Florence Seriki, ICT Icon, Passes on

The founder and CEO of Omatek
Computers, Mrs. Florence Seriki, has died. She passed on at the weekend at the Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH) after battling with cancer.

Although her family members have not announced the details of her death, but sources close to the family said the Omatek boss died of cancer of the pancreas.

Seriki, who studied Chemical
Engineering from the University of Ife, Ile-Ife, started computer trading as a vendor over 22 years ago, before setting up a local computer assembling plant in
Lagos and named it Omatek Ventures.

As a chemical engineer, Seriki put in her skills in the business, which started picking up as at that time.
In order to raise money for the
computer assembling business, Seriki listed her company on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) in 2008, and the IPO was oversubscribed, raising more
money for her business, being the only technology company listed on NSE as at then.

Trouble however started when banks decided to take over the business in order to recoup the huge amount of money she borrowed to expand her
computer assembling business.

Encomiums have started pouring in for the late Seriki who has been described by friends and well wishers as a hard working woman while on earth.

“Really, it is not life that matters but how you live it. The death of ‘Mama Computer’ reminds us of our dour humanity, and of
the fragility of our hold on human
subsistence. The world is indeed a stage and life itself is but a walking shadow,” one of the sympathisers said in a statement.

“Florence shouldered a rare and
inspiring womanhood stepping up to motivate and lift the spirits of many a teenager and adult fan of her Omatek computer and computer accessories. “In death, she looms even larger in stature
and immensity to the human cause, which makes her unforgettable to her friends, business associates and family,”
another sympathiser said.

Until her death, she remained an
inspirational figure to generations of African men and women and this is attributable to her sterling character and exploits across various fields in her lifetime.

Seriki was a notable entrepreneur and industrialist who started Omatek Ventures Plc. 22 years ago. She was the founder and Chief Executive Officer of the first completely knocked down computer factories in Nigeria and
Ghana.