I have constantly resisted the urge to comment on this particular thread due to the fact that it is disturbing to read or hear some people write or talk as if they now understand everything about software development.

If someone understands something so well then the person should go ahead and implement or build that killer application that will put Nigeria's name on the global map.

Applications are built to solve problems or offer convenient alternatives to certain tasks.

Youtube was setup by just two people (while working as employees at paypal), no one needs a mega company to come up with an application before Nigerians can see or use a good web application.

I developed from scratch in my spare time a web application I hope will make sense to Nigerians and every single feature or functionality that people want to see on that site will be implemented.

The only major thing I have not setup (but will do so before the end of next week) is the online payment system that will offer the simplicity, security and convenience that card holders of Mastercard, Visa etc currently enjoy and this will be built from scratch.

We have people that have money to spend but do not understand the technicalities involved in running web applications.

If anyone feels too strongly about the state of software application in Nigeria and the person is good enough let the person develop one and we shall make use of the application.

LearnBook:

Potential developers should also study actual trends. These days a lot of software are webbased and based on the common LAMP (Linux, Apache, Mysql and PHP). These are all free. Most of the software developers I met do not appear to have these skills.

If the only tool you have is a hammer then every problem begins to look like a nail.

There is more to software development than just LAMP.
Agreed that LAMP is good but is Linux, Apache, Mysql and PHP coded by web developers?

Please let's not narrow our views.

Afam:

If anyone feels too strongly about the state of software application in Nigeria and the person is good enough let the person develop one and we shall make use of the application.

I'm doing just that my bro. Check it out - www.aductions.com.

Very cool site. That's the way forward we have been talking for a long long time now.

Thanks. I decided to practise what I preach.

I'm still coding away as I write, and suffering from acute jet lag. We came to Silicon Valley all the way from Lagos to get the business of the ground and hopefully, everything will be successful.

Just remember to let me know when the Beta testing starts on 6th I think, already signed up.

All the best and good luck.

Nice. I think we are going to learn a lot from your initiative.

Thanks for the kind words guys. We really appreciate the support.

We've been shooting for the 6th but practically speaking, we may have to delay it by 2 more days or something. This is largely because we got our Paypal approval a bit late. We had to do all sorts of verification just to get our business account approved. Now, we just need to integrate our code with their backend. Once we do that and we get an "ok" from them, we are good to go.

On a funny note, my brother took a tour around the area last week to see the complexes of Google, Ebay, Yahoo etc. From what he said, everybody thinks Google's office is just one large building. In fact, it is like a whole street of mega complexes. Very very intimidating. One interesting point he mentioned though. When he was at Google, he saw loads of young people (twentysomethings) coming out of their buildings, some jumping on bikes. However, when he was at Yahoo, he saw a lot of old men coming out of their buildings, some with pot bellies. lol. What a marked difference! No wonder Yahoo seems to have lost its direction.

I don't think growing old necessarily makes people lose direction. We will all grow old, won't we?

Lol. true.


I guess what I mean is their top management seem to have lost it. They keep losing market share to Google, keep missing their quarterly earnings estimates, and consequently a lot of people have lost money on their stock. One guy recently called their stock the "Yahoo Yahoo" stock. Just recently, their CEO resigned (read: got forced out) and founder, Jerry Yang had to step in. The jury is still out on whether he can turn the company around.

All in all, they are exhibiting attributes of a slow moving giant, that's devoid of innovative ideas and is on its way down. There are even rumours that Yahoo may be acquired!

You guys should have a look at Brain Bench's Global skills report for 2006.
http://www.phanmemvietnam.com/images/News/TaiLieu/Brainbench_GlobalSkillsReport2006.pdf

Its not the best, but there's so much potential.

Hi all,
After many years working in the software business around the world, we have decided to move our services to Nigeria. We think the time is ripe for the move.

To this end, we have spent the last few months working on a number of software products directed at the Nigerian market. Our first offering is a Payroll and Human resource management software called 'EasyWare Human Resource Manager'. You may download an evaluation copy at: http://www.easyware-ng.com/human_resources.html.

We are looking to partner with software sales/marketing any organisations or individuals with a good understanding of the Nigerian market and good contacts within the software end-user market. Are there people on this forum who can point us in the right direction?

Thanks

sbucareer:



Please next time do not use the word 3rd world. It is an insult to developing countries like Africa. There is no such thing as 1st world, 2nd world, and 3rd world. The world was created at the same time. The first civilizations know to man today was developed by Africans. The ancient Africans developed the first spoken and written language. Africans first conceived the study of astronomy and stars. Time was originated in Africa. Before the Europeans appeared on the surface of earth there was a culture and civilization called Africans.

So please don't ever refer to Africa as third world. We are in fact the first world. The problem of Africa today is colonization or should I say assimilation and the better phase of slavery. When Africa had their power according to the bible we enslaved them too but we did not treat them the way they treated us.

The West is super power today and rich because of the sweat of our forefathers we sold into slavery. Britain has recognized the impact of slavery and are offering apologies and looking for ways to amend relationship with the Africans although their possessive ego will still be their primary interest.

Next time, please refer to Africa or others as a developing country not a 3rd world. Many African Professors would be appalled and upset if you ever use that word to them. Martin Luther King did not die for me to be called 3rd world.