Going from the title of this post; I am sure you would think it is another bashing for Big Brother and other reality TV shows. But I am about to shock you because contrary to what you might think; there is really a good lesson that Africa can learn from these shows if we are ready to look inwards.
When I was growing up in Ibadan, there were various game shows on the first Television station in Africa- NTA Ibadan. The most popular of them was anchored by Yemi Ogunyemi, a very nice show called Embalaya (Eni ba laya) which literarily means Who Has The Guts? People came from far and wide to participate in this game show and won various gifts. What made the show stand out were the ingenuity and the wit of the presenter who also sometimes acted in various plays including the masterpiece from NTA Ibadan that made network service – KOKO CLOSE.
The kiddies were not left out of game shows even back then. I have forgotten the name of one presented by Toyin Adegbola (now known as ashewo to re Mecca). It was showing on BCOS Ibadan and I remember she was still married to the late sports presenter also with BCOS – Tony Adegbola. Other shows evolved later including one for the inner-city Ibadan people (Some call them razz, I don’t) called O’n rosy ni galaxy. Gboyega Lawal still presents this show on Galaxy TV in Ibadan (Touted as the first private TV in Nigeria). Yemi Ogunyemi went on to anchor Royco Ladun many years after Embalaya was rested.

Recently, the popular game shows in Nigeria are mostly those imported from other climes but that does not take the fun away from them. Today is not a bash on the dearth of local content even though I am tempted to go that route but that will be the theme for another day. Hence we have shows like Who Wants To Be a Millionaire, Don’t forget the lyrics, etc. The success of these games shows and the rise of the telecommunication industry in Africa prompted the owners of the brands of reality TV shows and some shrewd business people to focus on Africa. And thus, the Big Brother phenomenon, Idols, Dancing with the Stars, etc were all brought to Africa thanks mostly to MNET Africa.

You still don’t know where I am headed with this, but please relax and enjoy the ride. We all know that we are not a very inspired continent with the ways our political and economic climate remains far from being perfect. Reality TV shows have helped to douse tensions. One finishes and another starts. We are even clamouring for Season 2 of West African Idols. Many of us watch American Idols, South African and all other Idols from all over the world. Now I am about to get to the point.

The organisers of the shows make money from various means including adverts, endorsements and SMS revenues. I am interested in the last part and the reason for this post. Take Big Brother as a good example. The housemates nominate their fellow mates for eviction every week. The nominees are then left in the hands of the voting public to determine if they get evicted or remain in the house. I have been in the Telecoms industry for some time and it is mind boggling the amount of votes weekly from these shows. That is in one network alone meaning that the cumulative votes cast weekly in Nigeria only is massive. We are talking about several Millions of votes. Someone in just one network in Nigeria just reported making 20 Million dollars (not naira) in just 100 days from these premium SMS.

The revenue generated is not my main reason for this post but the massive amounts of votes cast. I am wondering if no one has linked this to our election system in Nigeria and other African countries. How would you feel if I tell you that more votes are cast weekly for big brother housemates in Nigeria than for our national elections? That is the bitter truth and the reality on ground. People find it easier to pick their phones and burn between 50-75 naira several times to save their favourite housemates. In fact, MNET was so pleased with the level of participation from Nigeria that it gave 3 slots to Nigeria for the current season. And it is a fact that the three of them are still in the house while other countries with 2 housemates have lost one or both housemates. Shows we are really keen on saving our compatriots, hmmmm. And we also even save people from other countries when our people are not up for eviction.

Two questions arise here. Is it that Nigerians think it is better to save our Big Brother housemates than in saving Nigeria? Or is this an indication that our electoral system has to wake up and embrace technology in voting? I guess it is for all of us to ponder and think about it. We can no longer sit down and think a miracle can save us. It is time to think and move forward by answering those two questions. The right to vote and be voted for are a fundamental right of human beings. Many died for that right in America and today, a black man is on top of the affairs in the White House. We have that right in Nigeria already but we don’t use it citing violence during elections, rigging etc as our excuses. But we all know that even when we don’t go out to vote, the nonentities are elected, they loot our treasuries and indirectly murder us via our bad roads, health facilities etc.
Out technology elite must also collaborate with the political minded ones to bring innovation to the voting process and push for legislations backing such. But meanwhile, the voters registration would soon commence and I hope you will not be found wanting.
God bless Nigeria, God bless Africa.

The Socio-Cultural Component:
This is a very interesting component of Internet Governance. There are a lot of discrepancies in the way different stakeholders see issues relating to the socio-cultural aspect of the Internet. The two major contenders in this area are the Government and Civil Society. The recurring subject is content control. Government is very passionate about controlling the kind of contents on websites in their countries. An example is a country like France where Nazi materials are banned, the only setback is that the civil society is not wholly comfortable with that and usually emphasizes freedom of expression.

However, there are some contents that are mutually agreed upon by all stakeholders as being illegal such as child pornography, e.t.c. Almost every developed nation has a form of content control or the other, but it is still a dream for most African countries. If the fight against scam and cyber crime will be effective in Africa, then our Governments should realize that there is a need for appropriate legal framework for content control.
Content control will be effectively done if a multi-stakeholder approach is employed at enforcing it. This will require –

• Government filtering of contents using appropriate legislation.
• Private filtering of contents e.g. through embedded scripts in Internet browsers.
• The use of Geo-location software to track users of the Internet and catch offenders.
• Internet service providers can filter contents for their customers.
• Search engines like Google should only bring out accepted output when a search is done. Example is Google in France where if you type Nazi, you will not get any result.

Multilingualism and Cultural Diversity: This is a very important socio-cultural topic in Africa and the rest of the world. There must be a conscious effort to bridge language and cultural barriers in such a way that the issue of Anglophone and Francophone will be forgotten. The division is always very obvious during international meetings and all sorts of misunderstanding ensue in such meetings. If Africa wants to present a common agenda in Tunis 2005, a very proactive solution must be put in place to erase any sentiment and only give Africa its rightful place in world politics.

Local Content: Most Africans are Illiterates and 85% of contents on the Internet are in English, almost the remaining are in French, Portuguese, Arabic and Chinese. That spells a doom for majority of Africans who can at best read and write their native language. We must start developing local contents to help this people and to also show that we are original. If Prof. Phillip Emeagwali is right at the end of the day, then in a few centuries – “Human beings start having IP address and constitute the Internet and not computers anymore; hence emails will cease to exist, but telepathic mails” . This looks a bit crazy, but coming from a man of his reputation, we need to take him seriously. The goal of African governments should be to find ways to get the poorest farmer in a village to appreciate the Internet using his local language.

Education/E-learning: The information superhighway has brought the whole world closer together. It is now very easy to be in touch with a friend in China when you are in Abidjan in a matter of seconds. This has also helped in education dissemination. We now have access to quality teaching materials from leading institutions all over the world and the concept of virtual universities is now a reality. This is an area in which African leaders could leverage on to ensure the development of its citizenry. The concept of e-learning is very important to the development of Africa.

