Nigeria Has Potential To Be As Advanced As Wakanda By – Ajiri Gunn, Microsoft Learn Student Ambassador.

Enormous potential Nigeria’s future has is not lost on us at 1010 coding and being in conversation with Ajiri Gunn alludes to the fact that we are not alone in our resolve. Ajiri Gunn a student of Electrical and Electronics Engineering at the Federal University of Technology, Akure is an avid and serial programmer who freelances as a software developer for mobile and desktop platforms, working with languages like C++, Java, Flutter, and more. He also performs a guide and mentor role as Microsoft Learn Student Ambassador Program where he has unbridled access to learn new technologies, as-it-happens news and industry updates, and international community networking and then passes the knowledge and information he garners on to others through organized seminars and strategic training. He in fact at the time of the interview, was out of his base state for the same purposes. The Microsoft program also attracts a 150 dollar monthly allowance to experiment and apply his knowledge. He describes the opportunity with Microsoft as a “monumental flagship”. 

Another landmark moment of note for Ajiri came after experiencing an astronomically spiked and increased inclination, love, and understanding for the sciences at his secondary school level. He then found himself representing his school, and soon after, his state, at science quizzes and competitions. One of such expeditions lead him to secure a spot at the Exposure Robotics Academy where he was interestingly opportune to belong to a group that was paired with a Nigerian mentor, the only Nigerian of the set of mentors who majorly consisted of students of Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Ajiri believes that his mentor’s status of being Nigerian and knowing the challenges that constitute made him harder on his mentees than any other designated mentor at that time. While the intensity made other members of his group swear off coding and programming, the experience birthed a roaring excitement for coding in him.

“Communication and Presentation skills and Coding and Cyber-security are needful skills to have nowadays”

An added gift the Microsoft Student Learning Program has afforded Ajiri is exposing him to the importance of credentials and certifications. This is why he is constantly updating his certification portfolio and looks to make that his focus for the next five years. He also hopes to be valued by a fine tech company to assert him and his skills as a sound developer. Additional educational degrees, including a Master in Computer Science or any of its related fields, also constitute what Ajiri is seeking to achieve in the near future.

One thing Ajiri would tell his younger self is to be more interested and involved with people he yearns to provide solutions for and belong to more communities and coding networks as coding in isolation earlier on made him develop a false sense of achievement which in his words could be “ensnaring” and detrimental to growth even as a self-taught coder. Interaction with other coders solving similar problems gives one insight into world best practices and standards.

The amount of talent, skills, and ingenious creativity the ambassadorial ride has now exposed him to have led Ajiri to posit that Nigerians in the right environment can develop systems as revolutionary, if not more, than the fictional land of Wakanda, from acclaimed movie, Black Panther and there are numerous examples of citizens leaving the Nigerian soil to create pristine work in other countries to show as examples. He is convinced that Nigerians have brilliant, globally competitive brains and minds that can build a tech-driven future under conducive circumstances.

“Even if you’re a Lawyer, eventually you’ll start working with these automated systems, so it’s good to know how these things work,”

This is why he enjoins parents and stakeholders to see the enormous potential keying into the digital age has, both in terms of financial rewards and career options. Contrary to popular belief, learning to code, in his opinion, contributes to academic pursuits as it sharpens students’ minds to comprehend academic concepts, however complex, and is thus complementary in producing well-rounded students and not a distraction or a skill for fraudsters.

We were curious as to what Ajiri would describe as top soft and hard skills to have by 2021 were and they came up as; Communication and Presentation skills and Coding and Cybersecurity.  On Cyber-security “Of course, you don’t need to know it all, because that’s a big field on its own but it’s good to know how the internet works so you can take measures to protect your data, wherever you work in, you will be connected to the internet at some point so cybersecurity is an important skill to know“, Ajiri asserted.