ALL IT TOOK WAS ONE OPPORTUNITY — John Ebube Enyi’s Story

I used to ask myself, who is John Ebube Enyi? And each time, I struggled to find who I was. But I guess that’s the same with many people. My whole life had been a series of struggles and a search for what I truly desired.

I’ve always had the dream of being in tech, but things always seemed to shift me away from it. The passion initially came while I was in secondary school. I wanted to build games or something that would prompt people to say, “A Nigerian boy built it.” I started learning web design, but I had to stop after I was robbed and my laptop was taken. My fate at that point seemed far from tech.

My reintroduction to tech is kind of funny and almost unbelievable. Imagine meeting someone in a restaurant, and he asks you simple yet difficult questions: “Who are you?” and “What would you like to do?” Imagine my answer was something as simple as “I plan to go back to school and learn programming.” When he asked, “Do you know programming?” my reply was, “I already know HTML and CSS.” His next response confused me even more. He said, “Alright, case closed.”

After attending to this man, I went on about my duties, unaware of who he was. He asked for my contact details and my bio.

Afterwards, I received an email stating that someone had paid millions of naira for me to join Semicolon’s one-year Techpreneurship program. Then, I received a call providing details for the next cohort. Confused, I asked about my benefactor, and that was the first time I heard about Olumide Soyombo. I was told he was a leader in the tech ecosystem who also sponsors talent. At that moment, I realized I had met my “helper” at the restaurant. Just like that, no questions asked. I get to do tech again!

I know it’s a lot to take in. But how did I get to the restaurant? After university, I moved from Enugu to Lagos and searched for jobs in restaurants because I had prior experience as a waiter. I started working at Sabor Lagos and met Chef Gibbs, my manager and mentor, who supported me mentally.

And this brings my story back to Semicolon. When I joined the program, I didn’t know what to expect. I experienced culture shock. Semicolon helped me realize how to become a better version of myself. I had an unforgettable experience during our design thinking sessions. The community always kept me in check. It fostered more collective responsibility, which taught me to think more broadly instead of just focusing on myself.

Learning software engineering at Semicolon was different and challenging. I had to read overnight most times, and at one point, I started sleeping in class. But all those sacrifices paid off when I started working. Currently, I work as a mobile app developer at Monarch Group.

I know who I am now. I’m a software engineer. All it took was one opportunity and a few people to change my story. Even in the midst of adversity, I learned to put myself out there so I could be helped. Never stop trying.