Conclusion:
While the debate for the governance of the Internet is still going on and Africa is clearly not contributing in a very effective manner due to the low level of understanding of the whole concept by its representatives at meetings. It is also very clear that such meetings where Internet Governance is discussed are very costly and cannot be afforded by many Africans. There is no doubt that the Internet is a tool that Africa can use to leap frog (I prefer to use the term Cheetah Pole-Vaulting) its development and relevance in the world economy and politics.
We do not have any excuse to be left out of Internet Governance because it is a clear way to achieve that equality we have always wanted. African Governments must start developing experts in Internet Governance who can successfully ask for positions that will favor our continent on the pathway to continental rebirth.

References
1. Internet Governance: Issues, Actors and Divides by Eduardo Gelbstein and Jovan Kurbalija
2. A summary of NEPAD action plans: NEPAD Secretariat 2004.
3. My search for the holy grail of immortality by Prof. Phillip Emegwali
4. A paper by Meyer & Baber, 1995, p. 248

…. Continued from Part 1.

The Legal Component:

There are two main approaches to the legal aspects of the Internet. There is the real law approach where the Internet is treated no differently from previous telecommunication technologies; hence existing legal rules can be applied to the Internet. The other is the cyber law approach based on the notion that the Internet introduces new types of social relationships in cyber space, creating a need for new laws.
The real law approach is gaining predominance because of a general thinking that a considerable part of existing legislation can be applied to the Internet while creating new ones as the need arises.
A very contentious issue in the legal aspect of Internet Governance is jurisdiction and this is due to the perceived borderless nature of the Internet. African Governments need to take this very seriously, especially those who are labeled as online scam perpetrators because in the nearest future every scammer will claim to be a Nigerian (Apologies to the good people of Nigeria).
The following questions arise when considering the issue of jurisdiction in the cyber space:
• Which court or state authority has the proper authority to try offenders?
• Which rules should be applied?
• How should court decisions be implemented?
African countries should advocate:
• The modernization of international private laws to keep up with the reality of the present Cyber society.
• Harmonization of national laws to reflect common goals by countries in eradicating crime and unwholesome behaviors.
• The use of arbitration in cases where normal law is ineffective.
• Employing technical solutions such as geo-location software for identifying the location of Internet users.

The Economic Component:

The Internet has no doubt changed the economic system of the world. Many businesses are going online and the reality of the present day economy is that soon, countries with low e-commerce penetration will be disadvantaged in the world economy. There must be a conscious effort by Africans to harness the power of e-commerce in developing its economy.
E-commerce can not be properly implemented without a functional e-payment system which requires a stable, secure and functional legal environment. The disturbing trend is that most developing countries do not have such infrastructure for now and might not reach the desired level if there are no conscious efforts made. The use of e-banking and e-money will no doubt bring a revolution to the worldwide banking system. It will reduce the cost of running banks and push the world towards a cashless society; it also has its potential loopholes in being a tool for money launderers and the menace of hackers.
To increase exports in Africa, there is a need to push more African businesses into the Internet. This will no doubt help in improving economies and provide more jobs. Essentially, the advantages of embracing e-commerce far outweighs the disadvantages and part of the NEPAD goals should be finding ways of harnessing its potentials for Africa’s development. Bearing the infrastructural disadvantages of Africa in implementing e-commerce, Africa should make a strong report to the WGIG on areas she needs help to properly get into the e-commerce loop.
Issues like consumer protection, misleading advertising, delivery of defective goods, taxation and customs which are all present in normal market situation also needs to be applied to online business. This is a challenge and we have to start thinking of ways to develop or adapt existing legislation on these matters.

The Development Component:

The Internet has brought a lot of development to the world, from education to health to agriculture, e.t.c. But it is clear that the developed countries have been able to make use of the information super-highway to change the lives of their citizens for the better. Sadly, this is not the same case for the developing nations and there are even a lot of speculations that the Internet might even cause more harms to them than good. An example is the school of thought that when the world finally moves to e-commerce; The American giants will be favored such that local firms in emerging economies would effectively frozen out since they have better access to cutting-edge technologies. I do not subscribe to this because those technologies are the same all over the world; it just depends on how we can develop our human resources to use those tools efficiently. This is a call to African leaders to encourage curriculum revision and infrastructures in their Universities to meet up with the global challenge.
The development of Telecoms and Internet facilities to provide better access to both urban and rural youths will help in evolving more informed individuals. Financial supports from International agencies as well as debt forgiveness for deserving countries should be advocated. The truth is that in bridging the digital divide, poverty must first be eradicated. Africa should push for debt forgiveness, bearing in mind that most of these debts were incurred by military regimes that were not voted in by the citizens of these countries. The Digital Solidarity Fund is also a very good initiative that could help in providing access; the only caution is for the developed countries that are fond of taking back 80% of their donations through contracts given to companies in their countries when there are qualified local personnel in the project community.
The scourge of brain drain should be addressed and a good way is by encouraging outsourcing of jobs from developed countries. ICT skills literacy and language protection should also be taken as matters of high importance.
Telecommunication policies and regulations should be developed in African countries as both private sectors and public donors are not ready to invest in countries without proper and legal environment for Internet penetration.

(To Be Continued)

This was written in 2005 but still very relevant. Internet Governance is very important for us as a nation and continent. The need to understand it is very big and as an IG advocate, I have the responsibility to share the news. Please enjoy the first part.

Africa has always been marginalized in all aspects of world economy and politics. The New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD) was conceived by African heads of state as a development framework aimed at arresting and correcting the downward trend and put Africa firmly on a relevant position in World development agenda .

One important area that Africa needs to get involved to realize the NEPAD goals is Internet Governance. The Internet also known as the “information highway” began around 1969 as a government sponsored network called ARPANET (Advanced Research Projects Agency Network). It was used for the sole purpose of linking government research centers with university researchers, eventually, establishing the Internet protocols TCP/IP, which we still use today.

The Internet however only exploded in terms of growth in the 1980’s, when a number of public and private networks joined in like colleges, businesses and agencies . The relevance of the Internet is no more in question. The growing awareness of the social, economic and political impact of the internet on society has brought the question of Internet Governance into sharper focus. As of early 2005, the Internet has the following statistics:
• An estimated 750 million users worldwide.
• At least $1 billion electronics commerce turnover which is projected to rise rapidly.
• The Internet has a major social impact in many fields of human endeavor including education, health, governance and others.
• Cyber crime such as fraud, gambling, pornography and ID theft.
• Misuse and abuse in the form of malicious codes and spam.

Though the Internet was a monopoly of the United States of America because it has it origins from there, but it has become a global phenomenon and Africa is still left behind in its governance. This is a very disturbing trend and African leaders need to step up their games to give Africa a relevant position in the information super highway.

