Oluseun Onigbinde (born 18 September 1985)[1] is a Nigerian entrepreneur and open data analyst, popularly known as the co-founder and CEO of budgIT,[2] a Nigerian civic startup. Oluseun Onigbinde is a fiscal transparency advocate and a firm believer in the power of open data. In 2012, he was awarded the Future Awards Prize for Science and Tech Innovation.[1] Oluseun on 13 September 2019, was appointed as Technical Adviser in the Ministry of Budget and National Planning.[3] Some Nigerians reacted badly to his appointment due to his past criticism of the same government that appointed him. [4]

Oluseun David Onigbinde
Born
NationalityNigerian
EducationStanford Executive Program in Social Entrepreneurship

Bachelor of Engineering (B.Eng.), Electrical/Electronics Engineering.
Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta

Loyola College, Ibadan.
Occupation(s)Open Data advocate, Entrepreneur
Years active2011–present
Known forCo-Founder and CEO of BudgIT.
Notable workTracka, Fitila.africa, yourbudgit.com
TitleCEO of BudgIT
Spouse
Oluwaseun Agbelusi
(m. 2015)
Children2
AwardsAshoka Fellowship for Global Entrepreneurs.

The Future Awards, 2012.
World Summit Youth Award.
Knight International Journalism Fellow.

International Center for Journalists.
Websiteoluseunonigbinde.wordpress.com

On Monday, 16 September 2019, Oluseun resigned his appointment as Technical Adviser to the Minister of State for Budget and National Planning on his Medium page.[5]

Early life edit

Oluseun is a native of Masifa, Ogbomoso, Oyo State. He was born in Osogbo, presently Osun State, Nigeria.

Educational background edit

Oluseun had his primary and secondary school education at Loyola College, Ibadan where he excelled in the sciences. He scored nine distinctions in his West African Examinations Council's exam, earning the best result of the school's 2001 set.

Oluseun attended the University of Agriculture, Abeokuta where he obtained a bachelor of engineering (B.Eng.) in Electrical/Electronics Engineering and the Stanford university graduate school of business where he completed the executive program in social entrepreneurship.

Career edit

During his NYSC, he was posted to Benin City where he got a job at Access bank. He later joined First Bank for a period of three and half years. It was while he was working at First Bank that he got the idea for BudgIT. According to him, his interest in banking was from the strategy angle, a space where he could contribute his ideas.[6]

Oluseun Onigbinde is a recipient of several awards and he is currently an Obama Foundation Scholar at Columbia University. He is a board member of the ONE Africa Policy Advisory Board.[7]

He was appointed as Technical Adviser at the Ministry of Budget and National Planning but resigned few days after this appointment.[8]

BudgIT edit

In 2011, Oluseun Onigbinde and Joseph Agunbiade formed a team during a hackathon held at the Co-Creation Hub. It was here that he came up with the idea for a need to publicize government spending to the general public, leading to the startup BudgIT.[9] In 2014, the Omidyar Network invested $400,000 in BudgIT; this has always been listed on their website. In June 2015, the Kaduna State government under the administration of Mallam El-Rufai, signed BudgIT to build Open Budget mobile portal similar to the Buharimeter; a platform which was built by BudgIT for Center for Democracy and Development to hold President Buhari accountable for his campaign promises.[10] In January 2017, BudgIT raised an additional $3 million grant from Omidyar Network and Gates Foundation.[11] In February 2016, Oluseun Onigbinde was honoured to make a presentation at the Chatham House under the African Project on issue of accountability and governance.[12]

Civic Technology edit

Onigbinde has always been a big believer in data-driven journalism and participated a health journalism project as part of the Knight Innovation Fellowship of the International Center for Journalists. In 2014, BudgIT launched Tracka, a project tracking tool. Tracka monitors public projects in over 600 communities in Nigeria.

