Giant strides of Adedayo’s Da-Google International in ICT, Mathematics Competition
By Eberechi Obinagwam
Ogunribido Adedayo, a 2014 graduate of Computer Engineering, started off as a mathematics teacher before delving full scale into providing Information and Communication Technology (ICT) services to students registering for WAEC, NECO, JAMB, or even navigating school portals during course registration.
Within a year, he successfully registered his company, Da Google International, and within two years, he started the famous Da Google International Mathematics Competition for schools in Lagos and its environs. This year, and to remain true to its name, the competition will be held in Jos, Plateau State and later Ghana.
How Adedayo started
Adedayo started his business when he could no longer cope with the little salary from his teaching job. That was in 2016 after completing his National Youth Service in 2015. He had picked up a teaching job in one of the private schools in Lagos as a Mathematics Teacher. First it was his love for children and his zeal to impact on younger generations, but when he could no longer cope with the meagre and unsustainable salary, he decided to establish something in line with education. He started a small business unit that does everything about online registration for students’ exams. He commenced with a laptop and photocopy machine in a small rented shop.
“I love children and I wanted to impact on them. So, I took up a teaching job in a private school as a Mathematics Teacher after my NYSC in 2016. When I could not cope with the poor salary, I left to start my own business which was also in education. I just rented a small place with my computer and photocopy machine like a cyber cafe. That was how I started”, he recalled.
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In an interview with TheNiche at his office where he guides students on Computer Based Test (CBT) and other student registrations, Adedayo traced his entrepreneurial interest to when he was in SS1, that was about 2006.
He said: “I used to have a small phone that you could use to download PES, football, games etc. I didn’t call anybody and nobody called me with it. I would just charge at home in the morning and take it to school. During break time, my friends would pay me N20 to play games for 5 minutes. After 5 minutes, I would collect it back and gave it to another person. Before you knew it, I would make N100.” That business-oriented spirit was what came to play when he could no longer survive with the little pay from the private school where he was teaching.
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Sourcing for capital
Adedayo said he saved up to get a laptop from his teaching job and other necessary items required for his little cyber cafe business, and money stated trickling in when he started solving people’s problem. He said: ”You know people are looking for solutions to their problems. I saw that students often have problems with their registration, either in JAMB, WAEC, etc. So, I was doing everything online registration, helping people to solve their problems while I made my money. If I solve your problem, you will pay me for it. You will go home happily with a solution while I go home with my money happy too. Money started coming when I started solving people’s problems.”
Da-Google International
Adedayo said the name Da-Google International started as a nick name during his university days. “Da-Google International came from the nick name Google which I was being called in my university days when I would help people in school do their assignments online. Because I was always searching online, they gave me the name, Google. They would say: ‘this one na google ooo’ whenever I helped them out. So, in 2019 when I wanted to register my company, I sent Da-Google Ventures, they rejected but when I added International to it, it was accepted. And that ‘International’ I added to it has helped my business to be known,” he said.
Surviving through hard time
Adedayo said, people tend to be afraid of starting up because of the economic situation, but for him, he was never afraid. He said instead of being afraid or looking at the present situation like others would, he just looks at the future, where he would be in next few years with his business.
“I understood the process. I knew that I can’t just start making money. I knew I had to give myself time. When I started it was not big; It was just small like a cyper cafe. I was doing everything online registration. My profit in a day, then, was N50. But I was not discouraged. I kept on doing what I was doing, that’s solving people’s problem because I knew where I was going. Today, the story is not the same,” he added.
Business stability
Adedayo said it took him three years to get settled in business. “When I started solving people’s problems, mainly school registration, money started coming in. That was from 2016 when I started to 2018.” In 2019, Adedayo took a bold step in registering his company with the name, Da-Google International. “At first I put Da-google ventures and it was not approved so I added Da-google International and it was approved.”
A terrible experience
Adedayo’s unforgettable experience was buying an old bad generator. The stress of dealing with the generator was so destabilizing that it landed him in the shrine of a native doctor.
