Interview with Google Star Ambassador.

Entrepreneurship is not trade. It’s more about spotting opportunities and matching them up with a course of study, a vocation or an idea to create value. Adepoju Emmanuel Abiodun’s story basically exemplifies that. Popularly called “Biggy” among his pears, he has been able to rise from the average student status to being a model to so many students in Nigeria and beyond its shores. Biggy is a 400 level student of the Department of Computer Science, University of Ibadan and is the Google Star Ambassador for the 2012 class.

In this interview, he shares with us his experiences, his drive, his passion, and his thirst for more than the average.

How did you become a Google Ambassador?

(Laughs) Everybody asks me that question every day. A friend of mine came to me and said ‘I know you like to do stuff like this, will you check this out?’ And I seized the opportunity. I was chosen because of the quality of my application and they wanted to know who I was.

What was the criteria, was it just an essay?

Apart from the essay, one was required to be text savvy and know a lot about Google products, read a lot and be able to lead, be able to organize events and carry a whole lot of people along.

How was the experience being the Google ambassador?

It’s been good working with Google, but there are a lot of sacrifices involved. A part of the good is that you are famous. If you work hard, you get to travel a lot, meet the elite, and if you learn to optimize your opportunities well you’ll get the best out of it. The bad part of it is that you get to sacrifice a lot because the truth is, before you make significant impact at anything, sacrifice must come in, and that’s how it works.

What does a Google ambassador do?

Basically, Google ambassadors are links between various Universities and Google. Google realized that universities are usually where potentials are, and so we are currently focusing on Universities in Africa, analyzing, developing and maximizing the potentials. It’s the same way diplomats serve as a link between two countries. So everything the ambassador does is all about Google-hold events around Google, bring opportunities close to lecturers about Google and so on.

In the last one year, my area of jurisdiction was the University of Ibadan and its environs but now I’m a mentor to all Google Ambassadors in Africa and some parts of the world.

Does being a Google Ambassador automatically make you an entrepreneur?

Yeah. At that point you get exposure that you never thought about. You see how people use technology to make a whole lot of money, and no matter how little you are you are encouraged to start your own business, because if you are working as a Google ambassador you get to meet many young entrepreneurs. So gradually, you are encouraged to be an entrepreneur.

Would you say that you had developed enough competence to have become a Google ambassador or becoming the Google ambassador was quite easy?

To an extent being a Google ambassador is easy but sustaining the ambassadorship isn’t as easy.  Like why should they have picked me as the Google star ambassador for Africa when we have over 98 ambassadors all over the world? So it all depends on hard work, sacrifice, creativity and your leadership skills. The ability to carry people along and the ability to do a lot of things makes you what you are. We have people, who were Google ambassadors for a year and did nothing, but mine was different because I worked hard and was creative enough. They saw my ideas and marveled, and they were like ‘wow! Someone in Nigeria is thinking up these ideas?’

Did you have any business venture or anything you were doing before you became the Google ambassador?

Really, I’ve always been a businessman. I.T is my passion and I’m into online marketing, using the internet as my advertising space. Presently, I’m thinking of doing some startups with a couple of my friends. I’m helping people startup too all over Africa and beyond.

When is your Google ambassadorship expiring?

My Google ambassadorship has expired already but my star ambassadorship still goes on for a year. I’m a mentor to other ambassadors. Right now, I have a new position- the Google map advocate for Nigeria, head of all the Google Digital Mappers all over Nigeria and so on. I lead a lot of teams in Nigeria, discussing at many events around the globe, this runs for a year too. But right now, I serve as a mentor to all of Africa.

In 5 to 10 years what will you be doing, will you still be with Google?

In 5 to 10 years, I’m sure I would have had one of the biggest companies in Nigeria and one of the biggest online advertising companies in Africa.

Using Google as leverage?

Yeah, maybe… because that’s what I have.

Very true. You use what you have to get what you want. So, do you have any advice for aspiring entrepreneurs?

Let me start by saying the university has not really given us what we need and a lot of us have missed this from the start. A lot of us have worshipped books enough to make us mediocre. Normally, books should make us something else, but what books are turning us to in Nigeria is not what it used to be. So my advice to everyone is; no matter what you are doing, even as students follow your passion. It’s very important that you follow your passion as that will make way for you. Fine, it’s good to learn and read books but your passion is still the most important. The truth is that there are jobs and there are jobs, the best job is your own job not anyone’s job. Africa is an emerging market, everyone wants to invest here. The sad story is that so many foreigners are coming in to invest and we are not investing in Nigeria, or Africa. So we shouldn’t just watch while outsiders come in to invest. If we, as the future are not ready to stand up and be the future, then there is a problem somewhere. So work on your passion, follow your dreams. Adequate preparation is another key factor. When I applied, I knew close to nothing about Google but immediately I applied, I knew that my task was to read up all I could about Google, so there is nothing right now, within a year, that you’ll ask me about Google that I won’t be able to answer. So what I tell people is that everyone has opportunities, we just don’t see them. The first step is going on line to read blogs about what you are doing. What you are doing is not new, there are people who are doing the same thing and are sharing their experiences every day. So find blogs about what you do and read them. Make sure that what you are reading is about how you can do it better. Right now, one of the ways to succeed in this part of the world is climbing on someone’s shoulders. This doesn’t always mean you see these people face to face; all you might have of them is their blogs or their experiences in books.  It’s all about developing your passions consciously.

So you believe that Nigeria will be great again?

Yeah! Africa and Nigeria will rise again. I say it every day and everywhere I talk, Africa will rise again no matter the challenges we are facing. We all just have to make conscious effort at making it grow then it will. It might not be anytime soon but I believe that Africa and Nigeria will rise again.