Tech-savvy Bolu riding high with Twitter

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7 years ago

NIGERIAN youths have proved time and time again that they are change makers and leaders everywhere and in every field. Give them the tools, they get the job done, creditably and ahead of the pack.

It is fitting to celebrate young Boluwatife Aiki-Raji who recently landed the Lead Software Engineer position at Twitter.

Bolu, as he is fondly called, attended the Olashore International School, Iloko-Ijesa, Osun State, and proceeded to the Howard University, United States of America.

But prior to attending Howard University, Bolu had attended a technical school after his secondary education. It was during this period that his passion for computer science was ignited.

He specially credits two people he met at Howard – Errol Grannum and Barry Harris – as well as his mentor, one Emmanuel Ademuwagun, with the birthing of his passion for computer science.

Attending an HBCU was also helpful for Bolu; he felt at home.

HBCUs (Historically Black Colleges and Universities) are institutions of higher education in the US that were established before the Civil Rights Act of 1964 with the intention of primarily serving the African-American community. There are 101 HBCUs in the United States, including public and private institutions.

According to Wikipedia, although HBCUs were originally founded to educate black students, diversity has increased over time. In 2015, students who were either white, Hispanic, Asian or Pacific Islander, or Native American made up 22 per cent of total enrollment at HBCUs, compared with 15 per cent in 1976.

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In his freshman year at Howard, Bolu served as a Google EDGE Participant, and continued to move full speed ahead until earning a full-time role at Twitter.

While taking rigorous coursework he also participated in Knights Fraternity and National Society of Black Engineers.

“I met so many brilliant people at Howard as well and I believe that this is as a result of it being that school that it is,” Bolu told hbcubuzz.com.

While at Howard, Bolu attended a dinner hosted by Twitter on campus that he was invited to, and met a recruiter from Twitter who had known him from his freshman year. He was able to sell himself and his interest in the ccompany.

Bolu then went through a rigorous interview process, including one with the chief executive officer, Jack Dorsey. The rest, they say, is history.

“Twitter is a wonderful company, and I have met amazing people there. I love my team at Twitter and I feel right at home with them.

He was sold on the idea of working at Twitter because the company has started to take necessary steps to close the diversity and inclusion gap something that is a prevalent issue in the workforce.

“I know the position at Twitter will give me an opportunity to help other computer science majors like myself sometime down the line. I am also happy because I believe I have made my parents proud,” he said.

Bolu owes most of his success to Dr. Burge, a Computer Science Professor at Howard University.

“It feels wonderful to be able to represent HBCU’s in whatever sense of the word. I think they are very important and have definitely changed my life. I think many students in HBCUs are doing wonderful things.”