He explained: “If someone is going through issues, different thoughts would start going into his or her mind. The generator set I bought was giving me issues. It was taking money from me because I was spending on it with the little I was making then. It was so much a concern to me that it was reflecting all over me. One day as I was walking on the road, a guy stopped me and said I looked like someone that had issues and immediately my mind went to my generator and he told me that his father could solve it. And I asked who was his father and he said I should come and see him tomorrow. It was the first time and last I visited a herbalist because his father was a herbalist.
“When I got to the gate and they saw I was coming, his father went to dress up as a herbalist. He said I should thank my stars for coming here. He did one thing in my hands and fire came out. And he said my enemies didn’t want me to move forward that they wanted to hold me back. I told him that he had to do something because I wanted to move forward. He took me to an uncompleted building where I was hearing an enchantment while he interpreted. He then listed so many things to buy for whatever he wanted to do for me to move forward. And those things I couldn’t buy them because I didn’t know where they were sold. So, he said I could pay him to get them. When he calculated everything, it was over N30,000. And I said to myself that I was looking for money to repair my generator and would now spend N30,000 on this! I told myself that if I had the money, I would use it to repair or replace my generator.
“I said to myself instead of giving the man the money, it was better I put the money on the altar in church. And that was the last time I saw the man or went there. That was 2016 and I later got a new generator and my business moved smoothly,” he said.
Breakthrough moments
The breakthroughs are multiple for Adedayo. He explained: “My major breakthrough was school registration. My brand’s name was attracting people, schools for registration. And the Mathematics Competition also brought breakthroughs for me. There were so many places, schools I have not been to physically but they know my name. Last year, I was just sitting here and Dansol school messaged me that they saw my flyers for Mathematics Competition even Ambassador Schools. I have never been to those schools.
“Also, the NIN registration was a breakthrough for me. Like I said earlier, I look for problem to solve to earn money. During the issue of NIN registration, when people were having problems going to Alausa to queue for it, I saw the problem and brought it to my business center and was registering people. That was me giving solutions to a problem and in turn making money through it. We even did vigil for NIN.”
Challenges in business:
Adedayo identified internet disruptions, electricity and access to information as his major challenges in business. He explained that with the increase in data, he still keeps up with his business because he has to, “I have not put off my data for once because of the nature of my job unless the network is not good. Electricity used to be a challenge to us but in 2023 I got an inverter. It was just as if I saw the increment in petrol price coming. The inverter is saving me a lot of money because there were some works that should not take up to 10 minutes and you will need to put on the generator and you will keep changing from light to generator. That was even costing much”, he said.
In the area of access to information, he said his job requires that he stays up to date with information. According to him, people rely on him for information. “I always tell people not to rely on google because google will always have answers. When someone calls me for information I am not sure of, I go to the school’s portal for the right information,” he said.
Adedayo’s view on Japa
Adedayo said he is not leaving Nigeria to anywhere because his business is here to stay. In his words; “There is no strategy the government is going to bring that I won’t have a solution for it. For example, if WAEC says they are going on CBT, I will only get more laptops and start training students on CBT. So, from their problem, I get a solution that will fetch me money in return. Even presently, I am training student that are going to write JAMB on CBT.
“I have some friends abroad that are asking me to come but I don’t see any reason of leaving Nigeria because I am okay here. I have my freedom and there is a lot of connections. In fact, I love Nigeria. Also, for the impact I am making here. That one alone gives me joy. I have met people advertising my business outside not knowing it was me.”
Adedayo’s profile
Adedayo is a 2014 graduate of Computer Engineering from the Abraham Adesanya Polytechnic, Ijebu Igbo. He is the brain behind, Da-Google Mathematics Competition; the yearly competition for students that has become a household name as various schools in Lagos and Ogun troops to register for the competition.
He said last year, over 52 schools registered with over 200 students. This year, he will be going to Jos and will also go to Ghana for the competition. He said his secret to his success is knowing where he is going at the start, “If you don’t know where you are going every bus stop looks like your destination. I have a destination. First my brand, Da-Google international.”
“Da-Google Mathematics Competition in Jos will be coming up in July 12, “It’s going to be massive. The people are already planning for it and I am afraid it’s going to be bigger than what we have in Lagos. They are sending letters to the minister of education, to traditional rulers on our behalf and it’s the first one I am having in Jos, outside Lagos. Next is in Ghana because we want to go international as our brand is, ‘Dagoogle International,” he said.
