I started from scratch in UK despite Nigerian banking experience, MBE honouree Babajide says

Olubukola Babajide says she had to start again in the United Kingdom despite having banking experience in Nigeria, a journey that eventually led her into technology and earned her recognition as a Member of the British Empire.

Born and raised in Nigeria, Babajide spent her early years in Ile-Ife, Osun State, before studying economics and completing her national youth service in Abuja. She began her career at a bank as a banking officer, working in marketing. She credits Nigeria with teaching her resilience and discipline, qualities she associates with her mother, a retired secondary-school principal and disciplinarian.

Babajide said she once hoped to become a fashion designer. She contacted a company in the United States because she admired its designs, without first considering how she would pay for the training. Her father urged her to focus on her studies and deal with the cost later. She had also been interested in technology and enrolled at an institute in Abuja to improve her information-technology skills, although she did not initially view the field as a career because it was dominated by men.

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What I have learnt from Nigeria is resilience and discipline.

She said technology had not been adequately presented to young people at the time. Today, she sees a major opportunity to equip Africa’s young population with digital skills so they can compete internationally, secure employment and build businesses.

Babajide said she initially preferred the United States and did not plan to move to Britain. Books and the board game Monopoly had given her an early sense of places beyond Nigeria and introduced her to ideas about property investment. After eventually visiting the UK on holiday, she bought goods there and returned to Nigeria to sell them. Around that period, she began considering a career change and further professional training.

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I believe Nigeria is full of resourceful people, and everywhere we find ourselves, we always make a mark most of the time, for positive things, and that’s what we like to spotlight.