The Alleged Web of Deception Spun By 16-Year-Old ‘Tech Guru’ John Oseni

The tech space is widely perceived as a goldmine where youths, and even those of age, are longing to become a part of this cool, nerdy class with remote jobs that the IT space offers.

The meteoric rise of 16-year-old John Oseni, who identifies himself as the Chief Technical Officer, a full-stack developer, gained prominence due to an interview in a national daily where he revealed he had been hired as a senior blockchain and web developer by an Italian firm, Flywallet.

Oseni gained an enormous number of followers across all social media platforms; his story seems to be one of inspiration and triumph. However, the veil has been lifted in a thread by software developer Ayotomide, identified as @czarify on his X handle.

Ayotomide narrated his encounter while working on a startup with Oseni and the state of affairs. While on his X platform, Ayotomide describes the tale of lies that John Oseni sold to developers. He was able to convince a team of developers to work on the project’s backend, which he found exciting, building up an application from scratch. However, this cost him his time, effort, and his own money as he was working on the project without power at some point. He had to use his funds to acquire a power generator which cost N400,000 and was never refunded, despite earning 30% less than what he earned in his previous role.

He explained that he received a lot of assurance from Oseni, who often reiterated the phrase “Money is coming”.

Meanwhile, the story of John Oseni being recruited by an Italian company was alleged to be untrue, widely dispelled by netizens as a non-existing company.

John Oseni’s bubble burst when the CEO of the company called for a meeting, but he rejected the call, confirming suspicions of committing a $40,000 fraud to the amusement of the team.

Ayotomide, whose skills, time, and effort were dedicated to the botched project, felt downcast as he was expelled from the GitHub with no access to the design.

Though he expressed he has moved on and is in a better place, he felt the need to clear the air on what he had encountered in the year 2023.

While on the X space, speakers outrightly called for caution when a page on social media describes themselves as a designer, developer, or IT Specialist, emphasizing the importance of a track record and portfolio to distinguish genuine professionals from fraudsters who perpetuate shady moves to scam fellow developers and prospective investors.