Rabiu Abdul Aliyu holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Information Technology from NIMS University of Jaipur, Rajasthan, India, and a Master’s Degree in Artificial Intelligence from the University of Zambia.
From a very humble beginning, his achievement is an example of the maxim that says: You don’t have to be born with a silver spoon in your mouth to achieve great things in life!
He was born in Garo town, Kabo Local government area, Kano state, Nigeria; grew up and completed his primary and Secondary school education at Arewa Model School, Kaduna State.
He recalled: “I am not from a rich family, but my family has a strong passion for western education.”
On his experience, he said: “I have a good friend called Bashir Muhamad who was with me in Kaduna when I was in the market struggling to sell one or two things to get what to eat and survive. He was a student with Kaduna State University, KADSU then, and his friend who was in India decided to get admission for him to move to India to study even though he didn’t have any money, because he is also not from a rich family and doesn’t have a sponsor.
“He told me that his friend said he will get admission for him in India and get a job for him thereafter. He then asked me if I would like to join him. I told him I neither had the money nor anyone to sponsor me. But he insisted we give it a try because he also doesn’t have any. I then let him get the admission for me as well. We used to really struggle before we could get money to travel to Abuja to process VISA. But finally we were able to fly to India after borrowing money from family and good friends with the hope that once we get there, we will get a good job and possibly pay back.”
Starting up in India was tough, he recalled: “We landed at Indira Gandhi International Airport, New Delhi, India on 24 May 2014. The college we got admission at is at Jaipur Rajasthan which is about 200 kilometre from New Delhi. After spending two days with the person that brought us, he carried us and dumped us in the city of Rajasthan and returned to New Delhi where he was without giving us any information on how and when we would get the job he promised to us. We later realized that it was just lies, nothing like a job. He did all that to get commission that the University pays to anyone that brings new students.
“From then we had to struggle with hunger amid one difficulty to the other. We were often prevented from writing exams because of the outstanding tuition fee we owed the NIMS University where we enrolled.”
My Turning Point
“I attended a seminar for Mobile Application Development on our campus and got interested in being a Programmer, which became a turning point for me. So, I started my journey afresh. I asked my elder brother to help me with some amount of money to pay for my remaining tuition fee even though I intended to go and register for professional training outside to just learn how to Program.
“I was able to get the sum of 6,700 Rupees and registered for Web Development training in one institute called Accuracy Technosoft, located in Ricco industrial area, Jaipur, Rajasthan India. I studied there for 3 months, and I got a job right away after I finished. The CEO of the institute named Athar Ahmad, an Indian, was very supportive as he employed me and was paying me 2,500 Rupees monthly, and that is the starting point of my career.
“So, I started moving to different institutions and IT industries for internships and training. My colleague and other Indian friends used to come to me to learn one or two things about hands-on computer programming. But as they started getting many, I said they must be paying something to me. And finally, I got a better job with OPPO Mobile Company as a Software Developer Intern which was paying me 8,000 Rupees per month. I used that 8,000 Rupees and the small amount I get from students that I teach in my house to pay for my pending school fees, house rent, and the rest. That was how I built my career in Software Engineering as well as obtaining a bachelor’s degree I got from NIMS University India in 2017, and thereafter obtained a Master’s degree in Artificial Intelligence at the University of Zambia in 2019,” he said.
Awards
He was awarded the Multi-Talented African Student in India 2016; Best Student of the Year at NIMS Institute of Information and Technology India, and again awarded the best intern of the year 2017 by OPPO Mobile Company Pune, India.
His perseverance has paid off
Today, for being farsighted and daring enough, Rabiu Abdul Aliyu’s success story is an inspiration to the youths. He is the founder of Syrol Technologies Ltd (https://syrol.org), a company that is into research and development of software and providing professional training to the organization and individual, online and offline, with 3 branches in Lagos, Abuja, and Kano; Silversoft Technologies operating in India, and currently working with MTN Nigeria as a Senior Software Engineer.
“I have created many software applications that are currently in the market such as Sycrop, BarQr Scanner, File to Image, Corona Tracker, English Quran, and many more, and I built other applications for government and businesses around India and Nigeria,” he quipped.
On lessons learnt so far: “Take risks; if you win you will be excited, and if you lose you will be wiser. And always focus and dedicate yourself to your goals, as success is not for those harbouring fear of failure.”
He said the key to success is to persevere when the tough gets going, and advises youths not to easily give up.