Internet governance has been a very complex phenomenon, in actual fact- it has been very difficult to give it a proper definition because of its multi-stakeholder nature. The World Society on the Information Society (WSIS) proposed a number of actions including the establishment of a Working Group on Internet Governance (WGIG). The WGIG is to ensure a mechanism for the full participation of governments, private sector, civil society and relevant inter-governmental organizations to investigate and make proposals for action on the governance of the Internet. The WGIG is also given the mandate to perform the following roles:

• Come up with a working definition for Internet Governance.
• Develop a common understanding of the respective roles of the respective stakeholders.
• Prepare a report of their activities in the 2005 WSIS meeting in Tunisia 2005.
If Africa wants to have a very relevant role in the governance of the most important media that has changed the face of the world, there must be a proactive effort by critically looking at all the intricacies of Internet Governance and how to push a very good position in Tunisia.

The Very Complex Nature of Internet Governance

We need to recognize that Internet Governance means different things to different people. It is like a big jigsaw puzzle; not easy to put together. The first contending issue comes from the two words “Internet and Governance”.
The word Internet seems vague to some people who believe that the term Information and Communication Technology or Information Society would have been more appropriate due to their inclusive nature, but the argument for the word “Internet” is holding grounds since it is taking over some conventional issues like telephony. Voice over IP is gradually taking over from the conventional telephone system.

Some also believe that the word governance seems to give governments the idea that they have the most important role to play than other stakeholders in governing the Internet.
There is a narrow approach to Internet Governance which focuses on the technical part, mainly infrastructure that positions ICANN as the key actor. The broad approach is beyond infrastructure but addresses other legal, economic, development and socio-cultural issues.

Basically, we should address Internet Governance using the following broad dimensions: Infrastructure and Standardization, Legal, Economic, Developmental and Socio-Cultural.
The next few pages will be focused on clarifying these dimensions and how Africa should make impact and show its needs.

Infrastructure and Standardization:

This involves issues relating to the telecommunication infrastructure through which all Internet traffic flows, technical standards and services (TCP/IP, SSL) and Content/Application Standards (HTML, XML).
The US government has a near-monopolistic grab on this area of Internet governance. Out of the 13 root servers in the world, 10 are in the United States.

The US Department of Commerce (DOC) approves changes to the root servers; hence if the US government wishes to cause chaos in the cyber space, they can easily do this. Africa should rise up to this challenge by improving its telecommunication and electricity generation; this will give us a chance to ask for an equal geographical distribution of the root servers.

As a way to encourage local contents, Africans must support the Internationalized Domain Names (IDN) and Native Language Internet Address (NLIA) systems. This will give us the opportunity to have domain names in Zulu, Hausa and other languages. China and other Asian countries are already winning this war, so why can’t we?

Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) and International Assigned Names Authority (IANA) though look like global entities judging from their name but they are really US government agencies. As much as we appreciate the fact that the Internet started from the US; we should also remember that it has grown to a level where one country cannot be controlling it. I believe that Africa should rise up to the challenge and push for either a new body that will be all inclusive or a regional body to take over ICANN’s role.

A paradox that is playing itself out is the fact that small and poor countries subsidize Internet system for the developed countries. This is very selfish of those countries who are always talking of helping small countries to bridge the digital divide. African countries should start thinking of using Internet Exchange Points (IXP) to reduce the cost of bandwidth.

Another very important aspect is the use of the Uniform Dispute Resolution Policy (UDRP) in fighting cyber squatting. African countries have started using their country code top level domain names and before long, disputes will start. There should be a conscious effort to adapt the UDRP to our specific needs.

(To be continued)

For Immediate Release:

April 6 2009 Advertfarm, a mobile content network, has emerged today from private beta. This start-up is privately funded and based in Lagos, Nigeria. Advertfarm, as a stand-alone company, focuses on delivering mobile contents to users across Africa through Short Message Services (SMS). Our services include but not limited to SMS marketing, SMS Recruitment, Events Broadcasting, Sponsored Mobile Services and Mobile Alerts.

Advertfarm provides advertisers with permission-based targeted marketing. These advertisements are delivered to subscribers based on specific interests and demographics. Advertfarm only sends its network members localized subscribed mobile content that matches their interest, and gives them total control of when they want to receive it, and how frequently they want to receive it through settings available on the Advertfarm platform.

With over 200 million mobile subscribers in Africa, Advertfarm allows advertisers to target a specific base of consumers in a meaningful way while allowing them to see a much higher rate of return on their investment. The system is developed to fully ensure that advertisers do not waste money on a demographic target that is irrelevant to their goals.

The Advertfarm network has a strict privacy policy on all data collected from its members. The Advertfarm mobile content delivery solution is the first of its kind in Africa as they not only deliver permission-based content to their subscribers but also pay their subscribers for subscribing.

Meanwhile, Advertfarm rewards its subscribed members through a revenue sharing model. The income earned by members of the network is automatically sent to the ATM cards attached to their account.

Advertfarm is currently running its pilot mode only in Nigeria and will launch it 2-WAY SMS interactive system by July 2009. This system would include features such as “SMS Service Un-subscription” where subscribers to a particular service could un-subscribe for certain services without having to visit the web portal. We will be launching services in other African countries in the next quarter.

Please visit www.advertfarm.com to subscribe.

Today, we continue our mentoring session with Uche Adaigbe. Meeting with him was a turning point for me as he struck me immediately as a young man who knew where he was going. An extremely focused individual with a huge drive; Uche did a lot to instill confidence in me when I joined Vmobile Nigeria in 2005 from an IT background. If you are looking for a man who understands his job to the minutest of details – then he is your man. He converses with you up to protocol levels and he is truly an Engineer. With guys like him; the future of Nigeria in Internet Protocol and new generation Telecommunication is very secured.
Uche is presently a consultant to the leading Telecoms vendor in the World and has deployed solutions in 11 countries already.
Happy reading.

What book are you reading at the moment?

Just finished reading some certification book, won’t say I am a very good book reader, I mainly read technical materials.

Forgive my morals, please let’s meet you sir

Uche Chukwuemeke ADAIGBE

I know you read a lot and marvel at the ease with which you go even down to protocol level in Telco/IP world. Did you find your school books that interesting?

Interestingly YES, especially from SS1 – Physics, Chemistry, Mathematics and Further Mathematics up until this day.

Give us an insight into your formal educational journey from elementary to Tertiary?

Brother Pius Nursery School Benin City, Air Force Primary School Benin City, University of Benin Demonstration Secondary School Benin City and University of Benin

What was your career choice when you were in Secondary school?

I think I had decided on Electrical and Electronic Engineering from my SS1 or SS2

As a graduate of Electrical Electronics, most of your classmates’ first choice of industry would most likely be Oil n Gas; did you have the same sentiment?

Yeah, I did, especially haven graduated from the University of Benin where most of the guys who had graduated before me had been snapped by the likes of Shell, Schlumberger, Chevron with their then obscene salary offers, I seriously considered the Oil and Gas industry, just for the money though. I must confess it wasn’t easy sticking by what I knew I was cut out for especially when you hear of all those ‘stupid’ money your peers are earning in the Oil and Gas industry

So what attracted you into the Telecommunication industry?

