John Oseni, a self-proclaimed teenage full-stack developer and rising tech sensation, faces accusations of scam and fraud on the X platform.
The allegations surfaced following a thread by software developer Ayotomide (@czarify) on Wednesday. Ayotomide recounted his collaboration with Oseni on a startup project, highlighting discrepancies in Oseni’s representations.
According to Ayotomide, Oseni claimed to have secured investors and nearly completed backend development.
However, it was revealed that the backend work had not even commenced, contrary to Oseni’s assurances. Despite receiving minimal compensation, Ayotomide continued to invest efforts in the project.
Oseni allegedly enticed a team of skilled Nigerian developers with promises and minimal pay, leading to discontent within the group.
What Ayotomide said
- “He often used the phrase “money is coming” but rarely delivered as promised. When my generator broke, impacting my work on his project, he delayed his promised support, forcing me to shell out over N400k from my pocket, on a project that doesn’t even pay 30% of that,” Ayotomide tweeted.
Read more on his tweets here
The tipping point came when the CEO, one Mr Akinola previously unknown to @czarify, called for a meeting. Oseni in a bid to cover his tracks rejected the meeting, sparking suspicions. The subsequent revelation that the CEO had been defrauded of nearly $40,000 exposed a web of deception, by the teenager. Social media platform X has since been agog with various reactions to the matter.
Reactions
These recent revelations on X have further led to users on the platform attesting to the alleged fraud committed by the young “techie”.
Kolawole Olajide
- “John Oseni lied through his teeth from day one. The punch article where it all started is still on their website. The Italian companies he claimed gave him a job don’t exist anywhere.”
John Oseni lied through his teeth from day one. The punch article where it all started from is still on their website. The Italian companies he claimed gave him a job don't exist anywhere 🥲
— Kolawole Olajide (@dagaeus) December 20, 2023
Olúwátóbilọ́ba Emmanuel ‘Fakorede
Not saying John’s too young for all these. but somehow I had it in mind then that “mehn he was way too young for such data strings” scheme codes??? Like the Lisp programming family. urgh!!! Funny enough i was always there on LinkedIn to say “Wow this boy is good”
Not saying John’s too young for all these. but somehow i had it in mind then that “mehn he was way too young for such data strings” scheme codes??? Like the Lisp programming family. urrgh!!!
Funny enough i was always there on LinkedIn to say “wow this boy is good” 🤦♂️#johnoseni https://t.co/Ud6c89j3j5
— Olúwátóbilọ́ba Emmanuel ‘Fakorede (@nuel_writings) December 21, 2023
Temitope
- “The CEO is my friend. He told me everything around June this year. He reported John to the civil defense guys at Akure. He was picked up. He and the dad with his stupid lawyer agreed that he will be doing refund every quarter of the year. Since then John oseni din turn John Cena o”
The CEO is my friend. He told me everything around June this year. He reported John to civil defense guys at Akure. He was picked up. He and the dad with his stupid lawyer agreed that he will be doing refund every quarter of the year. Since then John oseni din turn John Cena o pic.twitter.com/rAodUYKICW
— Temitope (@temmytokpe) December 20, 2023
Leye
- “The ecosystem too encourages fraud, so far optics sell more than anything. Just share your “wins” and take pictures with prominent people/places from time to time and that’s the flywheel you need to sustain your reputation as being “capable”.
The ecosystem too encourages fraud, so far optics sell more than anything. Just share your “wins” and take pictures with prominent people/places from time to time and that’s the flywheel you need to sustain your reputation as being “capable”.
The pattern is consistent.
— LEYE 👨🏾💻 (@leyeConnect) December 20, 2023
Damilare Odulesi
- “These things I’ve been reading about this 16-year-old boy, John Oseni are so disappointing. Must young people always scam their ways to acclaimed success? As a young Nigerian, it is becoming so difficult to trust the success stories of many young Nigerians. Invictus Obi and co”
These things I've been reading about this 16-year-old boy, John Oseni are so disappointing. Must young people always scam their ways to acclaimed success? As a young Nigerian, it is becoming so difficult to trust the success stories of many young Nigerians. Invictus Obi and co ❌
— Damilare Odulesi (@damilareodulesi) December 21, 2023
What you should know
Oseni has also been seen in pictures with celebrities and industry leaders at various events both locally and internationally. There is also a court document claiming that he owes roughly N16 million over the misappropriation of funds from Fintech startup Akranex, which he is to pay back by October 2024.
Reports by @czar show that Akranex was the startup project he came on board to work on with Oseni before things went south.
John Oseni became a social media sensation after news about him being offered a job by an Italian firm went viral. According to an interview he had in 2022, the 16-year-old at the time said he learned to code in a week and after a while(2021) landed roles with Flywallet and Cryptonite.
- Based on Oseni’s profile on LinkedIn, a social platform for recruiters and industry leaders- he is the Youngest Advisory Board Member at Lifeboat Foundation and top 100 child prodigies in the world. According to him, he has worked with almost 20 startup companies.
- Before the expose by @czarify, Oseni was co-founder and CTO of Go Free, a neobank launched in April 2023 that aspires to become Africa’s version of China’s WeChat super app.
- The company published a press release on X where it stated that it had asked John Oseni to step down effective immediately on Thursday to conduct its internal investigations on the matter.
Read the full press statement here