His organization also founded Civic Hive, Nigeria's civic innovation hub, that incubates solely civic tech start-ups.[13]

Personal life edit

Seun resides in Lagos with his wife, Oluwaseun, and daughters - Wuraola and Ireoluwa [14]

Awards and recognitions edit

  • Ashoka Fellowship for Global Entrepreneurs.[15]
  • The Future Awards, 2012. [16]
  • World Summit Youth Award
  • Knight International Journalism Fellow/ International Center for Journalists [17]
  • Harambe Fellowship (Harambe Entrepreneur Alliance) [18]
  • 2016 Aspen New Voices Fellowship [19]
  • 2016 Draper Hills Summer Fellowship, Stanford University (Center for Democracy, Development, and the Rule of the Law). [20]
  • Obama Foundation Scholar (2018 - 2019) [21]
  • Quartz Africa Innovators Award
  • 2018 Archbishop Desmond Tutu Leadership Fellow[22]

References edit

  1. ^ a b "The Future Awards 2012 – Meet the winners". Enterpraxis.com. Retrieved 27 August 2016.
  2. ^ Oluwafemi, Bankole. "Meet BudgIT Founder And Nigerian Data Pioneer, Seun Onigbinde On Digits". TechCabal. Retrieved 27 August 2016.
  3. ^ "Budgit's founder, Seun Onigbinde appointed Technical adviser in Budget ministry". Punch Newspapers. Retrieved 13 September 2019.
  4. ^ "Nigerians Attack Popular Critic, Seun Onigbinde, After Appointment By Buhari". Sahara Reporters. 13 September 2019. Retrieved 13 September 2019.
  5. ^ Onigbinde, Oluseun (16 September 2019). "AN UPDATE ON MY RECENT APPOINTMENT". Medium. Retrieved 16 September 2019.
  6. ^ "Meet Seun Onigbinde, The Man Whose Company Will Turn Around Government Transparency". techpoint.ng. Retrieved 15 March 2017.
  7. ^ "Leadership - The ONE Campaign". ONE. 20 May 2014. Retrieved 22 January 2020.
  8. ^ "Seun Onigbinde resigns as Technical Adviser in Budget ministry - Punch Newspapers".
  9. ^ Matuluko, Muyiwa. "Meet Seun Onigbinde, The Man Whose Company Will Turn Around Government Transparency". TechPoint. Retrieved 27 August 2016.
  10. ^ "Kaduna State government signs BudgIT to build Open Budget mobile portal". techpoint.ng. 26 June 2015. Retrieved 15 March 2017.
  11. ^ "BREAKING: BudgIT raises $3 million grant from Omidyar Network and Gates Foundation". techpoint.ng. 25 January 2017. Retrieved 15 March 2017.
  12. ^ "Oluseun Onigbinde". Data Science Nigeria. Retrieved 22 January 2020.
  13. ^ "CivicHive – Welcome". Retrieved 22 January 2020.
  14. ^ "Olusegun Onigbinde".
  15. ^ "Oluseun Onigbinde | Ashoka | Everyone a Changemaker". www.ashoka.org. Retrieved 4 July 2022.
  16. ^ "The Full List Of The Future Awards 2012 Winners!". Retrieved 27 August 2016.
  17. ^ "Oluseun Onigbinde". International Center for Journalists. Retrieved 4 July 2022.
  18. ^ "Oluseun Onigbinde". Global Shakers. Retrieved 4 July 2022.
  19. ^ "Oluseun Onigbinde". New Voices Fellowship. 3 January 2020. Retrieved 4 July 2022.
  20. ^ University, © Stanford; Stanford; California 94305. "Introducing our 2016 Draper Hills Summer Fellows". cddrl.fsi.stanford.edu. Retrieved 4 July 2022.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  21. ^ "Meet the Scholars | Columbia World Projects". worldprojects.columbia.edu. Retrieved 4 July 2022.
  22. ^ The Editor. "2018 Associates". African Leadership Institute. Retrieved 20 August 2018. {{cite web}}: |last1= has generic name (help)

External links edit