Webhostville and the Journey so far – 2 of 3
My place of service in Ondo State, a State University, already offered accommodation and the salary on offer, though miserly, with the standard of living in that village and with accommodation already taken care of, one will not starve. So, I decided to stay put and gave up on NITDA as much as I had wanted it. So, what was my mission in NITDA that I wanted to serve there so much? On my way back from the UK, I had an idea for E-learning from my work and experience that I would like to implement where it is needed, relevant and will have a long-lasting impact. I already research NITDA as the clearing house for ICT implementation in Nigeria and that they co-ordinate all Government ICT initiatives. I thought to myself, If I serve with NITDA, they will take me to the place where my idea will be most relevant. Simply put, that was my reason for wanting to serve with NITDA, I wanted a meaningful service and had no time to play around, I wanted to serve where I will be able to make the most impact and do what I wanted to do with my idea.
That was 4 long years back, looking back now, perhaps, serving with NITDA could have put me in a better position to further my idea better than it is now, maybe, Webhostville will exit today in a different form with a different name. I could even be working somewhere not thinking of starting my own Business or taking the Entrepreneurship journey. It all worked out for the best because the experience I had at my place of service propelled me to take the path of Entrepreneurship. With all the challenges I faced, the path to Entrepreneurship became clearer to me and I decided to pursue it.
My service at the University in Ondo state became the catalyst of what I am doing today, despite all the challenges I faced there, I worked hard and single-mindedly accomplished my aim before I left exactly at the end of 2014. I even gave them extra months of voluntary service and returned later in 2015 to hand-over the project. My project proposal was highly knowledge and applauded by the VC, the Registrar, the Dean of Science, the Director of ICT and the Permanent Assistant to the Registrar who was also the Coordinator of the Corpers on National Service at the University. I did my presentation in a meeting of Board Members of up to 20 Officers in attendance including the then VC as the Chair. My presentation and idea was applauded as a good move towards the 21st Century Education Technology, highly required and needed at the University.
When I was about to leave finally, there was a move to retain me as a Lecturer at the University, I went to the Permanent Assistant to the Registrar for my final sign-off and he was at a loss of what recommendation to write. He said, Rafiat, I want to ask the VC to retain you as a Lecturer. But I had to turn it down, I couldn’t stay a day longer in that village. I had gone to bed every single day I lived there, wishing I wake up somewhere else. Sometimes, I pray-cry myself to sleep simply because it was just hard living in this place and the experience of the day is soul chattering. Alas for me, I face the day in the same place again and again, I was able to go on with a strong mind, determination and focus on my purpose, hoping that this will soon be over and that hope kept me sane. The life I experienced in that place is definitely not for me and the challenges I faced within the University gave all the compelling reasons for me to move on rather than stay.
It was not all gloom and doom, contrary to that I had a nice time focusing and achieving my objectives despite the distractions. The highlight for me is the fact that I worked at two different departments and I made the most of both. At the Computer Science department the first place I worked, I taught Software Engineering to Spill-over students some of whom were repeating the subject for the third time, majority of the Students passed and the subject had the most passes in the department. I was proud of myself for this achievement, even though the tradition here seems to be the opposite. I worked at the ICT department, where I implemented my E-learning project after it was approved by the VC and Dean of Science. My experience here channeled me towards what I am doing today and I look forward to more opportunities and more doors opening for me in this area.