It was recently reported in a release by GSMA that Lagos has the largest tech hub ecosystem in Africa. The report is buttressed by the fact that teens are engaged in creating Apps and devices that are being adopted to address a myriad of problems in society. One of such teen genius is 16 years old Faruq Gbolahan Yusuff who just graduated from high school with exceptional results. Master Gbolahan won 8 of the subject awards during his graduation ceremony recently. He has participated in top science competitions in the country and has won several laurels for it. Today Engineers’ Forum brings to you an interview with a young brilliant mind who wishes to fulfil his academic dreams in any of the top three tech universities in the USA.
Can we meet you?
My name is Faruq Gbolahan an Alumnus of Providence Heights Secondary School, Fagba, Lagos.
From the records you seem to have been trailblazing since primary school days, can you recall some of your early remarkable academic feats?
Well, in 2013, I was given the award for the best student in primary school. Throughout my secondary school from 2013 to 2019, I have been receiving awards for being the best in different subjects. I also represented my school in several national and state competitions and was awarded for that by my school in 2018.
You were once listed as one of the 81 best science students in Nigeria out of 13,000 applicants, which organization gave this recognition and how did you come about this record?
That was in a competition I went for last year, the InterswitchSPAK 1.0 organized by Interswitch, the Africa-focused and foremost Fintech company. It was a competition organized to determine the best science students in Nigeria and it was aired on television nationwide.
That’s interesting! Congratulations once again
Thank you
You consistently ranked top in every national and state competition you participated in, tell us about them?
When I was in Senior Secondary 2, I went for the JETS competition which is for SS 2 science students, I made it to the state finals as well as the top ten in the state. I also participated in the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC competition for science students which I also came out top ten.
In 2017 you went into electronic circuitry and code designing, how come you picked interest in that aspect of engineering?
I love creating gadgets and smart devices because they help make the world easier and better. Another thing is that I have been programming since senior secondary 1, that made it easier for me to get into electronics and coding. My passion for this is driven by the fact that I love solving difficult problems by tasking the entire thinking process.
Where do you want to build your career?
I would love to study Electronic and Electrical Engineering at Princeton University. I would use the knowledge acquired to solve world problems by using technologies that would be arising in the future such as in Artificial Intelligence to make my world a better place.
Have you invented or built anything noteworthy
In 2017, I and my team members at the Young Inventors’ Tech Expo developed a smart car seat – SeatDuino which alerts owners if the driver seat was occupied by someone else. It was developed to prevent cases of car theft and abuse engage by drivers who divert companies vehicle for private use. Another device I developed was a voice-controlled remote control. The device allowed one to control television with voice. It works by connecting a smartphone to the designed device through Bluetooth. The principle behind this is that the device has an infrared transmitter which connects to the TV. I also made an App that helped control the Television. Here, the words are coded such that when channels are called say Africa Magic or CNN, it responds.
You developed several Android Apps, have they been uploaded and put into use?
I have developed two and they have not been commercialized or uploaded. For now, I dropped the idea of App creation and have delved fully into web development.
Why did you drop App designing?
Nothing really, it is just that I seem to be more fascinated and skilled with web development. I started learning computer programming in 2016, and I have learnt multiple programming languages such as Java which I use for android development, python and JavaScript and related technologies such as HTML and CSS. For now, I am aiming to be a successful frontend web developer.
Right now has any company approached you or are all these things created by you and your friends are just left idle?
Sadly, yes.
Have you at any time received any special recognition by the government in terms of what you have been doing?
No, I haven’t.
Given that you have a passion for photography as well how do you relate it with your tech abilities?
Well, I have an idea in mind to shape photography in Nigeria. I noticed some websites allow photographers to share their work and get paid, but a Nigerian photographer cannot get access to this because payment is made through PayPal, I hope on creating a work that would allow our Nigerian photographers to share their work and get paid by the normal online banking system. I have many other ideas that can’t be discussed now.
Tell us about your amazing external exams result and how you came about it
I had eight A’s and a B grade in my WAEC exam (Senior School Certificate Examination). Before I started SS1, one of my cousins who had just finished from the university then played a pivotal role in driving my interest for excellent because he kept giving me words of advice about senior secondary school. Also from SS1 whenever I get home after school I go through works done in school every day.
You scored 321 points in JAMB (University entry exam), 1380 out of 1600 in SAT as an SS 2 student. That was very outstanding. Was there any special effort you put into that?
My school organized Jamb lessons for students and that helped a lot. For SAT, I did attend tutorial class.
How much support have you received since your academic journey?
My parents have been supportive, especially my father. They give me the necessary textbooks to study and engage me in any available opportunity. It has not particularly been a smooth ride for us but they have been very supportive. I can recall in 2014, I got NIIT certification having completed a program titled, Level 2 – Group 3 (Work with databases). In 2015 I got certified on Web 2.0 Concepts (level 3) and in 2016 I was certified on Open Source Concept using DHTML. In 2017, I attended a course on Electronic Circuit Design and Coding at Center 4 Tech. My parents have been keeping me very busy and supportive
What has been your greatest challenge so far?
For me, I would say distractions. Apart from school, there are so many things I want to do like my web development, coding activities and so many more. During school, there was no time to do them, so then I skip school at times. It has been hard combining school with tech activities but now that I am out of school, I have been making progress.
You had a scholarship from the University of Kansas
It was part of a special program; I was given a partial scholarship. My father applied for me and I got it. I may not consider it because of funds.
If you were given an opportunity to school outside the country, which school would you prefer?
Probably Princeton University, I love MIT and Stanford too because of their reputation for engineering science and technology.
Where do you hope to be in the next five years?
I hope I will be done with school and start working on my dreams and building solutions to help my world.
At the moment have you thought of owning a company of your own?
Yes, I have but it is futuristic because I hope on building my skills.
What advice do you have for young people like you?
I would advise that aside the routine of academics people should get involved in things they love and are passionate about. Things like catering, sowing, photography and so many others. They serve as a means of getting one off negative distractions.
