MAN ON A MISSION:MEET Mr. Victor Nwadinobi, the founder of Greenmouse Technologies

Mr. Victor Nwadinobi, is a graduate of Computer Science/Mathematics (combined honours) from the Federal University of Technology Owerri (FUTO).He was among those who won the federal government YOUWIN competition 2011/2012. he has been granted exclusive interview on vanguard. he has also trained many graduates making them employable in thefields on endeavors. According to him, after graduation, he had to go the extra mile to acquire hands-on experience to enable him set up his own outfit. Could you tell about yourself – growing up and schooling? I did my national youth service at the Nigerian Army Training Centre, Kontagora in Niger State. It was there that I started training people. I trained over 60 officers and soldiers. Aside training, I do web designing, programming, and so on,” he said, adding: “But my areas of specialisation are web application, internet programming, etc., anything that has to do with web application and training on all aspects.” After the service year, the Orlu, Imo State-born entrepreneur, came back to Lagos to start Green Mouse Web Academy in 2009. He said: “I started this business in 2009. It wasn’t so difficult for me because of the skills I had acquired. At the initial stage, I had to advertise in several media, both online and regular media to create awareness. That was where I spent some money.” What was your experience like, working? “I started with two people because there was no money. Once a trainee comes and goes, he spreads the word and others would come for training also. Now, I receive a lot of students. So far, I have trained over 120 people. I also run training programmes for organizations; I train their staff. It has not been easy but God has been faithful”. “Setting up a business involves getting a place which does not come cheap. I was fortunate that the owner of this property agreed to sublet the place. I told him I did not have the money to pay and that he should allow me to use the place to train people and get money from there to pay him. He agreed. My joy is that the business is progressing,”.

What challenges did you encounter when you started out? On the challenges I encountered, (lol)“I have faced a lot of challenges. At first, it was like ‘can this thing work or can it not work?’ People were asking: ‘Who are you? What are your antecedents? Oh, your office is too far’ (because I was coming from Festac Town), your office does not have air conditioners,’ and all that. Some would say ‘well, let’s see what you can do.’ The challenges were many but I tried to use what I had at the time to put up something. I didn’t even know it was going to work. “I started the business with just N12,000. I just told myself to start something, if it worked, fine and if it didn’t, fine. I had budgeted about N200,000 to have a place of my own but I had only N12,000 and I never imagined that little amount could bring me this far. I just decided to train some people who had been on my neck. So when I started, others began to come too so I decided to make it a full blown business,” he said.

What’s next on your agenda? I intend to reach out to the grassroots, interior villages and give them the skills because they are essential to youth development. Unfortunately, our youths don’t have these skills and they may not have access to a big city like Lagos so I intend to go to the grassroots and help them acquire the skills at a token. Where do you see yourself going from here? The young entrepreneur knows the importance of information and communication technologies to the development of a nation, so he intends to go to the grassroots to impart this knowledge to the teeming Nigerian youths. I see myself as an owner of a very big ICT centre where not only Nigerians but people from, different parts of the world will be trained. Then I see us partnering foreign ICT centres because I am thinking of giving our people better ICT centres than we currently have in the country. it's a pleasure chatting with you sir. The outfit which started with just two trainees, has trained over 120 people today.