It’s a great opportunity to be here as a guest blogger. My name is Mutiu Okediran and I had this interview (via email) with Francis Onwumere. He is a freelance web developer.

Enjoy the interview…

Francis said no matter the difficulty you are facing as a startup

Start by having a plan. At least start and don’t let the difficulties woo you

SN: Please tell us about yourself, your background and interests?

Francis: I’m a 25 year old freelance web developer and have been doing this professionally for close to four years now, mainly as a means of extra income while studying chemistry at University of Nigeria.

Originally it all started by chance. I had just finished secondary school in 2000 and while trying to gain admission into university, I came across this HTML book at one Akoka study centre in Lagos. Alongside my A-Level studies, I gradually began to explore the world of HTML and web design.

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Today, I’m featuring an interview with Dayo Edunjobi, a Nigerian blogger who covers Internet Marketing in Nigeria and author of the first ebook about Blogging in Nigeria titled: “Blogging Made Easy”.

The ebook covers topics such as “Several Hot Niches You Can Blog About”, “How to Generate Ideas for Your Blog Contents”, “How to Drive Free Traffic to Your Blog”, “How to Build Backlinks for Your Blog”, “How to Get More Blog Comments”, “Hot Monetization Ideas for Your Blog”, “Top Mistakes Business Bloggers Make” and many more…

In this interview, Dayo shares his thoughts about the Nigerian blogosphere and talks about his ebook. Enjoy the interview!

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Today, I’m featuring an interview with Seun Osewa, founder of Nairaland, Nigeria’s largest online forum and discussion portal which currently ranks 16th on the Alexa Top 100 sites in Nigeria. The site which started in 2005 has grown to become the most popular site in Nigeria.

In this interview, Seun Osewa talks about his site, which he sees as a personal website, rather than a start-up.

SN: Please tell us about yourself, your background and interests?

Seun: I’m Seun Osewa, 26 year old webmaster and aspiring film-maker.

SN: What is the name of your blog/start-up/company?

Seun: The Nairaland Forum located at http://www.nairaland.com

SN: Please tell us about your blog/start-up/company?

Seun: Nairaland is a discussion forum for Nigerians. A place to ask questions and get useful answers on any topic of interest. It also has a very vibrant job section.

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On Saturday October 11th 2008, young entrepreneurs from around the world attended BarCampAfrica on the Google Campus in Mountain View, California with the aim of building connections between people and opportunities in Silicon Valley and Africa.

I thought it’d be nice to feature one of the participants, Temi Kolawole, a young Nigerian web developer and co-founder of Antigravity Inc., (a web development company); Sturvs, Nigeria’s answer to Digg.com, and Nigeria’s first ever Facebook application.

In this exclusive interview with StartupsNigeria, Temi shares his concerns about Internet technology in Nigeria and what Nigerian web entrepreneurs must do in order to develop world-class startups…He also shares his thoughts about organizing a BarCamp in Nigeria.

Hope you enjoy it!

SN: You just came back from BarCampAfrica held in California. Please tell us what it was all about.

Temi: BarCamp is basically an informal gathering of people to share ideas, based mainly around technology. I must confess that BarCampAfrica was a little different from others I’ve attended, in that I expected it to be a technology event, but found it to be a lot more about African development and charity. That’s of concern to me. I believe there’s extreme poverty all over the world, in Asia, Europe and other places, but we all still find it very hard to talk about Africa, without focusing on charity and aid. Africa is rich, and as much as some people in Africa might need foreign help, we need more of investment and business opportunity, than we need free aid.

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Today, I am featuring an email interview with Ikenna “iKE” Orizu , founder/CEO, Truspot, Nigeria’s Social Music Revolution. He also co-founded iDoLike, a blogazine about entertainment with Dolamu Adeyemi-Bajo.

SN: Please tell us about yourself, your background and interests?

iKE: First off, I’ll like to thank you very much for this interview. You’re doing a great job for our community. My name is Ikenna ‘iKE’ Orizu, CEO and Founder of Tru Spot! (www.mytruspot.com) am 22 years old now, undergraduate student. I love everything that’s entertaining and showcases the beauty of being African.

SN: What is the name of your start-up company?

iKE: Tru Spot!

SN: Please tell us about your start-up company?

iKE: Tru Spot! is Africa’s largest Music platform, that lets its users access music from the motherland from wherever they are in the world on almost every device that could access the Internet. It’s also a social network, where friends could see what their friends are listening to, create personalized playlists, listen to live streams, chat and discuss with new people and more.

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