I have written severally about how lucky I was to get really early starts into some of the things that define me today. Writing, reading, computers, public speaking, etc. As I randomly thought about those starts, I also began to see the misses as well. Take computers for example.
I got a really early start into computers, I was introduced to computers in 2002. I was barely eight years old when I’d strutt into public cybercafes to use the computer. I was so young and tiny that they wouldn’t even charge me and gave me tickets for free (back then you had to pay for hourly time tickets). At some point, I didn’t need tickets, I had watched one of the support staff come to fix an issue for a user and I saw him type in the admin password to get in. They used a software called “easybrowsing”, I watched his fingers and got the password. Then I’d randomly walk into the cybercafe, go to a free computer and type in the admin password (I think it was admin@easybrowsing) and then have a free run at the internet.Â
One day, the receptionist caught me and asked me how I was able to log in without a ticket and I told her I knew the admin password and I got it from watching them fix an issue for a customer once. They were too shocked and amazed at how I was able to get the password that no one was mad at me. I became a defacto assistant at that store, given that I knew more about troubleshooting than the receptionist, I’d help fix issues whenever I was there. Customers would walk in, see me and be shocked that a little boy like me whose legs could barely touch the ground could operate computers; computers were a novelty then for the little town where I grew up so I became a big deal in the neighbourhood. The little whizkid who knew how to use computers. People would buy tickets and ask me to help them access their emails or find something on the internet.
Those were glory days. I became so enchanted by computers and the internet that I couldn’t wait for school to be over daily. After school, I’d rush to the cybercafe and stay there till they closed around 7pm or 8pm and then head home. I spent my days on the internet trying to find information to counter and win arguments in school the next day. I had access to information my classmates did not so no one believed me even when I clearly had the facts and superior knowledge. I spent my time on the internet mostly on Yahoo! Messenger chatrooms. I saw someone go there once and that was it. No one taught me how to use the internet, I just observed. The person went into the Romance chatroom and I thought that was all there was to Messenger. I’d go into the same rooms and talk with strangers all day, some of them would make lewd comments but I was too naive to even realize it then. It had become a thing that whenever I was on the computer, people would crowd around me in disbelief and one day when someone noticed I went into the Romance room (I did it openly because I had no idea it was wrong), they told me it was for adults and I stopped, then found Sports rooms and built a nest there. I met and made so many friends online. From Yahoo! Messenger, I’d go to AOL’s homepage to catch up on American news, George .W. Bush was President then and activities in Iraq dominated the news so much. Then I’d go to MySpace and Hi5 (there was no Facebook then), soccernet.com (now ESPN I think) and then end up at Miniclips games playing games for hours until it was time to close.
For someone with such an early start, I could and should have made a mouth-watering career off the internet. No one around me knew how to code so I was never introduced to coding. Imagine I had a Paul Allen or ever came across a book on coding, I knew about Fortran then because I saw it being discussed in one of the chat rooms but didn’t understand what it was. I genuinely think that I’d have been a Tech Billionaire now if I had a Paul Allen who encouraged me to learn how to code with all the time I had as an eight-year-old. Coders did not code in cybercafes which is why I never met one. I had become a sensation in the area that my local church asked me to organize a Computer Appreciation lesson for members and that was how I started making money. I’d teach people how to use the computer – internet explorer, Microsoft Office, Corel Draw 5 and how to use Word Art and MS Paint to design logos. This continued for years until the Cybercafe owners sold to a new set of people and these new guys banned me from free access. And then I suddenly had to start paying to use the internet. I’d save money and starve from food so I could afford to buy a one-hour ticket to continue surfing the internet. I’d tell my classmates about this new wonder that was the internet but these 8-12 year olds did not know what I was talking about but when I told them about Miniclips games, they started to follow me. And then, a Games Arcade center opened near my school and everyone started going there to play Playstation 2 and Xbox, no one cared about my cybercafe and shortly after, I stopped caring as well and started using my money to pay for game sessions instead of internet sessions.
My mom, encouraged by my dexterity with the computer, scrapped money together and bought me a desktop and the shortly after a multi-dock Dell laptop. She also got me a modem so I did not have to go to cyber cafes to use the internet. But what did I do? I spent several sleepless nights playing Master League on Winning Eleven and Facebook. Admittedly, a lot of that time was also spent on Wikipedia (I think I even became a volunteer contributor) learning about geeky things but I don’t think I maximized that period well. Someone should have introduced me to coding, that was the perfect time. I missed that chance and when it was time to head to College, my local Pastor suggested I do Computer Science since I was very good with computers, I paid him no attention and insisted I wanted to become a Medical Physicists and build modern day medical equipment and that was how I ended up studying Physics and missed yet another chance to get into coding before I turned 18. As at this time, the internet had not fully taken off in my country. Matter of fact, I started a blog on Facebook way before the popular blogs of those days took off on Blogspot.
Location was also a major hindrance, I reckon that if I had spent more time in a city like Lagos, I’d have met people who thought like me, especially people who were my age and challenged me. But I was in a city where I was the only child who knew what I knew and liked what I liked. If I had a Paul Allen or a Kent Evans, maybe, just maybe, I’d have built the next big thing. Do not get me wrong, I have had a really successful career that has taken me from management consulting to public policy back to technology eventually and I have built some of the best technology products around but I can’t help but think what eight-year-old me could have done with Python, PHP and JavaScript. It’s not too late however, so I am going back to brushing my coding skills. I missed a chance some 25 years ago, let’s see how much I make up for it now.
I really loved writing this story as it took me down memory lane.
Miracle