How a stranger’s kind act led from ASUU strike to a job with Google

During the ASUU strike of 2013, a Twitter user, Feyi (or @DoubleEph) posted this message which got 2 seemingly insignificant retweets:

Lolu, a then 19-year old, first-year Computer Science student responded to the call and 3 tweets later, the discussion continued in e-mail inboxes. What we now know is that the  altruistic Feyi sponsored the young man on a 1-month long Ruby on Rails software programming course at the cost of around $200, and heard nothing about him again.

Fast forward 4 years, and the young man resurfaced to thank Feyi publicly. He went on to reveal that indeed that solitary act of altruism had gone on to provide him with a dependable source of income, while propelling him to graduate at the top of his Computer Science class and secure a job at Google 1 year after graduation!

Since this morning when the conversation was first shared, it has been reshared/retweeted at least 750 times. This is testament to how strongly the story resonates in a country where the educational system has a primary objective to stagnate, to stall and to hinder the educational advancement of as many young people as possible. What this story also shows us is true magnanimity of young Nigerians in the face of the contempt of the ruling class.

This is not a new movement. Barely a month ago, another Twitter user @Chydee appealed for funds and recognition on behalf of a bright 16-year old after sharing her awe-inspiring WAEC results. The Twitter family rose to the occasion and raised over N400,000 for the young girl to continue her studies.

Now that the gift of another ASUU strike has thrust upon our young people, the time has come again for well-meaning Nigerians to make on these young lives, to the shame of the government. Whether you can offer temporary jobs, paid/unpaid internships, discounted training programs, or sponsored short courses, the story proves that a little support can go a long way. All the way to becoming a Google employee.

The program Lolu enrolled in, OneMonth.com offers online-led mentoring and immersion courses in 4 key tech areas: Python, HTML, Rails and Javascript all within a month.  For the price of one University module, a student gets a chance to reclaim his/her destiny from the hands of politics-sponsored witches and wizards intent on preventing progress. In exchange for this, the student gains a chance to begin a solid, stable career in technology and you gain an opportunity to be part of their success.

In the triumphant and ever-optimistic spirit with which our people have generated their own power, water, security, healthcare etc, a number of small startups and businesses have stepped forward during this strike to provide displaced students with training, internship opportunities and even temporary jobs. In this post, I will mention all the jobs and opportunities on offer for these students, and please feel free to mention any I might have missed in the comments section.

1. UN, Abuja is looking for information management interns. This is suitable for IT students. Please apply using the link above.
2. Yellow Urban, Lagos is looking for paid, fashion savvy, content writing interns. Please e-mail: hello@yellowurban.com
3. Edubridge is seeking internships for Digital Marketing Consultants. Apply via: http://www.edubridge.com.ng/digital-internship
4. Hotels.NG. Internships for software developers with an active repo. Mail repo to neo@hng.tech, ibiyemi@hng.tech
5. Moz Kitchen, Lagos is looking for a social media intern. Please e-mail your CV to mozkitchn@gmail.com
6. OnlineHub, Ibadan is looking for New Media interns. Please e-mail info@onlinehubng.com
7. AgroNaira, Lagos is looking for agriculture-focused interns. Please e-mail info@agronaira.com
8. FutureAcademy, Lagos is offering a job. To apply, attend their event at Shell Kinetic Pitch on Sunday, 20th August and submit a report on Wednesday the 23rd August. For enquiries, call 08096306816
9. Fresible, Lagos is looking for paid graphic designers. Email your CV and Portfolio to careers@fresible.com
10. WordPress/HTML/CSS job available. Please send your CV to eloquentt@gmail.com
11. web development or digital marketing intern required.  Please send an e-mail with your name, location, school, CV and a statement on how you intend to demonstrate commitment to hello@rasheedridwon.com
12. Tuteria is offering a paid full-stack development internship program in Lagoscentredd around Django Python, Reactjs/Angularjs. To apply, send a mail to jobs@tuteria.com.
13. (International) TheMillions is looking for a remote intern for 1-2 hours each week. If you’re a voracious reader, culture vulture, and engaged writer who is very organised, please apply via the link above.

For more internship opportunities, please visit www.sesewa.org and www.stutern.com