is Why Scrum Works." We couldn’t have asked for a better kick-off, as it set the tone for the other sessions that followed throughout the day.

Bayo "Lion" Adedeji, the Group Chief Executive Officer of Wakanow, delivered one of the most talked-about sessions of the day. With his signature blend of humour, hard truths, and heartfelt storytelling, Bayo captivated the audience as he peeled back the layers to reveal what it truly means to innovate. His topic, "Common Sense Innovation: Building Products That Really Matter," challenged teams to cut through complexity and focus on customer relevance, simplicity, and actual value.

Simultaneously, the brilliant Fanny Ndengue an Enterprise Agile Coach and Professional Scrum Trainer, led a session that was every bit powerful; her topic, "Feedback to Fulfilment: How Teams Create Products Customers Love," provided a tactical, step-by-step look at how organisations can truly embrace feedback loops to enhance product development. Fanny shared techniques for collecting meaningful feedback, filtering noise from insight, and turning customer voices into actionable improvements.

Once again, participants had a tough job of deciding which of the sessions they would attend, as we had two sessions running concurrently throughout the day. Ayo Alaba Idowu of Gopaddi facilitated an insightful session titled “Product to Platform: Disruption and Transformation Mindset,” focused on what it takes to transition from building individual products to creating platforms that scale and support the entire ecosystem. The Gopaddi big boss challenged the audience to reimagine their product strategies not just as tools for delivering value but as an infrastructure for empowering partners, developers, and other products. 

Tobi Délé-Ṣafà a Senior Product Manager at Kuda discussed "Vision to Value: Building Products That Matter.” Tobi took attendees through the journey from high-level business vision to measurable product outcomes. Attendees appreciated her use of real-world frameworks and the actionable templates shared during the session.

Kicking off after Lunch, Dr. Chichi W. Afiah, an Agile Coach, took to the stage with poise and presence. Her session “Cracking the Customer Code: Designing Solutions That Truly Resonate” challenged teams to elevate their understanding of customers' needs beyond data points. Simultaneously in the other breakout rooms, Souleymane Thiongane, an Agile Transformation Specialist and Professional Scrum Trainer, hosted an insightful and practical session titled “Idea to Value: A Step-by-Step Guide for Better Outcomes.” Known for his precision and process-driven mindset, Souleymane walked attendees through the complete Agile product delivery cycle from ideation and stakeholder alignment to backlog prioritisation and iterative delivery.

To close out the day, we had Dave West, CEO of Scrum.org, delivered the final keynote address titled “Agile Product Operating Model”; a conceptual framework that helps organizations structure and scale their use of Scrum and Agile practices to deliver customer value through empowered, product-focused teams. It provides guidance for leaders, managers, and teams on how to create the organisational conditions necessary for Agile product development to thrive.

The event ended with the Convener of Scrum Day Nigeria, Sam Adesoga, distributing gifts to attendees, supported by all the speakers and other Professional Scrum Trainers in the room.

As Scrum Day Nigeria - Lagos 2025 faded into memory, the echoes of a successful event resounded across. The day had been filled with insightful sessions, dynamic discussions, and countless opportunities for professionals to come together, share knowledge, and create lasting connections. But the story didn’t end when the event concluded - it was only the beginning of an exciting journey for all involved. We couldn't have delivered such a fantastic event without the support of our Partners and Sponsors: Scrum.org, gopaddi, Experior Financial Group, Maxima Media Group, Lagos Talk, Classic FM and Solent Heights.

If you missed the conference, you should watch the summary here.

We have taken our lessons. Scrum Day Nigeria - Lagos 2025 was our Minimum Viable Product. We will be back next year with another Scrum Day Nigeria event, and you should save the 11th of March, 2026, in your calendar.