Two precious awards from my alma mater – Federal University of Technology Owerri Nigeria (FUTO). One for delivering the University Public Lecture and another for the Commencement/Convocation Lecture. Only the favoured are honoured at home; thanks FUTO for picking a kid from Ovim and preparing him for the world.
I knew the day I left the village for a journey into engineering, and I knew how I felt, when all was done in FUTO. I carried my small bag from the hostel on a Friday, to resume as a Systems Engineer in Bourdex Telecoms, on a Monday (furnished 3 bedroom, driver with assigned Mercedes Benz, etc). My Head of Department, Prof SOE Ogbogu, had told Bourdex, “Ekekwe is not available for an interview; you either hire him or not, because out of respect to this department, you do not have to interview our best”.
The same Prof called me months later for another opening in Schlumberger Dowell. The instruction was clear: “Ekekwe, even if you do not want this job, go and decline it’. I entered the plane the first time just to decline a job, to save the reputation of my alma mater.
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FUTO offered the finest engineering education in Africa and companies came at scale. Nine months to graduation, jobs came. What do you want as a young graduate? Left and right, Nigeria worked for me, and FUTO played a role. That is why we have to work harder to make sure today’s young people experience the unbounded opportunities many of us had.
#FUTO >> thank you for your service to the world.
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