Builder, founder,
occasional podcast host.
Most people call me MJ. I build backend systems that actually hold up under pressure, and I've co-founded two startups, built platforms that 200,000 Nigerians depend on, and shipped a solo AI product in between. The enterprise work taught me scale. The startups taught me speed. I'm still figuring out how to sleep.
I think in systems, I draw when I'm thinking through problems, I watch Anime and Formula 1 more seriously than I should, and I host a podcast because I genuinely believe the best engineers have range. Lagos sharpened all of that.
Anime
8 picks
Shows & Films
7 picks
Music
8 in rotation
Why do you build?
I never classified myself as a builder. Never called myself a creator. But enterprise taught me something. Building things should always come from problems. Real ones. What's the purpose of building? You identify pain points and you provide solutions. So there's no such thing as a small project, a big project, a personal project. You build for a purpose, and that purpose is providing solutions to someone's problem. I dabble in game dev too. What's the problem we're trying to solve there? Boredom. That's it. I build because building impacts lives. Someone, somewhere, at some point, it's going to matter.
What does Lagos mean to you?
Hustle. Bustle. Chaos. And a driven mindset that refuses to quit. Lagos is motion. Every second, every moment has to mean something. There's a law about motion: whether you're crawling, walking, running, or flying, you keep moving. That's Lagos. It's not about pace, it's about direction. Standing still was never an option here.
What did enterprise teach you that startups couldn't?
Scale has consequences. When your platform reaches 200,000 people, real people, real data, real stakes, a bug at 2am isn't an inconvenience. It's someone's livelihood. Enterprise taught me to move responsibly. Startups taught me to move fast. The best engineers I know hold both at the same time.
What do you do when nobody's watching?
Play FIFA. Build games nobody asked for. Record The Casual Thursdays at whatever time inspiration hits. And sleep, a lot. This brain doesn't power down easy, so when it finally does, I let it.
Outside of code
Manifesto
I build end to end, from the data model to the thing people actually touch.
I've co-founded two startups, shipped platforms at national scale, and spent weekends building things nobody asked for but I thought someone would eventually need. I care about the backend being solid and the frontend being honest. If you can design it, you should build it. If you build it, you should own why it works.
Currently engineering at Sidmach Technologies, running two companies on the side, and hosting The Casual Thursdays because I think the best engineers have range. Strong opinions on Mansa Musa, adulthood, and why most things are more interesting than people make them.