One Friday evening in 2016, Godswill Adie, a second-year pc science pupil on the College of Calabar, slipped off-campus to attend a good friend’s girlfriend’s party. The evening was a blur of laughter and celebration. The following morning, one other good friend’s name jolted Adie awake with an surprising alternative: an internship interview at Nugi Applied sciences.

With solely ₦100 for the ₦150 bus journey, the 2 walked half the gap after which boarded a bus halfway to the workplace. Adie, nonetheless in his celebration garments, arrived to seek out the workplace buzzing with younger folks on their laptops, coding, stunned by the hive of exercise for a Saturday. He interviewed with the chief expertise officer, presenting a rudimentary chat app impressed by Fb and an incomplete logistics platform as proof of his expertise. The CTO was impressed and supplied  Adie an unpaid internship on the spot. He began work instantly. 

In the present day, at 27, Adie will not be solely Nugi’s CTO but additionally a shareholder, steering an organization that has advanced from creating white-label software program for academic shoppers to serving authorities businesses and launching subsidiaries together with Nugi Farms, O2 Constructions, and TerraGrid, underneath the Nugi Group.

In an trade the place builders swap jobs each two years for higher pay or faster profession progress, Adie’s seven-year tenure is uncommon, particularly for a high-performing expertise who has climbed from intern to C-suite. He acknowledges this anomaly however remembers a pivotal second early in his profession that has anchored his seven-year journey: “No matter I wish to obtain on this world, I can do it proper on this firm.”

Following his curiosity 

Adie’s ambition started modestly, rooted in curiosity. As a baby, he dismantled radios and followers to unravel their mechanics, incomes scoldings from his dad and mom however fueling a lifelong inquisitiveness. In secondary college, he launched a soccer information weblog on Blogger and grew fascinated by how textual content fields remodeled into internet pages. This sparked his self-taught journey into HTML, CSS, JavaScript, and PHP—internet improvement languages. By commencement, he had constructed his first webpage, a primary duplicate of his weblog. “It was most likely horrible by immediately’s requirements,” he says with a smile, “however it was an incredible begin.”

In 2015, Adie enrolled on the College of Calabar to check pc science, however throughout a chaotic hostel transfer his laptop computer fell, its display detaching from the keyboard, rendering it ineffective. For a month, he was annoyed, fearing he’d lose his coding expertise. Like every software program engineer with no cash to purchase a pc, he started writing code by hand in an train e book, testing it within the college’s pc lab or a good friend’s PC when doable. “My cousin thought I used to be loopy,” he instructed me throughout a digital name, chuckling. “The e book was stuffed with code that made no sense to him. Generally, I didn’t even know what I used to be writing. I’d copy snippets from on-line tutorials to run later.” 

Ultimately, his three older brothers, who had taken on caregiving roles after their father died in 2009, pooled their cash to purchase him a greater laptop computer. Adie retains it in his workplace at Nugi immediately, a relic of their perception in him.

Fast profession progress

When Adie joined Nugi Applied sciences in 2016 as an intern, the corporate was a “software program store,” constructing client-driven options. It supplied universities with instruments for cost portals, hostel functions, and admission processing. Its personal product, Cloud Faculty, aimed to handle major and secondary college operations: admissions, e-learning, lodging, medical data, and PTA conferences— the product has since been shelved resulting from partnership points. Adie joined mid-development of the CloudSchool. Working with a group in a company setting, a jarring shift for a coder who was used to working independently. 

“It was very difficult,” he admitted. He struggled with a codebase written by three to 4 engineers utilizing a PHP framework, in contrast to the uncooked PHP he’d mastered. “I couldn’t perceive what the earlier builders did,” he stated. The framework—a standardised coding bundle—required studying its construction. The documentation proved very helpful in mapping the undertaking’s logic. He labored on CloudSkul for 2 months earlier than transferring to client-facing functions.

Three months into his internship, Adie’s dedication caught his boss’s eye, Adie remembers. One random day that yr, at age 19, he was summoned to the CEO’s workplace, his coronary heart pounding with concern of reprimand. As a substitute, the CEO stated, “I’ve been watching you. You’re match for what we do right here.” The CTO formalised a full-time provide, handing him a contract. “I wished to signal it instantly,” Adie laughed, “however they instructed me to take it dwelling, learn it with somebody senior, and return a photocopy.” 

Adie had already made up his thoughts to just accept the place irrespective of the circumstances or proposed pay. Work was all he cared about; he even eschewed an energetic social life, and he credit this hyperfocus for his progress within the firm.

Balancing college and work was gruelling; he prioritised work, seeing it as a sensible extension of his research. “I’d apply work classes in class, and work taught me issues I’d later perceive in idea,” he stated. He skipped lessons however studied for exams, counting on colleagues for updates. The workplace grew to become dwelling; he’d crash on a sofa or keep weeks in a room the place senior builders lived. 

The workplace’s youthful vitality and visionary management cemented Adie’s loyalty. “It was stuffed with younger folks I might relate to, excelling at what they did,” he stated. His boss articulated a transparent mission—automating shopper processes—inspiring him even throughout lean instances when salaries lagged. “It wasn’t in regards to the cash,” Adie stated. “I noticed myself as a part of the corporate.” He felt at peace, discussing life challenges together with his mentor-boss. Seeing friends rise to greater roles, he envisioned his personal management path. 

“The surroundings was conducive for progress,” he stated. In 2019, he grew to become lead developer, and a couple of yr later, rose to change into deputy chief expertise officer. He now leads the corporate’s expertise technique and improvement. .

From coder to strategic chief

Main a group of 40 engineers, Adie navigates various personalities to align with Nugi’s imaginative and prescient. He nurtures pushed people, a few of whom remind him of his early hustle of prioritising work above all else.  However a few of them,  he notes,  have utterly totally different life philosophies, particularly the Gen Z builders, who prioritise work-life steadiness.

“It’s not dangerous,” he notes, “however to maneuver past the center class—except you’re rich—you’ll be able to’t work nine-to-five.” In contrast to his period’s midnight grinds, some immediately disconnect after hours, unreachable for pressing fixes.

Adie says his workaround is to spend money on those that excel, providing raises and undertaking possession, whereas respecting others’ minimal effort. “Everybody has their objectives,” he says.  “Whenever you see these making unbelievable effort, you carry them nearer, align them with objectives.” 

As CTO, Adie’s position transcends coding; he’s now concerned in shaping Nugi Group’s technique, turning merchandise into standalone corporations. He oversees product improvement, undertaking administration, shopper engagement, and deal-making. “It’s like nurturing a child from infancy to independence,” he says, his pleasure palpable. He says he sees himself rising with the corporate. “I wish to take it [Nugi] to the following degree,” he says. 

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