Not too long after my project defense, while waiting for NYSC posting (that was delayed for one year), I decided to study a book on Digital Electronics as I noticed that it was an area I wasn’t very confident of after school, I also decided to hook up with a friend who was my computer lecturer before I got into the university and had started his own business/ computer training school. I was also studying IEEE Communications and Computer journals at the time, I think all these together, the IEEE Communications Society (ComSoc) journals especially made me discover the fact that I was cut out for telecoms, it really came like a knowing not just an attraction.

Most times, our first jobs determine our career path. Where did you cut your first teeth and share your experience with us?

Not sure which I would call my first job now, as I mentioned earlier, I was working with this computer lecturer of mine and he is someone I really credit for helping me discover myself as it were, he at the time was someone that believed in me much more than I believed in myself, I was working for him but was not earning a salary. My first job in which I was being paid was as a corper with Cellcom as an Admin Officer (I have interesting memories of those times), it obviously did not determine my career path but the little skills I picked from there have come a long way in helping my writing skills as per documentations and designs which could be a nightmare for many technical people. I afterwards was retained in the company as a Switching Engineer Trainee. But the job that really shaped my career was with GloMobile, just 6mths after I was retained by Cellcom, I was employed as GPRS O&M Engineer, that’s where my career practically began to unfold and in one year it was set and clear.

The data world in Telecoms is still relatively new and gradually becoming the cutting edge in the industry, what is your comment on this?

It sure is the future of telecommunications generally especially as ARPU from traditionally telecoms services (voice) is on a steady decline, data can help bring in untold revenue. As you know, its only humans that can talk, number of data capable agents are limitless.

In layman terms, what is SIGTRAN?

It is an acronym for SIGnaling TRANsport, it basically means transporting traditional Signaling System No. 7 (SS7) messages over using IP of course over an IP infrastructure.

Most Telecoms vendors now use TCP/IP as their preferred transport protocol even for traditional nodes like the MSCs in the form of SIGTRAN, why did that happen?

This has happened because the telecoms standards organization 3GPP/ETSI from its release 5 onwards decided to standardize the use of IP as network layer protocol because of its flexibility as a protocol and its success in its use in the internet, of course as you know, the transport layer for SIGTRAN does not use TCP but rater SCTP which was specifically built for SIGTRAN purposes to cater for short falls of TCP and UDP in carrying such delay sensitive protocols like SS7.

With the experience you have gathered, what do you think will be the next big technology in Telecoms?

Most advancements in the telecoms world is been done on the radio network as against the core network, this will make Long Term Evolution (LTE) that promises to offer up to 100Mbps per user the next big technology in telecoms, especially mobile telecoms. Mobile IP with the use of IPv6 could also be a technology that we should look out for in the future, it is a core network technology though.

Your first touch with General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) and Mobile Packet Backbone Network (MBPN) was with Glo Nigeria, describe how it happened for us?

I had dropped off my CV with Glo Nigeria during the “mad rush” into Glo in 2003 after knowing I had no future in Cellcom about 6mths after being retained from NYSC, I was called for an interview as a Switching Engineer Trainee, honestly, I barely knew nothing about switching especially because I had been spending my time reading up CDMA and had just finished CCNA so I was practically all about IP and CDMA. During the interview, I was asked a number of switching related questions all of which I think I answered wrongly. Interestingly, one of the guys in the panel was the GPRS/WAP and MMS Manager; he looked at my CV and saw I had written that I had knowledge of CDMA, the interview then turned to be a two way question and answer session between me and him (he told me later that I had given him the exact answers he had wanted), he finally then asked if I knew the meaning of GPRS, I then smiled as though, “what a question?” and then answered. He then decided to take me from the switching position I was been interviewed for to the GPRS O&M position he had under him that was the first stage of the interview that day, I had one more technical interview and two HR interviews afterwards. I got the job a couple of months after.

I am privy to the knowledge that you have never attended any Computer school and that your development was mostly self-taught and through hardwork, any advice on how to tow that route?

I actually did attend a Computer school after SSCE and by the time I had graduated from the university, I could not remember anything about computers, it was Windows 3.1, DOS, BASIC, DBASE and the likes that I had learnt for just 3mths though. As for advising, I’d say its all about interest, for me, reading is out of interest, I have been reading since I left the university and I have been able to sustain it because I kept up and am keeping up my interest in telecommunications and technology as a whole.

Most people tend to think that techies like you don’t have business skills. Can you disprove them?

Well, they won’t be wrong in thinking so seeing how techies have always turned out. I, on the contrary think you can develop business skills and even build a business around your technical abilities. I guess the only way I can disprove anyone who does not agree is to build a viable and profitable business based on my technical abilities myself.

When was the first time you realized you can become an expatriate at what you do?

After I had worked with an expatriate who was employed by Ericsson Nigeria and more so after the same guy had asked me what I was still doing in Nigeria as a local. Before then, I had only thought of working abroad like guys do in the UK et al now.

Describe your first shot at consultancy abroad and how it succeeded or failed? Lessons from the experience?

I declined the very first interview I was to have as a consultant because I was not mentally ready to leave home then. By the time I was ready, I had 2 job offers – 1 in Haiti for Digicel Haiti which used Ericsson equipments and the other with Siemens in Cote ‘d Ivoire which used Cisco equipments, I turned down the Siemens guys because I really wanted to work with Ericsson equipments and also because they didn’t seem very straight – I’m sure you know of the very many problems Siemens have been having lately, especially about bribery. The Haiti one did not work out as well because I had a problem securing a transit visa from the French embassy so the contract was eventually canceled after a number of visa trials. In all of it, I think I would say perhaps God wanted me in Kenya which was the next opportunity that came and it greatly helped my skill set, actually in ways I can’t even begin to express here. As for the lessons I learnt in all of it, I was happy I knew all what I said I knew; the image of the Nigerian Youth is so so bad and its something I think we all as Nigerian Youths should go the extra mile in trying to better in our conducts and lifestyles as individuals so I wasn’t just going to be another Nigerian guy with some twisted story, claiming to be who he is not.

You are GPRS/MPBN Expert/Consultant providing service for the leading Telecoms vendor in the World. How many countries have you provided these services in?

11 Countries all in Africa including Nigeria

Can you try to describe what your job entails for us?

In a brief, it involves Design and Implementation of Mobile Packet Backbone Networks – IP Backbones for Telecoms Operators that use Ericsson as their Telecom Equipment vendor. I also integrate GPRS Nodes, SGSNs and GGSNs.

If you think deeply, what is the greatest factor in getting to the point you are today and why?

Well, I would say God just answered my wishes. Other than that, I decided to pursue my interests and was blessed to have had the avenues and opportunities to have expressed myself. So the greatest factor would be my desires and drive all based on my interest, again I guess I was a bit daring in following my interests through and through.

Who is/are your role models?

