I love to hear and disseminate this types of stories. Stories of Nigerian making news positively. A 14 year-old boy, Terkura Unongo, has launched a website, www.theimongo.com,
for social networking. Though the website might not be as sophisticated
as the likes of Facebook, seems as a good invention coming from a young
Nigerian.
The early exposure that Terkura, an eighth Grade Student of Hillcrest
Middle School, Jos, Plateau State, had to the Internet seems to have
paid off. His parents gave him the support to explore his talents in
the digital world, and provided him with gadgets. As a result of this he
opened his first e-mail address at eight, joined Facebook two years
after and other popular social networks in quick succession.
Apart from the fact that his parents gave him the support to explore his
talents in the digital world, his computer science teacher also
inspired him.
Terkura, who hails from Benue State, says, “Well, I think I became
IT-savvy right from the day I started using a computer, as my parents
provided the atmosphere for me to acquire various computer devices. But
my potentials got sharpened in 2011 when my computer teacher basically
showed me the fun in HTML (Hyper Text Markup Language).
“It was during a class where we were told to make a website based on any
topic of our choice, he taught the class the basics, e.g. images,
colours, fonts, etc. of the language and I was challenged to go on and
further my knowledge on the language.”
He explains that after being fascinated by the workings of various
social networks, coupled with the knowledge of programming languages he
had acquired, he felt he could also make a difference by starting a
social network of his own.
According to him, the name, “Imongo”, is taken from the Tiv native
dialect which simply means, “Gathering,” He explains that he picked the
name because he feels it really described his main objective of
connecting people to enable them to meet one another, keep in touch with
those they already know, and make new friends at the same time staying
entertained and informed.
He adds that he was fascinated by what he could do with HTML so he
immediately decided to learn Cascading Style Script and other languages,
including JavaScript, Java, and VB. He created various websites for
school projects, and for fun though never published them.
“I felt I could do something positive, and then I decided to create
something that would impact the lives of potential members from all over
the world. So I went on to work on Imongo, and I am still working on it to take the online social experience to a whole new level.
“I started work on the Imongo in May 2012, and made it public in
early August, and received over 300 members in less than three months. I
built the Video Chat feature using a partner called, TokBox. I had no official guide, I used my current knowledge of scripting languages and the Internet to guide me.”
A visit by our correspondent to the site shows that the network is not
only a platform for making friends but one where members can also stay
updated with news bordering on entertainment, where members keep up to
date with latest gist, and gossips locally and internationally, and also
stay entertained with music, videos, pictures and tech reviews.
The membership strength of the network currently stands at 1,258 and the
site is designed such that intending members can be a part of it by
joining through Facebook or by simply signing up with an e-mail address
and a password. An online forum and a blog is also embedded on the
network. A check on the site shows that 30 topics ranging from religion,
politics, sports and entertainement have come up for discussion on the
site’s forum.
Terkura, who would be 15 on July 4, says his role model is Microsoft
founder, Bill Gates, adding that he is targeting a million members on
his site by 2014.
“I would like to master Java, C++, PHP and other languages that would
enable me to take on future projects. I am hoping to attain one million
members by 2014. And if the need for more bandwidth, storage space, and
more servers to take on a huge population of members become necessary,
it is possible for Imongo to purchase more,” he says.
Terkura’s 77-year-old father, Paul, told our correspondent that right
from age four, his son had always insisted that he is presented with
various gadgets as birthday gifts. He said at some point he was at first
scared that his IT inclination could distract him from his academics.
“There was a time that I became worried and her mother and I tried to
discourage him. We felt that he was spending too much time after school
on the computers and gadgets that we buy for him on his birthdays.
“But, he assured us that he was taking his academics seriously and when
we realised that we was not doing badly, we encouraged him and guided
him to achieve his dreams in the IT world.”
Paul advises parents not to be over-protective while guiding their
children in what they learn. “Once the activities they are engaged in is
adding to their knowledge, I think we parents should give them a chance
and encourage them,” he adds.
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