Author: kiki abuja

Kofo Akinkugbe is a highly respected techpreneur and the founder of SecureID, a foremost player in providing smartcard solutions for the banking sector and the telecoms industry in Africa. She is also one of Africa’s thought leaders on the subjects of entrepreneurship and innovation in the technology sector.

Koforowola Akinkugbe is the fourth child of her parents and grew up in a home where parental attention was in abundance. She credits her father for being hands-on and making himself available to spend time with his children.

“He brought us all together, taught us the rudiments of life, and taught us the values of hard work, discipline and honesty, as well as building up our Christian faith. Being the best was very important to him, and I remember that he would teach us math at weekends because it was important to him that we were all good at math. I had a very inclusive and loving family that was larger than life. I grew up in a very strong Christian background; I also remember how my dad would bring all his children together for prayers at 6 a.m. every day, which has lived with me until now.”

Her mother she noted, was not left out beccause even after her father passed on at a young age, the matriarch of the family filled the gap in raising the children to become successful in their endeavours.

She attended Corona, proceeded to the Methodist Girls High School, and went abroad for a short time before returning to Nigeria to attend the University of Lagos where she graduated as a prize-winning graduate in Mathematics. She later took up a Chevening Scholarship to study for an MBA at Strathclyde Graduate Business School Scotland, UK.

Over the years, she has also taken other courses including the Owner/President Management Programme with the Harvard Business School in 2020, the Blue Ocean Strategy Programme with LBS-INSEAD in 2010, and the Essentials of Leadership course with the London Business School.

From Banking to Entrepreneurship, it is interesting to note that even though Kofo had always ran away from mathematics in her early education, she ended up toeing the path and even winning a prize as the best student in the faculty.

“I studied mathematics, which I never imagined I would do. It’s one issue that I know my dad had with me. I was always running away from mathematics, but I ended up choosing it as a major,” she recounted.

After graduating, Kofo knew that she did not want to continue on that path and going into a banking career seemed like a valid alternative.

“When I left the university, I knew that I didn’t want to stay on as a lecturer or go on to do a postgraduate degree or anything of the sort. But I loved mathematics so much that I won the first prize in the faculty, but I knew that I wouldn’t continue with it and be in the education field. When I left the university, working in banking was the coolest thing. And I thought, at a young age, that I wanted to work in one of the best banks at that time.”

After completing the one year mandatory Nigerian Youth Service Corps, she joined the International Merchant Bank (IMB), a Nigerian affiliate of the First National Bank of Chicago, and later worked for Chartered Bank as a pioneer staff member. She spent a total of 12 years in the banking industry before leaving to start Interface Technologies in 1997.

“Banking was very good at shaping my management skills, and it was a career I thought I would end up rising in the ranks. I thought I was going to be an executive director or managing director of a bank. But I think I got to a crossroads when I started raising a young family, and I felt I needed more time to focus on raising my young girls. I wanted to spend more time with my young family. Being at home taking care of my girls, I thought to get another job that would give me more time, but whilst I was home, an idea of biometric technology came up in some discussions I had, and that was how I set up my first company, called Interface Technologies, which allowed me to work from home,” she narrated.

Interface Technologies Limited (ITL) was established as a security management and biometrics technologies company. It provided security management systems, such as access controls, CCTVs, and all kinds of security management solutions for clients. From starting the business in her house with one staff, Akinkugbe moved out and employed up to 40 staff, eventually running the business for nine years.

In 2006, Kofo Akinkugbe started SecureID Nigeria Ltd. This small company was an offshoot of a small department in Interface Technologies and would soon become the first VISA-certified plant in sub-Saharan Africa. SecureID is focused on the production of banking and telecom cards with a mag stripe and chip encoding.

SecureID is not just in the business of creating MasterCard and Visa for several African countries, it “has been recognised as setting the standard for innovation and creativity in the SmartCard Sector in sub-Saharan Africa.”
Since its launch in 2005, SecureID has shown itself to be the market leader that would blaze the trail with innovations in card technology and solutions. SecureID is certified by Visa, MasterCard, and Verve for Chip Embedding, Chip Encoding, Chip Personalisation, Card Personalisation, and Card Fulfillment.
In January 2015, SecureID commissioned a brand new state-of-the-art manufacturing facility in Lagos state, Nigeria. The EMV-certified smartcard manufacturing plant was the first of its kind in Sub-Saharan Africa and would be used for the manufacturing of bank payment cards, SIM cards, SIM packages for the telecoms industry, and other high-security polycarbonate identity cards.