Not sure I can say I have role models because I believe we all are in this world for different purposes and to achieve different goals this should not be mistaken for being conceit as I have people whose work and excellence in their endeavors have greatly inspired me as a person and as an engineer and these people have come in different stages of my life and career and there are some now and I guess many more to come. For those inspiring my future (which I believe would best fit the profile of role models as you have asked) are the likes of Jim Ovia whose community development efforts and selflessness is profound, not to talk of his being able to mastermind one of the most respected financial institutions in Nigeria today; Aliko Dangote and Mike Adenuga for having the courage to invest in Nigeria and providing jobs for very many Nigerian youths of which I was one. Many of us might have our reservations about the personalities of these people but their achievements are outstanding. If we were in their shoes, chances are that we might have been worse. I also am seriously inspired by my pastor Kingsley Okonkwo who was able to grow a church of young school leavers and fresh university graduates who had absolutely nothing into a church of young entrepreneurs and by simply believing in God and in their abilities, he really was not about the money he could but about the people. The common thing with all of these people I have mentioned is that they believe in Nigeria and the Nigerian human resource and trust me, haven travelled a bit around Africa and worked with peoples from around the globe, I know how valuable that human resource is.

Many think that the color of their skin shuts doors on them; do you have any advice for them?

Its only God that can shut a door and nothing will be able to open it, otherwise a man’s skill can make a way for him and his diligence can make him stand before kings.

Someone might be intimidated by your profile, how can they also start working towards their goal?

First know what you are truly cut out for, it is always something around that positive thing you are interested in, then begin to genuinely pursue it and trust me, nature will respond to you and then of course I won’t rule out the God factor as HE is able to do exceeding, abundantly above all you can ever ask or imagine.

If I present a young graduate interested in a Telecoms career to you – what are the steps you will recommend for the young person?

Same as in the last question

What are your long term career/business goals?

As for career, doing what I enjoy doing, which is providing solutions especially in the field of IP based telecommunications – using the available technology to better lives. As for business, building of businesses that would be able to generally better the lives of Nigerians and Africans such that the parts of the money made can be put back in the community and other parts used for furthering the gospel of Jesus Christ here on earth as everything is HIS and we are just custodians.

There is still a lot of skills gap in Africa especially in IT and Telecommunication. How can we bridge the gap?

First is by taking up the challenge being posed by the youths of the far east – Indians and Chinese especially, next is for those of us who have being blessed to be able to give back our knowledge, resources and time to the youths who are willing to take up the challenge and then of course pray and participate positively in politics so that we are able to get the right people that will create enabling environments for the development and operation of businesses and standardization of our educational systems so that we can tackle unemployment and idleness which are the strongest drivers of vices amongst the Nigerian and African youths.

What values do you hold tight in life?

Do unto others as you would want them to do to you which in others words are Love your neighbor as yourself, also honesty, fairness, equity. All of these for me are based on the gospel of Jesus Christ.

What do you do to relax?

Watching movies on the big screen, small screen series, TV channels like Discovery, History also E! and then of course reading.

It’s been a pleasure talking to you. Thanks for the time and the insights.

Today – I am happy to present a young man with a large heart to you. He is a man of high integrity, drive and a very passionate one at that. He is my very good friend and a confidant – one of those people I can vouch for no matter what. We share very similar ideals about values, family, career and giving back. He is a lesson in sacrifice and many can attest to the fact that he has contributed to their lives. His career has been a very interesting one – having worked his way from obscure companies to the big ones. Presently he is the manager in charge of planning ZAIN Nigeria’s Value Added Services as well as General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) from the Technical perspective as well as business justifications. My friend is married to my friend (figure it out) and they are a testimony to the fact that not all marriages suck. Bayodele can only go one way —- UP! Happy reading!

Hello Mr Olotu. Can we meet you?

My name is Bayodele Abimbola Olotu, born in the mid-late seventies at Ikere-Ekiti in what was then Ondo State. My parents were/are teachers and I have what can best be called a lower middle class background. I am happily married to Temitope, who I have clearly identified as the main proof of the fact that God is rather partial to me. I have a lovely baby daughter – Darasimi.

Thank you. I know you grew up in Akure but please let us into your years growing up. From Primary to Secondary School.

I attended St Peters Primary School, FUTA Staff School and Federal Government College, Idoani.

What about University and courses/certifications thereafter?

I am an alumnus of OAU, Ile-Ife. I am Microsoft Certified and a PMP among other things.

What is the biggest lesson you have learned about education from primary till date?

There is always something new to learn. I learnt to read wide and converse with those who are ahead. This broadens your scope and enriches your vision. However, you have to define what you will focus on and build expertise in – when push comes to shove no one needs a General Practitioner/Counsel/Manager.

Some people tend to think University is only for books. Can you share with us the effect of extra-curricular activities in Ife on your personal growth?

My dad, who is practically my wisest counselor, told me that in the olden days the Yorubas pray for your head, feet and chest. Your head symbolizes destiny; your feet will take you there, and your chest determines your friends/associations. I knew of the firt two but the third was new – and so true.
In Ife I met and thankfully chose good friends. I attended the ECU and served in various capacities including Drama, Organising, Small Business Management, etc. I also served as PRO of my Departmental Association.
These taught me faster than any lecture room about the challenges of life and the place of personal drive and innovation. I also learnt to give and assist others. Today, I happily support others’ vision and derive joy in being a positive influence. I have lost count of the number of ‘small jobs’ that I got through friends – and my last 2 main jobs were via same.

You studied Mechanical Engineering in the University, how come you always wanted a career in ICT?

Well…did I always? I wanted to attend Ife and study Engineering …the tougher the better as I had a knack for not reading much but doing well in Idoani. Ife cut me to size – First I came in for Chemistry and 100L cut me to size, and after changing to Mech I enjoyed life better but had to play catch up. I am very practical so lots of the ‘forces’, ‘moments’, ‘torque’ that was only on paper nearly did me in. I stuck to it but was more interested in Drama and later, computing. These were more real to me at the time.

You managed Shekinah Ventures in OAU and did it very well- what lessons came from that experience?

Shekinah was into computing, internet services and photography. From part IV to my extra semester, this small cubicle shaped my life. There, I learnt computing, ran a business, cut my first deals, understood coordination and how to manage employees, etc.
I learnt to take opportunities as they don’t last forever. I learnt to believe God to grow a business. I learnt that ideas actually ruled the world. I also learnt a bitter one – that businesses don’t exist in a vacuum and when in a tough position, having a great Christian in authority who doesn’t understand people and politics can be a total liability.

What is the importance of starting something in life no matter how small?

I cannot over-emphasize it. You don’t know yourself until you face the odds and DO SOMETHING.

We will love to hear about your first post-NYSC job in Lagos

Ah! Datasphir. Midway into NYSC I started buying Guardian. I didn’t have Lagos connections and could not stand to be unemployed, so my applications flew fast and furious. One day I got called for a test – I’d applied as a Linux Admin and instead got taken as a web apps developer. This was where I saw Linux, Apache, MySQL, PHP in action and learnt advocacy with the Nigerian Linux Users Group, rolling into UNILAG, LASU, NTA etc. I moved on after a year, but this was the real school that I attended.
Salary wasn’t great but did I learn a lot? Definitely!

Tell us about your Huawei days including how you got the job

Sheriff and I worked together in Datasphir before he moved to Huawei as a Software & Solutions [IN&VAS] Engineer. He told me when the next batch came out; I applied and got in.
There I learnt SS7, NGN and Telecomms from scratch. It was a puzzling, funny, tough, paradoxical, fantastic experience. I mean, these guys literally throw the book at you. I think if they paid more and kept their guys happier, fewer guys would exchange the jump-about work of an equipment vendor for a static desk in some telco.

