Have you ever heard of Omatek Computers Limited? It is an indigenous Nigerian-based company, one of the first companies to locally assemble notebooks and laptops in Africa. It was founded by one of Africa's very own women, Engr. Mrs. Florence. O. Seriki in 1986 and she's our WCW in IT for today.
Mrs. Seriki holds a Bachelor's degree in Chemical Engineering from Obafemi Awolowo University and a Master's degree in Business Administration from Lagos Business School. Her foray into programming however began early in her career as a chemical engineer. As a result of obtaining poor results when running a set of simulations using old FORTRAN software, she was faced with the task of learning a new mathematical modelling language to complete the task which she did learn.
During her NYSC service year, she created a demand for her computer training skills when she took up teaching some directors in the company where she worked how to use the computers that "just decorated their tables" and this lead her to set up a company to provide training on the use of computers to executives within the banking and oil sectors. That company branched out to supply of branded computers to banks and multinational companies and eventually it grew into a company that handled full assembly of computers and accessories.
Today, 30 years later, Omatek is still a widely known indigenous brand holding an enviable market share in the production and assembly of computers as well as related accessories. In fact, Omatek is known to own the first completely knocked down computer factories in Nigeria and Ghana and has been recognized as the Best Systems Builder Partner by Microsoft for East, West and Central Africa.
Mrs Seriki has received so many accolades for her innovation in the IT industry and her contributions towards the improvement of IT awareness in Nigeria. She is recognized today for seeing where a need was glaring and making moves to fill in that gap and for that reason we have made her a part of our list of women in IT and hope that the younger generations learn from her.
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