Favour Bamgboye is a 17years old student who recently graduated from Itoki Community High School, Itoki, Ogun State. He and his twin brother are the last born of a family of six. He was an art student while in secondary school, and the only member of the family to be an art student with others being science students. 

His tech journey 

My tech journey started when I was 14. I had a friend who was into coding and hacking. He started teaching HTML, the basics of web development. About a year after he started teaching me, he died. He was a sickle cell patient, and I cried because he was the only person that I could relate with and talk tech to. After his death, I took it upon myself to finish what he started in my life. I started teaching myself software development. To be honest, it wasn’t an easy thing to do, because there were tons of discouragements from my friends, teachers, and even my family.

They all said, “Coding and computers are meant for science students, so stop wasting your time”. 

I was at a point in time discouraged and intimidated, but I told myself that if I gave up then they are right. So I needed to prove them wrong.

I started learning on my own; I didn’t have access to as many resources as I could get because I didn’t have support. I had to save up money to do night subscriptions, secretly use my mom’s phone to make research and code. I always begged my friend to let me use his laptop to code. It was a rough journey. Sometimes, I get insulted, chastised, and beaten for using my mom’s phone or her internet connection 

Everything started getting better when I got a laptop and sponsorship from Rubies Technologies and Python Software Foundation. Then my family and everyone else started seeing that I am a bright kid and a promising one.

What drives and motivates you?

I am an art student and want to prove to the world and everyone else that coding and IT in general is for everyone. Also, when I see teens doing great things, why can’t I do them also?

How many programming languages are you proficient in?

HTML, CSS, Javascript, Python, Golang , Kotlin, Dart and Flutter 

Achievements: 

Best Python Developer Rubies Technologies boot camp – 2023

Got a VIP invite to Africa Technologies Expo ️

I have built apps that could work on different operating systems with the same code base

I’ve built web applications and mobile applications that can help humans in their daily activities and transactions.

Tell us about your projects

I am the creator of My9jaApp and two other projects that will be launched in the first quarter of this year. My9jaApp is a cross-platform app built with Python and Flutter. It is an app that every Nigerian can use to vote, check election results, and do other cool stuff on the app, irrespective of their location around the world. You might be in the UK, Japan, or other places in the world, and as a Nigerian, if you want to take part in an election, you can easily vote on that app. If you are in Nigeria and you don’t want to go out in the hot sun, or harsh weather, you can actually be in your comfort zone and make your vote count. This vote will be collated and sent to the electoral body. 

The total number of votes for each party will be displayed on the app all over the world. The mode of the vote is end-to-end encryption, so there is no way the election would be rigged or involve any form of electoral malpractice. For every user, there is an encryption key that, once you create an account from INEC, you are given an encryption key that even you might not know.

The app is for voting and doing cool stuff like checking the latest news in Nigeria, or you are in trouble you can just click a button and your location is sent to your family member and they can locate you or check the nearest military base around you, the next bank around you or next restaurant etc

4TREx is a start-up company we started last year, and I happen to be the CTO and CEO of 4TREx. It is more of a company that specializes in cyber security, blockchain, machine learning, AI, cross-platform mobile application development, and web development. With this company, we are building software applications that will be used by the public all over the world, just like Google created Google Drive, Google Mail, etc and these apps are going to be used by the public for their day-to-day activities. So we will be creating apps not only for the public but also to help companies solve their IT troubles, maybe cyberattacks, or if they need to create a website or an app, we can create it for them. 

Also, if a fintech company wants to create a smart contract for their fintech app, we are also available for the creation. It is a hub for teenagers between the ages of 13 to 20, they can join the company and do a lot of things together around the world, not only teenagers in Nigeria but around the world, and this will be launched by 4TREX. Our website will be launched this month, and we hope to get more clients. We will be working on different projects, building blocks, apps, and websites. 

We also have GoRide. GoRide is like a normal transportation company in that, wherever you are in Lagos, you can put your location and the nearest GoRide driver will locate you and take you to your destination at a cheaper rate.

Why I built this app is because people complain of excessive charges on other apps providing similar services, and that is why I created my own. With GoRide, the driver will locate and take you to your location at a cheaper rate and we hope to start using electronic cars. My GoRide website will be launched very soon and we hope to enhance society. 

Where do you see yourself in the next 5 years?

I see myself as a certified Google Developer, a young tech CEO,  a voice for other teenagers out there, and a cybersecurity expert. I also want to be the sole sponsor of TeenTechNigeria

Do you have a mentor?

Yes, my Python trainer, Obasa Samuel and Dev Tobs

Advice to other kids

My advice to kids out there is to never give up on their dreams and aspirations. No matter the circumstances they find themselves in, they should learn to know God, pray, work hard, and have strong faith in themselves.

Advice to parents

My advice to parents is to please allow their children to go into tech because it’s one of the ways they can express themselves, it makes them smarter, they think beyond the box, and do things extraordinary. And most importantly, teach us to know God and give us that chance to code 

Tech for me is a way of expressing myself through codes and solving real-life problems that seem difficult for a normal human being to solve.

Rubies Technologies’ Kids Spotlight is an organisational initiative aimed at highlighting young talents in the tech industry who are doing exceptional work but require more visibility. Do you happen to know any kids who are making strides in the tech industry and would benefit from our platform? Please reach out to Rubies Technologies at info@rubiestech.com to have them featured.