What does your present job in ZAIN entail?

I am involved in Technical Planning for Value Added Services & GPRS. It involves quite some platforms and services and interfaces with Switching, BSCs, Charging, Mediation etc, so I have to know about those. As a business it also involves product development/management, contracts, financial processes, security etc. So I know something about those too. Full deets are at www.linkedin.com/pub/2/b26/669

Interesting – please share with us the necessary ingredients for a successful Telecoms career

I would say curiosity and the willingness to learn new things and not repeat mistakes. A relevant degree is a big plus as well, but this is dependent on what you want to do. There are PR/sales/marketing/etc functions in telecoms, and in the next few years these would be the majority.

As a man with many talents – highly technical and an array of skills ranging from product and project management to processes; how can one get to learn all these?

Keep reading, keep improving, keep learning. No one is too small to learn from. A book or two to ground you on telecoms end to end [yep even the aspects that aren’t your specialty] would surely help.

Some people are interested in Project Management – can you describe the job of a Project Manager to them?

I think www.pmi.org will do a better job.
However suffice to say that Project Management is a coordinating activity that requires a variety of competencies which are necessary in order to deliver time-bound objectives at the right cost/quality.

You are one of those who practically learned ICT skills on their own – how can one do this?

I think all that is required is access to a computer. You start from what is closest to you and take it from there. After getting a general understanding you choose what looks best to you to pursue, and give it all you have. ICT is fun; you shouldn’t have to be bored doing it. A small employment could accelerate things too. I agree with Segun that schools are for those who don’t have access to computers constantly.

Some people would look at you and think your parents must have known people in high places for you to be where you are. Any advice for them?

My parents know the Lord – for which reason I am blessed. They have also helped lots of folks and I attribute much of the grace that their children enjoy to this. As per people in high places, nah.

What is your favorite quote?
Dem plenty. But I particularly like these two – ‘God hasn’t failed in 6000 years; He’s not about to start now’, and ‘The sky is big enough for every bird to fly’.

What are the values that guide your life?

Hardwork, Fairness, a fun-loving nature and Personal Responsibility.

You are married with a daughter. Does that slow your career growth?

No. in fact a smile from her is good for erasing the pressures of the day. I now think a little bit more responsibly and take slightly fewer risks though – I think.

What kind of books do you read?

I read novels to relax, technical books and nowadays, business/strategy/project books.

What do you do for leisure?

I read, browse the ‘Net, visit and spend time with my two girlfriends [Tope & Dara]. Lately I have been doing some community service via free CAPM Trainings in my church.

A young person is in a Secondary school and she wants an ICT career. Please give her a candid advice on the way forward.

First she needs to get her Maths and Physics right. Then she should work on getting computer literate – holiday classes are great for that.

Final advice to young people who don’t understand that anyone can reach their goals.

Go and read ‘The Audacity of Hope’, and every back-issue of the New York Times that you can find online. If a man who would have been a slave free of charge 200yrs ago, whose father didn’t even wait to bring up, who lived in Indonesia and Hawaii, who was the only black man in the Senate, whose opponents all discounted because of every reason you care to name, who has no family tree/landmark legislation/foundation/illustrious relative to boast of, can rule America and inspire the whole world, then your dream to be a success isn’t too great, is it?

Thank you very much sir

Same to you.

Once upon a time in Vmobile Nigeria (Now ZAIN Nigeria); three young men resumed at a particular department in Technical and were referred to as the 3 Musketeers. Yes – 3 musketeers because they all came from IT backgrounds but in a short period became very successful at their new Telecom jobs and rose to be the team leaders of their respective units at a record time. Today – I interviewed one of the 3 musketeers who is a Messaging Specialist and one with a very great story. This young man exudes confidence and has successfully proved bookmakers wrong by conquering the Telecoms industry from a Biochemistry background. His story once again confirm that we can do anything if we put our minds to it. Happy reading!

Profile

Oluwasegun is a Prince from the Kosoko royal house of Lagos. He is a graduate of Biochemistry from the Lagos State University, Ojo. From biochemistry Segun diversified into ICT in the early 2000 (a step I call an ordination of God) and started his first job as a graduate trainee with Crystal Network and later became Ag Head of support. In Crystal Netwok, I learned all the basis of ICT, networking, wireless, windows and unix server adminstration etc.. Since then he has moved to become a telecoms professional with specialties in messaging systems. Currently he works as an Integration Engineer with Airwide Solutions a reknowed global messaging telecoms vendor in the UK operation. Before now he has worked with Zain Nigeria as an Interactive and Messaging Support Specialist and Negris group as System and Network Administrator. Currently I am also writing out my mine as regards careers in a blog called Career Clinic (http://segun-kosoko.blogspot.com/). Segun loves the art or Arts&Entertainment and he has being privileged to perform in some stage plays. He has also written some plays which have being performed. I am a lover of God and have a great passion for his work. I am married to a pretty darmsel called Oluwaseyi. I have three sisters and my parents are still very much alive.

Can we meet you sir?

My name is Oluwasegun Olojo-Kosoko. I am a Nigerian married to a beautiful, young and intelligent lady – Oluwaseyi. I am from Lagos State.

Please describe your educational journey from Primary to Tertiary

Primary was Tunwase Nursery/Primary School, Adeniyi Jones, Ikeja. Set ’90
Secondary was Loyola College, Ibadan. set ’96
Tertiary was The Leading African State University, some people call it Lagos State University, LASU, Ojo. set ’02
Also have one small certificate from Wits Buisness School of Witwatersrand University in south Africa. Set YTP ’07

Any lessons from your Loyola College days?

Hmmmm….Loyola College. I would say I learned life in Loyola. I say this because my Christian walk started out while I was in Loyola (I got born again in Loyola). Loyola also taught me how to be independent.

What about your University days, are there impacts from then that gave you directions for today?

Major impact I would say was shaping my destiny and being able to impact my world. Being a student of LASU to me meant being able to face life realities on your own. With a course like Biochemistry and a bleak career future. Then all you had to leave on was just the word and promises of God. Learning this early in life gave me directions for my today

Were you involved in any developmental activities in your University days?

Yes. First was representing my level in the Internet committee for Biochemistry department (then I was in year 2), Was also vice-chairman electoral committee for my departments in 2000/2001, was member Student union editorial committee at a point. I was responsible for the building of the animal research lab for biochemistry.

Tell us about your volunteer experience in University

The most interesting was the animal research lab. At a point when people who were doing projects required to use the animal house or the research lab they would come and get the keys from me, so one day someone came to meet me asking for Mr Segun (as if I was a lecturer or graduate assistant) and I was with my friends. Everyone started laughing and making jest that I would be retained as a lecturer. But in fairness, at every point it was interesting, because it’s good to serve. I get happy when I see people get satisfied or when they get what they are looking for.

Did you choose to study Biochemistry and why?