On May 10, 2015, SecureID unveiled a new online enrolment solution for Nigerian lawyers to aid the seamless enrolment of members to the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA). In January 2017, SecureID Ltd commissioned a SIM Card manufacturing line to support the needs of Nigeria’s rapidly growing mobile telecoms sector.
The company has business operations in 16 African countries, making it another testament to a manufacturing company founded in Nigeria that is competing successfully in a global market. In October 2012, SecureID Limited was named the Most Outstanding Mature Business in the 3rd African Leadership Network Awards for Entrepreneurship, in recognition of its excellent business practice.

Speaking about her entrepreneurial journey, Akinkugbe said; “There were many learnings in finance, so by the time I started my entrepreneurial journey, I knew what it was to try and access finance. I knew what it was to write a business plan, analyse the risks very well, and execute flawlessly.
So, being in finance gave me those skills. Then, whilst I was in banking, I remember that I was in corporate banking and handling many manufacturing companies. So I felt a natural affinity for manufacturing, and going into manufacturing was fun.”

Despite the smooth business run that SecureID had, Akinkugbe was still on the lookout for ways to do things differently.

“I said I would rather disrupt myself than have external companies disrupt us. So this digital company looked at everything we do and saw how it could disrupt whatever we’re doing. So if we have physical cards, we can also have digital cards, right? If we have a physical driver’s licence, we can have an electronic driver’s licence, and so on, and that was how our fintech company was founded,” she explained.

In this way, Akinkugbe further branched out into producing digital cards and even e-tickets for the transportation sector so that commuters could download and use e-tickets to board, without necessarily having to get physical paper tickets.

It is no secret that Akinkugbe is big on innovations, and in fact, she has severally been quoted on it.

“We need to create an environment that would drive creativity. Do not be afraid to test new things. We must be creative, ensuring we are a step ahead of the competition. Keep innovating! Encourage staff to be innovative, and do things innovatively. There are so many opportunities out there. We live in a digital world, and we must respond to the dynamic changes that are going on around us.”

Culled from: Nairametrics

THE FORBIDDEN QUESTION… AGE!

By Emem Everest

As women, we usually talk about it in passing, giving several excuses and reasons our ages shouldn’t be asked. We say it’s rude to ask a woman her age. If I may ask, who even made that rule?
On social media, some ladies never get older than 30. When and how did ageing become a shameful thing?

I recently went to a friend’s office with my cousin who is 32 years old. My friend said he would like to introduce her to his single friend, and asked her age to which she replied “old enough”. I nearly punched her… lol.
This is a smart, beautiful girl, with a good job, doing very well for herself, yet couldn’t boldly state her age! Why hide it? According to her, she felt that at 32, my friend would think she was too old to introduce her to his friend.

My cousin’s situation made me realise that some women feel ashamed to be over 30. They believe that it’s ‘bad’ to be old. They think that being a certain age is not attractive or desirable, and girl!, could they be farther from the truth! There are several things that attract people. Age is the least! Hardwork, charisma, intelligence, kindness, confidence, sense of humour, attitude,  the list is endless.

So why is it considered rude to ask a woman her age? And why do some women feel the need to hide it, or refuse to give it out or, even worse, lie about it?

I planned a girls’ trip about two years ago, and one of the ladies nearly made us miss a promo because she wouldn’t send her passport data page on time. She later confessed to not wanting me to see her year of birth. Na this one Yoruba dey call, orishirishi… lol.

It’s also a thing to “declare age” in the workplace due to retirement age, and it seems like a normal thing now. Last week, I went to see an optician, while examining my eyes to determine why my prescription would change within a year, she jokingly asked, “what’s your real age, not the official one o?”. I asked her if the real one wasn’t supposed to be the official one. I’ve been self-employed most of my adult life and really don’t see a reason why I should claim to be younger.

To be honest, I like being asked my age, and it has never been a secret. It doesn’t help that my mother had us in 2 year intervals. So, even if I wanted to lie about my age, my older siblings who freely share their ages would blow my cover.

Also, about it being a rude question, why is it okay to ask men their age but not okay to ask women? Are we not pro equal rights anymore? If the word “old” is the problem, maybe we can change “How old are you?” to “What age are you?”. Hopefully, that will keep those women who are sensitive about their age happy, and those like me, who are proud of their age, happy too.

What do you think about being asked your age? Do you think it depends on who’s asking, how they ask, and the reason for being asked?

Are you honest about your age when asked? What is your age? Tell me in the comments.

THIS THING CALLED INTUITION

By Nkiru Ogbuli 

I looked up the meaning of intuition. “A natural ability or power that makes it possible to know something without any proof or evidence : a feeling that guides a person to act a certain way without fully understanding why.”

