We had the privilege of interviewing Olufemi Okikioluwa, a full stack MERN developer, two time winner of Citonhub's weekly challenge, and also a web mentor on our upcoming community effort. Here we explored the highs, lows, and in-betweens of his tech journey.

What got you interested in coding?

Yeah, when I was in JSS3/ SS1. We had summer lesson and our computer teacher brought up this mad idea about teaching us how to make websites. We were like is this guy “whyning” us, but he was actually serious. He taught us some basics of coding. I went home, and the next day, I built a one-page website and showed him. You know now, those websites you build with HTML and inline styling for elements. I was on top of the world man! Eventually, I got to Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU) and met a mentor who gave me paid Udemy courses to advance in this field. That's how it is.

Will you say you were lucky to get into tech at a really young age?

I'll say it's more of a chance than luck, you know.

How would you describe the journey so far? It's interesting learning new tech, going past front-end to doing full stack. It's been fun.

You mentioned you're a full stack developer, what languages? I use M.E.R.N stack. You know, Mongo DB, express, React and Node.Js.

What would you say has helped you in your journey so far? Going from junior developer up to this stage.

I'll say the people I have come in contact with. I was very privileged to have experienced-developers around me. They rubbed off on me and gave me resources. They go like "hey check this out, can you try this? No, it's a must you do this." That's how it is. People, good people, so far.

Will you say you are a product of the community?

Yes, and also, being self taught. Like putting in personal effort to become good. I had friends that we started together but gave up on it. Putting in that extra effort, going to YouTube and stuff really helped.

Who do you look up to in the tech space? Well, I look up to Hacksultan, I took one of his challenges, the result was not that bad. Israel too, I look up to him.

Aside from coding, what do you do?

I play the keyboard too.

What are the things people do that frustrates you? (Laughs).. I don't think I've had any frustrations so far. My relationship with people is very weird. Nothing anyone does surprises me. I don't know how it came down to this, so if anyone does something that doesn't make sense, I'll just be like "yen, he's just being human” so that's how it is.

What community activities do you participate in?

I participate in the Nigerian Solo learn community. I used Sololearn while I was coming up, so there's this group on WhatsApp that is for people in Nigeria that I belong to.

What are you looking towards?

I want to go into Machine learning. I want to know about artificial intelligence A.I, you know, it surprises me how computers can be programmed to think like humans.

Do you mentor people? Well, my roommates, I kind of let them into coding. I gave them materials and resources to learn. So I'll say yes to some extent, I mentor people.

Lastly, what would you like to see on Citonhub? Let's see...A way young devs can work together in teams. Most young devs are new and work alone. From what I've seen, working together in teams is a core requirement to execute big projects.

I think you are an awesome person, I like your vibe. Infact, we are virtual friends. (Laughter) You dey alright man.

This wraps up the interview with Okiki. It was an amazing experience, and we wish him the best as he progresses in his career and academics. You can reach out to Okiki on :

GitHub -github.com/Kikks

Portfolio - okikioluwa-portfolio.netlify.app

Twitter- twitter.com/Kikks07