I did and I did not. I said I did because I filled it in. I did not because I actually wanted to study medicine. The reason I did was because its the closest to Medicine. Even though I don’t think I remember a cycle again… I don’t think I choose wrongly.

Describe your first contact with a computer

First contact was in primary school, which is the normal computer class… like 5 people to one computer … you eventually don’t do anything. . But then it was not really a contact. The next I can remember again was in a friend’s house in 1997. He had a computer with internet in his house …. it was a Compaq 386 window 98 OS……I was looking fascinated about his speed of typing and then the internet. Same day I opened an email address, Then I used to leave Alagbado to Surulere then to use his computer in his house. Now we both lol about it. Then my major contact with a computer system was when I started my first job in 2002. I opened up the case and started guessing which was the hard drive, memory and then processor.

When did you decide that ICT was the way for you?

I can’t say vividly. I would just say God ordered my steps. I can’t remember asking myself if I wanted to do ICT. It started with a passion for the internet and things of ICT. Then also from a brother who kind of mentored me at that time. Then he was serving with an ICT company and I was doing my IT in LUTH. We go to work together and return together. While I wait for him in his office I hear lots of stuff and then get excited with the kind of job he was doing. Then, with time God ordered my step and here I am today in ICT. All this was between 1999 and 2002

Share your experience at your first job with us – your learning curve, experiences, salary, etc

ISSUES. This interview will not contain it o. Well it started out in Crystal Network in 2002, 5months after my final exams as a Biochemist. I applied in January to an ICT company since I knew my set was not going to meet the National Youth Service Corp camp in February, I was called to resume in July with a salary pack of N6,000/month. I was excited and started. I was living in Iba estate and the office was in Ikeja, It cost me on a monthly basis N5,000 for transportation. It was not easy but I had to put through. I remember my 1st month salary was sowed/given as a seed in my church. Three months after it got increased to N16,000. .. yes…its a testimony. That is for the salary part.
The learning curve was painful. Sleepless night in the office and running errands for my superiors. I had a notebook (I wish I can still find it) I always write anything my superiors do in my presence. When alone, I try them and master them. I can remember running errands from Lagos to Abeokuta. All I went to do was give my senior colleagues a connector which they forgot in the office. Or when I go to site with any of them, I carry the tools and then they use it and give back to me. Then if you ask a question it was as if you wanted to know too much or too fast. So I always made sure I was watching and did not care about what they said. I remember my HOD saying to me while configuring a router that I should shut up that I came here to learn. It was said in a Nigerian language called Yoruba. “daka sebi o wa ko ise ni”.
The experience was fantastic. It’s the basis of all I know now. If I had not had to opportunity to install or configure a Linux server then, I would have probably not being able to do anything today.

Has your Biochemistry degree ever put you at disadvantage in the ICT industry?

NO, people hardly believe I studied Biochemistry. In fact I say it has always being an advantage.

What about your second job, any lessons from that for us?

My Second job was with an Oil and gas company as a Network/System Administrator. I got fed up of it under 4months. Reason being there were no major challenges. There were some battles with Exchange server and Active directory but I was able to surmount them as the network was not a very large one, about 200 users. I got fed up because there was nothing and nobody challenging me.

I believe your foray into Telecoms was a turning point in your ICT career. Can you describe how you got the job?

I will like to say at this point that relationship matters a lot. Never burn a bridge or break one, for you might need that path someday. My foray to telecoms was just another step God ordered and thinking back am so grateful to him. it started by a friend telling me to send my CV to one of his friend who works with then vmobile that they are looking for a Linux administrator (he could not apply because he does not know Linux… same Linux I learnt from a N6,000 job I would have declined). A friend I initially did not want to warm up.
I did as he said, then the meticulous friend of his sent me back a reply that my CV is not standard (a CV I use to pride in). I edited and sent back to him and did not even blink. Weeks after i got a call for an interview. At the interview I was the 14th and last person for that day. It was the most difficult interview I ever attended. In the interview was Segun Ajayi, Adebayo Juba and Ibidapo Ilawo (Stone). Months after I got a call for my letter of employment. Why I was chosen, I don’t know. I wish to find out someday. I thought I was coming into an IT department to support Linux servers like I know them, not knowing I was coming into telecoms. Like I said earlier… my life course as being ordered by God… I know nothing about it.

Tell us about the Certifications you hold?

E neva plenty, MCP, ITIL, PRINCE2. I failed my CCNA and did not try it again. If we should list that of Telecom vendors, that one plenty small. From, Ericsson to Airwide, ATOS to CaTs.

Are certifications very necessary for a successful ICT career?

No I would say, what matters most is experiential knowledge. Certifications can just be an added advantage to stand as an edge during selections process. But what sells you is your experience and not your Certificate. I have attended so many interviews in Nigeria and also I would say globally, I have not being asked which certificate do you have. The most important question is can you do this? Have you done it before? How do you do it in a scenario such as this? etc… The answers are from experience and not from ‘pali’.

About your degree again – did you have to attend computer schools to get to this level?

No o! Computer school ke? No computer school can give you all I said above. In fairness I consider it a waste of time for a graduate. But please if you don’t have access to a computer, try find a computer school. You only find computer schools in developing countries… I say it’s a disease of the illiterate. Forgive my language am not being derogatory here.

So what do you do presently?

I work for a Telecoms vendor in the UK as a Delivery Engineer. In layman terms as an Integration Engineer. Delivery in the sense of Project Delivery. (we all don’t like the name)..lol

What are your values?

My values are simple;
Do to others what you want others to do to you for What a man sow, that he shall reap
Faith and positive thinking
Love
Respect man
Fear God
In these 5 you would find grace to live.
Tell us about your believes and God?
Wow!!… Am a strong believer of God and in the resurrection power of his son which is unto mankind’s salvation for them that believe…….and in his second coming.
I see myself as worshiper of God and I consciously live it.

What is your opinion about nurturing relationships and the effect on career progression?

Your relationship would make or destroy you. Never burn a bridge. Every relationship should be nurtured because it can be a potential assistance for your career path. You need only one person to get you through your choice of career. If that relationship is being destroyed, you will remain un-fulfilled for a long time or for life if care is not taken.

How can a young person interested in following this career path with a seemingly non-ICT related degree start her/his journey?
Determination and Passion is the word.

You run a blog aimed at helping young people to represent themselves well on their CV. Please tell us about it and the URL
http://segun-kosoko.blogspot.com/

Parting words to our audience
Leave things that can’t be changed and focus on things that can be changed.
Don’t dwell on Yesterday for its gone forever, Today is here make use of it, for your Tomorrow which is coming.
Be the change you want to see in the world.