It is not something to ignore but I did just that last Monday.

You know how I had mapped out my days leading up to the Valentine’s day? Check here:

VALENTINE’S DAY IS COMING, KIKI IS STILL SINGLE

Well, that Monday evening,  there was nothing like going out in the picture for me but out of the blues, one of my on and off toasters decided his life depended on seeing me. Let me not lie, he is someone whose company I enjoy. He is an intelligent, witty guy though cocky most of the time. We met, had a great evening listening to some good music over some fish and drinks very close to the house. The evening ended, or so I thought. He dropped me at home and went on his way.

Earlier in the day, I had been chatting with someone else. Back story, I was at Abacha Barracks the previous Saturday to catch up with some friends. I had just made my way through the parking lot into the Mammy market when some guys beckoned on me. I just waved them off and continued walking. Then I heard, “You don’t even know who is calling you.” I muttered, ‘who the hell are you?’

I continued walking. A voice told me to go back and say hello. A voice or the journalist (amebo) in me, I can’t really tell. Who you know is everything these days too right? I walked back and they were so happy I went back. “What a mature lady!” “Your mother’s prayers on your head have been answered today.” I replied, amen! I exchanged numbers with one of them and  excused myself to meet with the friends I had come to meet with initially.

The guy chatted same evening me. The usual hello and hi and to know if I had got home safely. Nothing out of the ordinary. Coincidentally, the next day, a different number chatted me and noted how I was fairer on my display picture compared to the person he had seen the previous day. I thought nothing of it since even I myself had two, in fact, three WhatsApps. I should have been more vigilant and asked questions.

I was invited to join in watching Nigeria’s match against Ivory Coast in the AFCON Finals privately, you know,  at home or something. I turned it down, first I wasn’t going to meet someone I just met in a private place, secondly, I had made up my mind not to watch it. I didn’t want to put my heart through all that suspense. We all know how the match ended.

On Monday, the chats continued. It got to a point where the guy asked what I did for a living and after reading out my whole resumè, he said he might have a Ghost Writing gig for me. My mother’s prayers answered right? I was ecstatic. Around 1pm thereabouts, he invited me to Apo. I turned it down since I was working on scripts I had to turn in on Wednesday. I had mentioned it earlier in our chats.

Fast forward to past 10pm, when my on and off toaster had dropped me, a call came in. In fact, I had missed the call and called back. He said it was noisy where he was. I asked why he had called then. He said he had dropped me a message on WhatsApp and got no response. I opened WhatsApp and saw the message, “My contact has responded about the writing gig. Meet me at ——– Bar let’s discuss.” He said he was at Apo, that I should book a ride to him. I told him it was late and he replied that I could sleep out. 1st red flag! Something was off at this point.

I insisted I wasn’t going to sleep out. He said no problem. I reasoned that I needed to secure the gig and that a couple more drinks wouldn’t hurt. Worst-case scenario, I would call Grace and sleep in her place. I tried to order a Bolt and they were all busy. I chatted him and told him we could leave it for Tuesday since it was quite late and the taxis were all busy. This guy booked a ride for me! My intuition was becoming very loud yet the risk taker in me asked what could go wrong.

Before you could say Jack Robinson, the driver was already there. I hopped in and off we went. On getting there, I wanted to pay the driver and just go in but his call came in and asked that we waited there at the entrance. It meant we were not hanging out? 2nd red flag!

Someone tapped the boot of the car and hopped into the front seat. I looked at the person and couldn’t recognise him. This wasn’t the person I had given my number on Saturday. I got out of the car immediately while telling him I didn’t know him from anywhere. He offered no explanation and told the driver to drive.

I ordered a ride to go back home and it turned out to be the same driver who had dropped me and went to drop the mysterious guy. Apparently their destination was very close to the Bar. The driver told me how the guy said nothing throughout the ride and that the only thing he muttered was that he had shaved his beards. I told him I know the person I had given my number to on Saturday and that the guy was nothing close to him!

He commended me for alighting immediately I saw the guy wasn’t the person I was expecting, noting how other ladies would have just gone with the flow. Out of curiosity, I opened our chats and saw that he had deleted every message he had sent to me! I have an App that recovers deleted chats though I don’t know if I want to proceed with looking into who he really is and what his intentions were.

All I can say is, be safe out there! The world is a dark place. Always listen to and trust your intuition or instincts. They never lie. Once something appears off, it almost always is. I had a feeling something was not just right all along. I should have just called it a night after I was dropped off but I didn’t want to appear difficult or scared. So many things could have gone wrong that night. I don’t even want to think about it.

Stay safe people!

