During the past week, two critical events that put Nigeria in bad light happened. The first was the case of the arrest of the Chairman of Invictus Group, Obinwanne Okeke, who was arrested by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) for carrying out fraudulent activities. The one that followed was the release of a list containing the names of 80 Nigerians who were charged by the same agency for allegedly committing several offences.
These incidents have seriously affected other Nigerians who embark on legitimate businesses as many of those who reacted branded Nigerians as corrupted people. Nevertheless, in the course of the unfavorable reactions, came one positive news about a Nigerian, Chinedu Echeruo, who made it legally.
The news was noted by a Twitter user, referred to as Omasoro Ali Ovie. Ovie identified Chinedu Echeruo as one of the many Nigerians who are making the country proud
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Meet Nigerian born and schooled Chinedu Echeruo. He eventually went to Harvard where he built https://t.co/oomxTIq1AJ for 300US cities to find direction in subway stations. Apple bought the company for $1bn and Echeruo is in Nigeria to invest. FBI 88 Nigerians will not define us. pic.twitter.com/t0F5HQWBmS
— ᴏᴍᴀsᴏʀᴏ ᴀʟɪ ᴏᴠɪᴇ™☤ (@OvieAli) August 23, 2019
While Ovia maintained that the FBI’s list would not define the innovative instincts Nigerians are recognized for, she reminded her followers that Echeruo is a young Nigerian whose firm, HopStop.com was acquired by Apple for $1 billion.
Echeruo’s background
Echeruo was born in the Eastern part of Nigeria. He had his secondary school at Kings’ College, Lagos and his University education at Syracuse University. He also went to Harvard Business school in the United States.
Echeruo worked at J.P Morgan Chase where he was involved in a broad range of M&A, financing and private equity transactions before he founded Hopstop.com in 2005.
About Hopstop.com: Hopstop is a mobile application that helps millions of users get around public transportation in major urban centers all over the world. It essentially provides directions, door-to-door mass transit, taxi, walking, biking and hourly car rental directions in major city marketplaces through the entire U.S., Canada, U.K, France, Australia, New Zealand, and Russia.
Echeruo also founded Tripology.com, an interactive travel recommendation service that is targeted on linking travellers with travel specialists. It was acquired by USA Today Travel Media Group.
Going by the thread under Ovie’s twitter post, other Nigerians who have rightly put the country on the global map were also celebrated. They include – Jelani Aliyu, the man who designed popular American car “Chevrolet Volt” in Detroit, USA and Mohammed Mustafa who was honoured with the Russian National award by the Minister of Health for being the overall best student in medical school with a CGPA of 5.0.
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