Have you ever been stranded at an event, with your phone on 1 percent and hailing drivers who are refusing to reason with your terms of negotiation because the surge is on and, as usual, it is survival of the fittest for who I did not see you do not believe me gets out first? It sounds frustrating, but that frustration can quickly turn into anxiety when you find yourself at a venue that is not exactly safe. There is a point in every Lagos night when you realise just how much of the experience depends on things you barely notice. For anyone who has spent enough time in this city, the night rarely ends simply because the music stops. Sometimes, you have simply run out of the little things that allow you to stay in the room a little longer, even when everything around you seems to still be moving. Someone is tapping your shoulder to confirm you are the friend they lost in the crowd. Another person has just flashed their phone light directly into your face, and it is beginning to piss you off. Someone else is already thinking about how they are getting home. Somewhere in all of this chaos, a phone is about to die, and its owner is too shy to walk around the room asking for a power bank because they know it would interrupt their reverence of the good time they are having. For a city like Lagos, one that has built an entire culture around staying out late, a dead phone can sometimes feel like the end of the night.

Born from a team that grew up within the music industry and the culture of constant gatherings, INA-WA has found its way into the same spaces where Lagos comes alive. Their presence at events is simple enough to understand: keep people powered. But spend enough time around their stands and you begin to realise that it goes beyond just charging a phone. People come looking to power their cameras, their lollipop fans and even their own power banks. DJs have needed to keep headsets and Bluetooth devices running. And increasingly, people simply want to make sure their phones do not die before they have to leave.

For INA-WA, that is exactly the point.

They describe their work as a way of giving back to the community they come from while creating something people can easily connect with. Behind the scenes, however, keeping that energy going requires considerably more than plugging in a power bank. There are hours of setup, technology to manage, internet connections to establish, networks to switch between and teams working through the night to make sure everything stays connected. One night might be a party, the next a rave, then a club or an afters. No matter the setting, the objective remains the same: keeping nightlife buzzing and going.

At one wedding after-party in Ikeja, INA-WA saw this play out in real time.

By 11 PM, after a full day of celebrations that had started around noon, the crowd had begun to lose steam. People were getting ready to leave. Then the MC announced that power banks were available at the back. Suddenly, people started moving again. The rush to get a power bank brought a new kind of energy into the room and, according to INA-WA, the after-party went on for another two hours. It is a small example of something that is easy to overlook: sometimes, keeping the night alive is simply about keeping people connected to it.

At Black Noise Live, this relationship between power and the experience of nightlife found another expression.

Coming on board as the event’s power partner, INA-WA brought its mobile energy solution into a night dedicated to celebrating Aniko and the culture surrounding her. Beyond the music, the performances and the crowd that came together for the occasion, there was an entire experience that depended on staying connected. From people capturing moments on their phones to those who simply wanted enough battery to make it through the night, INA-WA was part of the infrastructure helping make that possible.

The partnership also felt like a natural meeting of communities. INA-WA had already been paying attention to Black Noise and the conversations coming out of the magazine. The event aligned with the culture and narratives they wanted to support, while Casa, the venue, was already familiar territory for the brand. For INA-WA, being part of Black Noise Live was another opportunity to show up for a community they had grown alongside.

But this relationship with nightlife extends beyond powering phones. Through their Energy for the Day series, for example, INA-WA is putting people onto music and encouraging its audience to discover and stream new artists. They are also exploring how their platform can connect with events, artists and communities in ways that bring more of the culture to life.

Eventually, they hope to create spaces of their own, bringing together some of the most active, energetic people and events under the INA-WA name.

INA-WA, translated from Yoruba to English, simply means “There is light.” In Nigerian lingo, it is “Up NEPA.”

For a nightlife culture that is constantly in motion, perhaps there is no better role than making sure the lights and everything that depends on them stay on.

The truth is, the best nights are rarely remembered for the things that went wrong behind the scenes. They are remembered for the sets that went on a little longer, the moments that were captured, the friends who stayed until the very end and the feeling that, for a few hours, nothing else mattered. At Black Noise Live, while the music took over and the crowd found its rhythm, INA-WA played its part in keeping the night powered.