HAPPY ‘GALENTINE’S’ DAY CELEBRATION

By Emem Everest 

Valentine is coming, where’s your boyfriend? You are sitting at home… lonely (Sings in singleness…lol). Is this going to be you tomorrow? It doesn’t have to be!

I remember living in Benin City years ago. Days to Valentine’s, most shops display red outfits and on the D-day, every where is red! Couples do over-the-top stuff to prove their love for each other and out-do other couples too!

But what if you don’t join the bandwagon? What if you’re single by choice or happenstance, or that’s just where you are in your life right now? What if you’re in a relationship but can’t be with your loved one on February 14th? What if you are like me and don’t just like Valentine’s day?

Fortunately, there are alternative celebrations!!! Yesterday, a lady posted a video on our Finewiners whatsapp group about ‘Galentine’s’ day and everything in me related to it so much so that I had to do a little research.

What is ‘Galentine’s’ day?
‘Galentine’s’ day began in Season 2, Episode 16 of the TV show “Parks & Recreation” when Knope, played by Amy Poehler, took her girlfriends to a local diner to honor them with disturbingly specific gifts. How was the holiday celebrated? According to Knope:

• Leaving your boyfriends and husbands at home

• Kicking it breakfast style (i.e. go grab some waffles or pancakes at a local spot)

• Ladies celebrating ladies

The fun part is that you don’t have to be single to celebrate ‘Galentine’s’ day. It’s not a holiday meant to reflect on loneliness or bash the couples who will fill up the restaurants and your timeline tomorrow. It is a celebration of close (often female) friendship and of love in all its non-romantic forms.

Beginning from today, every 13th February is declared ‘Galentine’s’ day for me. I will celebrate my girlfriends and remind them of how much I love and appreciate them.

Have a love filled celebration tomorrow.

POWER OF THE MIND
By Emem Everest

Let me start by saying that I’m no pro on this topic. In fact, I just recently started leveraging on this superpower so, I still have a long way to go and a lot to learn. But one thing I’ve learnt through this journey is that our mind is the most powerful tool ever created by God!

The amount of data we can consume and store is mind-blowing. No matter how much information we take in, there is always room for more. There is room for the good, the bad, and the ugly! Can you beat that?!

What you feed the mind becomes your reality, at least, imaginary reality… lol. When we consume cringe, horrific & depressing content from social media, TV, and our environment, we start presuming that to be our reality. Have you ever watched a horror movie and couldn’t sleep at night because you kept hearing sounds from the movie all night? Exactly!

When you consume positive and inspiring content, there is a positive mind shift that helps you grow into a better human. Also, when we associate with ambitious and intelligent people, it tends to rub off on us, making us go getters. It’s a choice. Choose to fill your mind with fruitless information or to nourish it with important knowledge. It’s entirely your call.

This year, I made a conscious decision about what I consume from the media and the people I interact with. When I come across a video online, especially on WhatsApp groups, I read the reviews first to know if I should watch. Instead of mindlessly scrolling through social media feeds filled with negativity, I made the decision to follow accounts that inspire, motivate, and educate me, and also spend time with people who uplift me, challenge me, and contribute to my personal development.

Recently, I was involved in a very bad accident and can’t still understand how I came out alive! I was so full of gratitude for surviving that I didn’t even consider how much it would cost to fix my car! I even helped take care of the man who hit me because he was in a very bad state. I left that scene without any grudges or resentment towards him and just prayed he gets better. Later that night, while journaling, it occurred to me that earlier in the day, I had listened to a teaching on forgiving our offenders before they even offended us! It was stuck in my mind! Then the next day, when the bill to fix my car came, I wished I had collected the man’s number so he would pay for the damages… lol! OMG!

I didn’t have that kind of money laying around in January! This is where the power of the mind comes in again. Without money in my account, I affirmed that the car would be fixed and the universe heard me. Exactly 5 days later, the car was back in my house, fixed, sprayed, and looking as good as new! Positive or negative realities, they all starts in mind!

There are several positive contents and affirmations out there waiting for you to explore. From books and websites packed with insightful knowledge, to podcasts discussing a variety of intriguing topics, these resources can help you see the world in a different light every day and build your mind in ways that your subconcious will always send out good energy into the universe. What are you feeding your mind?

