Stephen Awanife: Nigeria’s data trailblazer making numbers speak

Stephen Awanife’s story is one of curiosity, grit, and a knack for turning numbers into clarity. In Nigeria’s vibrant tech scene, Stephen earned his stripes as a data expert who didn’t just process data—he made it tell stories that changed how businesses worked. From a power plant in Jebba to the heart of Lagos’ banking world, his journey shows what happens when passion meets problem-solving.

Stephen’s love for tech sparked early, tinkering with computers in Niger State. He channelled that drive into earning his National Diploma and Higher National Diploma in Computer Science from The Federal Polytechnic Bida by October 2016. Those years were packed with late nights coding, sketching ideas on notepads, and figuring out how to make systems smarter. “I wanted to fix things people didn’t even know were broken,” Stephen says, his enthusiasm practically contagious.

His first big break came in 2013 at Jebba Hydro Electric Power Authority, where he worked as an IT Systems Analyst until February 2014. Stephen dove into managing data for a plant that powered homes across Nigeria. The stakes were high—one wrong number could disrupt budgets or operations. But Stephen was unfazed. He built a system to track over 5,000 operational schedules, turning chaotic spreadsheets into reports that were 35% more accurate. “Managers used to wade through data for hours,” he recalls. “I made it so they could see what mattered in minutes.”

That system was a game-changer. It slashed data retrieval times by 50% and boosted storage efficiency by 40%, letting leaders make quick, informed decisions. Stephen also streamlined workflows across departments, cutting project delays by 30% and hitting every deadline. At Jebba, he was the guy who kept things light, cracking jokes in tense meetings or sketching solutions on the fly. His knack for explaining tech in plain terms won over everyone, from engineers to finance folks.

In 2018, Stephen took on a new challenge at Ecobank in Lagos as a Digital Banking Data Analyst, a role he held until August 2022. In the fast-paced world of finance, where data meant billions of naira and split-second choices, Stephen shone. He automated 90% of financial workflows using Python and SQL, saving over 25 hours of manual work each week and boosting accuracy by 30%. “It wasn’t just about working faster,” he says. “It was about making data something people could rely on.”

Stephen created over 10 dashboards in Power BI and Excel, tracking transactions worth ₦1 billion in real time. These weren’t just graphs—they were tools that let executives spot trends and act swiftly. He optimized SQL queries, speeding up data access by 50% for teams in risk, compliance, and customer operations. When outages threatened, Stephen’s root-cause analyses kept systems running 99.9% of the time, cutting fraud response times by 20%. His work didn’t just save money—it protected customers and built trust across the bank.

What made Stephen special was his human touch. He’d sit with colleagues, hear their challenges, and craft solutions that fit. “Data’s only useful if it helps people,” he’d say, whether he was fixing a query or walking a manager through a dashboard. His skills—SQL, Python, Power BI, Tableau—were top-notch, but his real talent was making data approachable.

Stephen’s work at Ecobank and Jebba showed what a determined techie from Niger State could achieve. He turned messy data into clear insights, helping businesses run smoother and smarter. His story is about more than code—it’s about a young man who saw data as a way to make work easier, decisions sharper, and lives better. Wherever Stephen’s path leads next, he’ll keep making data speak for the people who need it most.

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