Ibidapo Ilawole popularly known as Daddy Stone by his many admirers is a man of many wonderful parts. He is married with a beautiful daughter. He exemplifies the word humility to a fault even when we all know the depth he possesses. His profile is a very intimidating one that most of us look up to and his ability to inspire and lead is very awesome. His meritorious career has spanned many years and took him through IT companies, a top bank in Nigeria, Econet/Vmobile Nigeria, Cingular Wireless in the United States, Ericsson Consultant for Telma in Madagascar and Mcel Mozambique.
He is any Engineer’s dream and a mentor for many young Engineers he has impacted throughout his career.
I am a testimony of his leadership and inspirational sides as he was my boss in Vmobile Nigeria where he introduced me into the Telecoms world. He did not only impact a good work culture into me but his impeccable and cultured lifestyle was a big lesson for me. He opens the floor of this series because I see in him a manager of men, talented individual and someone who through hardwork and dedication turned his life around. I am quite sure you will learn a thing or two from this gentleman. As promised – you will have the opportunity to ask him questions through a medium to be communicated soon. Happy reading!

Let us meet you sir:

My name is Ibidapo Olaniyi Ilawole or Stone as most people call me

What do you do?

I work as a Telecommunications Engineer

Educational journey from primary to Post-Secondary:

Fountain Nursery & Pry School,
Ansar-ud-deen college isolo,
C.A.C Grammar school Akure
Oyemekun Grammar school Akure
C.M.S Grammar school Lagos (A Levels)

Can you describe your Secondary school years for us?

Very interesting haven spent the early part of it in Lagos before moving to Akure and meeting new people and making new friends.
It also allowed me to have a round view of what it meant to be a day student and also a boarding student (border as it is called)
It was full of adventure fun and it actually marked a turning point in making a decision for me.

What about University?

I attended the University of Lagos Akoka and studied Electrical Engineering both at BSC and MSC levels

What lessons did you take from your Secondary and University days that is shaping your life today?

Hmmmn like I said earlier, my secondary school marked a decision making point in my life.
Failure would always come if we do not prepare, I learnt the need to prepare with a focused mind towards a target

At what point did u know that IT/Telecoms career was your choice?

Hmmmmn interesting, now let’s see. That would be around the early eighties when I started watching documentaries on Arthur C. Clarke on communication satellites. It always fascinated me to see people could talk without any visible medium

Please tell us about your first job – when, what you were doing and your first salary and what happened next?

My first job was after NYSC was at Image Technologies (Bull Computers) located at 89a Ajose Adeogun street V.I.
Was employed as a Computer Hardware Engineer and the company specifically made sure the put the title “Trainee Hardware Engineer” on our complimentary cards which we saw as not too cool so we used tipex to blur out the Trainee part.. hehe.
As regards salary .. hehe I was paid N80,000 per annum and when you are shuttling between Mile 2 and V/I it puts a big strain on your pocket (1994/95) nevertheless life still continued.
It took me to quite a number of places in Nigeria, Kaduna,Port Harcourt, Ogun state, Niger State and Ibadan in Oyo state.

It was basically working on DPX 20/IBM AIX servers and also DPS6000 minicomputers and peripherals.
I left the company after working for one year on the day of the christmas party.

How many countries have you worked in?

Just four countries so far namely Nigeria, USA,Madagascar and Mozambique.

When did you realise it is possible for Nigerians to work as expatriates outside Nigeria?

Always known that since way back but I guess the main thing is to be able to have good skills to be able to sell to the world a large.
Nigeria in terms of development is more of a late starter and there are quite a number of technologies that should have arrived in the country long ago but due to the political instability experienced over a long period of time and lack of exposure of Nigerians at that time.

Tell us about your experience consulting for the largest GSM company in the united States:

Well it was great and one thing I have found out is that people tend to localize on a particular skill set rather than try to become a Jack of all trade and not mastering any.
It affords you the opportunity to interact and also learn a lot of new technologies.
The sheer size of the networks in the United States is intimidating compared to the one box systems in various countries in Africa.
You would be really challenged and also motivated to be part of a team that appreciates your inputs and also willing to learn and share from you.

What is the greatest motivation you have that set you apart?

Well my greatest motivation Jah.
Be it as it may seem .. Jah means God to the Rastafarians. Mind you, Rasta is not a religion, on the contrary.
It is a way of life, a lot of people always have that mis-overstanding
God inspired me thru music and specifically thru reggae music.
You need to really sit down and remove all ism and skism and listen to reggae and you would appreciate that the message is so powerful and vibrant.

Can you tell us the importance of hardwork and dedication as prerequisites for success?

Hardwork!! Hmmmmn, I think it is important for human beings.
Anything in life requires dedication, perseverance and follow thru.

How did you learn so much about Unix when it was still so new in Nigeria?

Well if u say so much it depends on the aspect of Unix you are talking about.
I think everything in life is just a matter of familiarity.

Describe your journey into becoming one of the foremost GPRS Engineers in Africa:

I would say I am just a normal individual and do not see myself as described.

When people see your accomplishments and CV, they are bound to be intimidated. Can you allay their fears and tell them you are just human and advise them on steps to take?

Hey!!! like I said earlier , I am just a individual who is trying to be myself.
Confront your fears and overcome them.
Just an easy going fellow with an intrinsic mind of been myself and probably expressing myself in a very quiet manner.

What kind of degree can someone have to get into Telecommunications, especially the data world?

Well electronics or electrical or computer science/engineering not to say that with strong interest, if you studied other things and you are willing you can still make a difference.

Do you have to go to computer schools for this?

No you don’t have to go to computer Schools; experience they say is the best tutor.

Can you describe a day in your life from waking up to going to bed?

Hehee Ayobami na wa for you o!
My normal life on a daily basis, putting everything before Jah as you wake in the morning having a clear idea of what you intend doing and keeping track of the things laid out for the day.
Assessing what I did or did not accomplish at the end of the day and thanking the Most High Jah at the end of the day once again.

Tell us about your thoughts on perseverance:

Perseverance is very key for any human being. It is one of the key components that propels human beings.
The thought of it keeps dreams alive.
If there is no thought of it in you as a person, it creates a vacuum and there is no drive to move on.
Like my lecturer Dr Mowete would say
If I do not know something, I would ask from you,
If you teach me and I don’t understand, I would ask you again even if you laugh at me.
If I don’t understand again I would ask you again.
But once I master it, I would not come back to you and you would not laugh at me again.
A lot of people are afraid of people laughing at them so they never persevere.
People would laugh at you and say things but the key fact is to be guided and very focused, God willing you will reach your destination.

Some people burn bridges where they work. Any advice for them?

That is pretty simple. They are making the world a pretty smaller place for themselves.
When you burn bridges you cannot go back there.
What goes around comes around.
Life is like a beautiful ship but beware of her propellers.

Apart from your adept technical skills, what other factors contributed to your growth?

My Mother

What do you enjoy doing?

Listening to music, meeting people and clean environment

There are a lot of young people with no dreams or those limiting their potentials. What advice do you have for them?

Every human being has a purpose in life and until you discover who you are.
The discovery period varies for every human being but parental guidance plays a key role in the lives of young individuals.
Bob Marley and his music was a great impact

What is your secret?

Secret ? No secret. But if you are talking about my life so far. It’s obvious ..Jah is my strength

Final advice to young people who desire to tow your career line

Nothing is impossible with hard work, motivation and dedication and above all God’s infinite mercy and direction.
Don’t give up the fight.