By Nkiru Ogbuli

I had been experiencing a sort of writer’s block if I may call it that. I’d just been thinking and could not just arrive on what to write until Friday evening. On the Finewiners Network WhatsApp group, we have developed an activity we call the ‘Hot Seat’. So, it was the turn of Finewiners Network  CEO Amb. Emem Everest to be on the Hot Seat. There was a question about tips on parenting and she said something in the lines of, ‘Children should be allowed to do chores…’

 I had been wanting to write on this subject matter but I don’t think I can exhaust everything I want to write here.  It is just laughable when you see parents who do not allow their children to do anything around the house. The children have the house helps at their beck and call. They think it is a flex that the children don’t do anything at home. Your child doesn’t do chores yet can not make their papers without ‘miracle centers’. I laugh in flex!

 The maltreatment of  house helps is another topic entirely. You go to some households, you can already tell who the house helps are. They look visibly unkempt. If it stopped at that, it would have been better. Over the weekend, yet another news broke of how a young woman burnt her house help to the point where she could not walk. Her private parts! What manner of wickedness is that? A woman! Who knows the pain of child bearing? Yet you shower your own children with love and expect that all will be well with you and yours?

I am curious as to how people sleep well at night knowing that they mistreat their domestic staff when the lives of their children and even theirs are in the hands of the helps literally. You want me to tell you how? Or is it the driver that can swerve that car, jump into the bushes and the rest will be rest in peace? It is not too late to make amends!

 I see people who when it’s time to pay their domestic staff  come up with one strategy or the other in order not to pay. In, fact some do it in such a way that every other month they are changing their helps because they do not want to pay them. It is either he or she has stolen something or has misused or lost something and it’s time to go and then they replace.  I just laughed at them! You think people were put on this Earth for you to play dumb games with? Play stupid games, win stupid prizes!

You also see people who have served in a particular household for years with no plans from the homeowners to set up such individuals. They were put on this Earth to serve you forever abi? You might argue that that was not part of the agreement and that they get paid maybe but, wouldn’t it be rewarding to you that you set up someone for life?

I tutored a lady privately on make-up. She called her house help to come join in. The girl also learns shoe making, not part of the agreement as she is being paid monthly but the lady said there was no need for her to be at home all through during the day doing nothing. Others would have manufactured chores to add to keep the girl busy throughout the day. And about the make-up, with good practice she would become a pro and also earn money from it! There’s no way she can forget her madam.

There are a lot children can learn from doing household chores. Children learn about what they need to do to care for themselves, a home and a family. Chores translate to skills they can use in their adult lives, like preparing meals, cleaning, organising and gardening to mention but a few. When children are involved in chores, it becomes an experience of relationship skills like communicating clearly, negotiating, cooperating and working as a team. The children begin to feel competent and responsible. Even if they don’t enjoy the chore, like me when I was younger, they feel a sense of satisfaction at an accomplished task.

People who still believe boys don’t need to do chores, you are doing a great disservice to the coming generations. Stop it! Change your ways if you are one of such people who work other people’s children to death and keep your own ‘golden’ children. But if you still feel that your children won’t pick up after themselves, fine, at least don’t cause bodily harm to anybody’s child because they are less fortunate than you are.

I hope that woman who burnt her house help is caught and made to face the full wrath of the law. The news is that she is nowhere to be found. There’s no hiding place for such monsters. She will be caught in due time.

Do have a nice week and be kind to people around you.

Last night, a friend called me. After the usual pleasantries, we talked about the situation of things in the country, how everything has become so expensive. We concluded by thanking God for His provision and prayed to be able to afford them no matter how expensive they get.

She then heaved a huge sigh and told me how she had been seeing a familiar face around Station market (if you know Kaduna very well) and one day, she was moved to ask. You see, the lady sells okra. She added that the okra in her pan should not be more than two thousand Naira. She approached the lady and it turned out they were Secondary School classmates!

My friend works in a Government parastatal and has side businesses. Now, there was a former classmate selling okra by the rail lines! Long story short, the next time my friend went there, she gifted the lady a little cash in an envelope and says she avoids that route now because she had become somewhat of a celebrity to the women there and that the lady was always trying to gift her her wares.

Three years ago, my sister was sick and in the hospital. It got to a time that every night, there would be a scream and accompanying wailing. People were dying. At that point, our only prayer was for God to grant her healing and He did! Were we better than those whose loved ones died? I don’t think so. Were we praying more and were we more deserving? I doubt that. God’s ways are not ours!

We are so quick to lament our situations forgetting that where we are in life, is where many dream to be. When I catch myself trying to worry about certain things, I shake it off quickly and give thanks. It could be worse (God forbid). Nobody has it all. I repeat, nobody has it all, even the richest people on earth have wants. 

My prayer is for God to grant me good health and long life. I believe with those two, every dream of mine will come to fruition one day. For once there is life, there is hope. You pray the same for yourself, don’t you?

Do have a great week people. Keep hope alive and always give thanks.