FLORENCE SERIKI DIES AT 53

(Mrs.) Florence Seriki, group managing director and chief executive officer of Omatek Ventures Plc is dead. She died at the Lagos university teaching Hospital on Friday, March 3, 2017 after a brief illness. She was aged 53. She established Omatek Computers in 1987 and was one of the few information technology companies quoted at the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE). She was a Fellow of the Nigerian Computer Society (NCS) as well as Fellow of the Society of Chemical Engineers Seriki was born in Lagos to the Udebu family from Ebu in Delta State. She had her secondary education at the Reagan Memorial Baptist Secondary School, Sabo, Yaba between 1975 and 1980. History of the school still has it that she put up a superlative academic performance all through her stay. She then proceeded to the Federal School of Science, Lagos (F.S.S) for her A levels. Again, she emerged as the best overall student in lower six form. She proceeded to the then University of Ife (now Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife). She graduated in Chemical Engineering. In 1993, during the CTO exhibition (organized by the commercial section of the American Embassy in Nigeria), Florence took a bold step to launch the Omatek brand of Computers. This, which is actually the first attempt of its kind in Nigeria, became widely accepted and used as a result of its quality and ruggedness. Early in 2003, she took another giant stride opening a factory in Lagos. The factory has turned out to be the very first in Africa to produce Nigerian made Computer Cases, Speakers, Keyboards and Mouse from completely knocked down (CKD). The factory produced made in Nigeria Omatek Computers, Notebooks and Servers with all its components made in Nigeria. Florence expanded the business when she established Omatek Ghana as part of her vision towards making Omatek a pan African company. She also opened another arm of the business in Singapore as part of efforts to engage in effective research and development for the business. During her lifetime, every day was a challenge – a challenge she enjoyed and with these challenges she grew both personally and technically. But equally important, she thoroughly enjoyed working with her professional colleagues. Through her experience, Omatek grew to become a very relaxed atmosphere, which also helped her staff to performing at their best. Her work was part of her self-fulfillment. The other part is of course more personal, be it about spending time with friends and family, or pursuing her hobbies. Her job gives her the flexibility to enjoy that just as much. Naturally, her university education provided her with the basics, which she applied in her job. But she learnt new things almost everyday due to her wide travel experience. She did not pursue these things because she was thinking about her career, but because it was fun and an adventure she didn’t want to miss. Florence was talented, innovative, hardworking and a consumate achiever. She won over 150 awards during her lifetime. Married to Olalekan Seriki, a successful architect, Florence Seriki is blessed with three children, a boy and two lovely girls. Signed Dr. Timothy Farinre Chairman, Omatek Ventures Plc