Day 343/365.
I have never written an article about my wins and losses for any year, this year has been really amazing - it has been the best year in all the previous years of my life. I have achieved a whole lot this year, I know this year has been the worst for most people basically because of everything that happened this year.
Highlights of 2020
I became an IBM Champion for Developers.
I spoke at over 30 tech conferences.
Finally had a best friend.
Got a job at Agility CMS (A company in Toronto, CN).
I made my first million.
Got myself an iPhone twice.
Became the youngest Bitrise Expert.
Joined Hashnode and ProductHunt as an ambassador.
Spoke at Lagos State's main tech conference.
I went on a vacation
My keynote was nominated as one of the best tech keynotes in Europe.
Got a job offer at one of the best companies in the world (one of the big four).
Became the new lead of JAMstack Lagos
Became one of the best teenagers-in-tech.
Got into AI
Was trending on Twitter on My Birthday.
Inspired 7,000 teenagers and spoke to over 100,000 Developers.
Became a Developer Advocate.
Became one of the youngest people to become a top contributor in the IBM Community.
Had a session at IBM.
Beginning of the year
Can remember the first day of the year when I spent all day celebrating and coding, I was thinking of having a new lifestyle already, I was not thinking of being the same person that I used to be in 2019. I learned new technologies on the first day of the year. Was already thinking of becoming a more professional developer and even having lots of achievements. I really had to work so hard to achieve everything I have always wanted to achieve. I made new friends earlier this year - I met Tanmay Bakshi, Sifiso Nkabinde, Aaron Ma, Joshua Agboola, and others then we became very close friends.
I met Edidiong Asikpo, Shari Chiara, John Walicki, and Jean-Georges Perrin (my mentors) earlier this year, at first, I had problems with relating to people and even being civil. They helped my life a lot. They helped me with my skills and most things I do.
Career
Became an IBM Champion:
My dream has always to become an IBM Champion. My friend, Tanmay Bakshi's story has always motivated me to do something amazing. I started off by having lots of contributions in the IBM Community which is something that's required if you want to become an IBM Champion - In December 2019, I was nominated to become an IBM Champion and in January 2020, I got a congratulatory mail from the IBM Champions Program Director, Libby Ingrassia that I'm an IBM Champion. I had to start doing a lot in the IBM Community got me into AI with Python and IBM Watson.
Became one of the best teenage developers in the world:
Received a mail from Random Ratings saying that I'm one of the best teenage developers in the world - I actually felt I don't deserve it but just had to embrace it. What made me get this was all because of my code contributions. And also, become an IBM Champion was also an advantage, and also my contributions in the developer ecosystem earlier this year was an advantage.
Spoke at 30 conferences:
Funny enough, all the conferences I spoke at this year were virtual and was meant to travel to over 17 countries this year. I never had plans in 2019 to speak at any tech conference. I spoke at only one tech meetup last year to just 10 people. Then I started by speaking to over 1,000 people earlier this year and in November 2020, I spoke to over 100,000 people. Spoke at conferences in the US, Spain, UK, Canada, Kenya, South Africa, India, etc.
I spoke at Python's largest event in November 2020, spoke at Global AI on Tour - Melbourne, 2020, Spoke at ICTEL Expo for Lagos State, and others. Speaking at tech conferences has always been an advantage, I've never been tensed to speak remotely and in-person. Speaking has also been helping me with my Developer Advocacy skill.
Got a job at Agility CMS:
I was working at Agility CMS for a few months as a Developer Advocate, thanks to Joel Varty, James Vidler, Olga Voigt, and even Joshua Isaac. I reached out to the team and told them I want to be a Developer Advocate at Agility CMS. My age has always been an advantage, it's what made me get the job and also my Developer Advocacy skill has been an advantage too.
Made my first million:
I worked on a freelance project for the first time in September 2020 for a company in the US. I worked on an e-commerce website with technologies like JavaScript, Angular, PHP, and some others.
Became the youngest Bitrise Expert:
I became the youngest Bitrise Expert in November 2020. I'm also one of the most trusted people in the Bitrise Community - What I'll be doing as a Btirise Expert is Advocating for Bitrise, speaking at Bitrise events, writing guide and articles for Bitrise, being an active member of the Bitrise forum,, creating steps for the platform, etc.
Became an Hashnode and ProductHunt ambassador this year:
After writing at Hashnode, I brought few people into Hashnode with my referral link and became an Hashnode ambassador - something similar happened for ProductHunt too. The ambassadorial programs are just with cool benefits, so I joined in August 2020.
I spoke a Lagos State's main tech conference.
Luckily, I spoke at Lagos State's main tech conference, I had an opportunity to speak alongside top politicians in Nigeria. The conference, ICTEL Expo is an annual conference organized by Lagos State Chambers Of Commerce - also known as the main tech conference for Lagos State. At this conference, I spoke about my journey in tech to over 3,000 people.
Became the new lead of JAMstack Lagos:
A day before my birthday, I had my last achievement as a 14-year-old. Gift Egwuenu made me the new lead of JAMstack Lagos. She made everything easy for me when I got into JAMstack Lagos. Basically, what I have been doing is making the tech community better and organizing meetups.
Was trending on Twitter on My Birthday:
Was shocked to see that I was trending on Twitter on my birthday, I was so happy but could not screenshot because I was in school and was restricted to take my phone along with me to school, but I did and was unable to screenshot then. Was the 20th person on the trend list on that day.
Had lots of interviews and lots of sessions at IBM:
Had lots of interviews this year with different tech companies, I was also spotlighted by different companies all around the world - it's something I'm really happy about. Firstly, I spoke at IBM with John Walicki - I spoke with John Walicki about using IBM Watson in AI. I enjoyed doing stuffs with IBM, I'm really happy that I have built a very strong relationship with the company.
Apart from the interviews I had with IBM, I also lots of interviews (more than 40) this year.
I became a Developer Advocate
I've been hearing random things about Developer Advocacy in 2019, in March 2020, I got to know what Developer Advocacy really is. I had to start having my responsibilities like making lots of code contributions, writing technical articles, making videos related to the technologies I work with like JAMstack with Agility CMS, Watson with IBM, and many more, I also had to start working on how to make different technologies more accessible to everyone, giving feedback to the developer community, working on different APIs and integrating them and even amplifying the voice of the company I was working for.
This made me have a lot of recognition in different tech communities like the IBM Community, Bitrise, etc. I met with lots of stars and inspired lots of people this year. This also helped my social presence and I had lots of people following me. Still looking for a company where I can work as a Developer Advocate though.
Became one of the top contributors in the IBM Community:
Really couldn't believe I made it to the list to be one of the top contributors in the IBM Community in a week - it's something I was really happy about. It was really surprising because there are lots of people in the IBM Community and I came out to be a leader.
This year has been the best for me - I achieved a lot this year. I know this year must have been crazy for most people but it has been the best for me. I really love 2020, I achieved a lot this year but I can't share them all in this article.
What about 2021?
2021 will be better, I'm looking forward to doing a whole lot in 2021. Here's a thread of what I will be doing in 2021:
Thanks for reading, 2021 will be a better year!