In this interview with YETUNDE AJANAKU, the founder of RouteEd, Abraham Bobmanuel, spoke on leveraging technology to enhance child safety, improve school transformation and create opportunities for young people through innovation and digital solutions.

MANY young Nigerians have brilliant ideas but often complain that government policies, poor infrastructure and limited access to funding discourage innovation. Do you think the government is doing enough to support young entrepreneurs?

I believe there has been progress, but there is still a long way to go. Young Nigerians are among the most creative and resilient people anywhere in the world. Every day, I meet young people with ideas that have the potential to solve real problems, not just in Nigeria but globally. The challenge is that many of them spend more time fighting the environment than building the solution.

Reliable electricity, affordable internet, access to funding, business-friendly regulations and efficient public institutions all play an important role in helping innovation thrive. When these things are difficult to access, entrepreneurs are forced to solve problems that have nothing to do with the businesses they are trying to build.

Some of the world’s greatest companies were built during difficult times because their founders chose to solve meaningful problems instead of waiting for ideal circumstances.

Government support is important, but I also believe innovation is driven by people who refuse to stop building. Africa should not only consume technology. We should build technology that the world depends on.

If you have the opportunity to advise the Federal Government on three things it should do to help young innovators and technology startups thrive, what would they be?

The first thing would be to make it easier to build legitimate businesses. Registering companies, protecting intellectual property, accessing government services and complying with regulations should be straightforward, affordable and efficient. Young founders should spend more time building products rather than navigating bureaucracy.

Also, I believe we need to invest much more intentionally in technology education. The future belongs to countries that build technology, not just consume it. That means encouraging software engineering, artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, product design and entrepreneurship from an early stage. We should be preparing young Nigerians to create solutions for global markets.

Do you think Nigeria is creating an environment where young people can build global technology companies or are we still losing too many talents to other countries?

I honestly believe both things are true. Nigeria has the talent to build globally competitive technology companies. We have brilliant engineers, designers, founders and problem solvers who have repeatedly demonstrated that they can compete anywhere in the world.

At the same time, we continue to lose many of these talented people because they are searching for environments where they can grow faster, access better opportunities, and focus on building instead of constantly overcoming basic operational challenges.

Rather than seeing this purely as a loss, I think it should challenge us to create an environment where talented people choose to build here because they believe they can succeed here.

That is one of the reasons I founded RouteEd. I wanted to prove to myself that a company solving a Nigerian problem could also solve a global problem.

Student transportation safety, visibility, and accountability are not uniquely Nigerian challenges. Families all over the world want to know that their children are safe during the journey between home and school.

Youth unemployment remains a major challenge in Nigeria. Beyond seeking white-collar jobs, what mindset shift do you think young Nigerians need to embrace?

I believe the biggest mindset shift is moving from asking, “Where can I find a job?” to asking, “What problem can I solve?” The world rewards people who solve meaningful problems. Entrepreneurship is not simply about owning a business or becoming your own boss. It is about creating value in a way that improves people’s lives.

I also think we need to redefine what success looks like. Too often, social media makes entrepreneurship appear glamorous, but behind every successful company are years of learning, setbacks, uncertainty, and persistence. Building something meaningful requires patience, discipline, resilience, and the willingness to keep showing up even when progress is slow.

Artificial Intelligence and digital technology are transforming economies around the world. Do you think Nigeria is moving fast enough to prepare its young people for the future of work?

Artificial Intelligence is changing the world, but I believe the conversation should go beyond AI itself. The real question is whether we are preparing young people to think critically, solve problems creatively, and adapt continuously. Technology will continue to evolve, but those human qualities will always remain valuable.

Nigeria has made encouraging progress in embracing digital technology, but there is still a significant opportunity to strengthen digital education, invest in practical skills, and expose more young people to emerging technologies from an early age.

What gap did you notice in student transportation and safety that convinced you there was a need for the solution that RouteEd brings?

Every morning, millions of parents across Nigeria do something remarkable. They entrust the most precious part of their lives, their children, to someone else for the journey to school. That trust is one of the greatest responsibilities any school accepts.

At the same time, we live in a country where stories of insecurity have become far too common. We have seen heartbreaking reports of school attacks, kidnappings, transportation incidents, and families left searching for answers during moments of uncertainty. Those realities changed the way I thought about student transportation.

I realised that schools had invested significantly in securing classrooms and campuses, yet one of the most important parts of a child’s day, the journey between home and school, often remained far less visible.

For me, RouteEd was never simply about tracking vehicles. It is about reducing uncertainty. It is about helping schools know more, helping parents worry less, and creating a trusted system where schools, parents, guardians, and drivers all share the same information throughout every school journey.

Technology cannot eliminate insecurity, but it can strengthen communication, improve accountability, and provide an additional layer of awareness when every minute matters.

What makes RouteEd different and what problem is it truly solving for schools and families,particularly as many assume it is just another GPS tracking platform?

If RouteEd were simply another GPS tracking application, I honestly would not have built it. Parents are not looking for a moving dot on a map. They are looking for reassurance. Schools are not simply looking for vehicle locations. They are looking for confidence, accountability, and better operational oversight.

RouteEd was designed as a student transportation visibility infrastructure that connects schools, parents, guardians, drivers, and students through one trusted ecosystem.

When a child boards a school bus, when a trip begins, when trusted guardians receive updates, and when schools maintain operational visibility, everyone shares the same trusted information at the same time.

One of our most important innovations is our family-centred approach. Parents can monitor multiple children attending different RouteEd enabled schools through one account, assign different guardians to each child based on where they live, and continue using the same family account even if a child changes schools. Whether a parent is in Abuja, London, New York, or anywhere else in the world, RouteEd is designed to keep families connected to their children’s daily journeys.

As you prepare to launch your pilot programme in Nigeria and expand internationally, what has been your biggest lesson as a young entrepreneur building a technology company?

The biggest lesson has been that great products are built by listening before they are built by coding. Some of RouteEd’s strongest ideas did not come from sitting behind a computer. They came from conversations with parents, school proprietors, drivers, transport coordinators, educators, and families. Every conversation revealed something we had not considered before and helped us build a better solution.

I have also learned that execution is what separates ideas from impact. Many people have brilliant ideas, but ideas only begin to change lives when they are consistently executed with excellence.

Perhaps the most important lesson is that trust cannot be rushed. Whether you are building technology or building relationships, trust is earned one journey at a time. That philosophy guides everything we are building at RouteEd.

What advice would you give to young Nigerians who have innovative ideas but are afraid to start because of financial constraints or fear of failure?

I would tell them not to allow fear to become a permanent decision. Every successful company started as an uncertain idea. The difference is that someone chose to begin.

You do not need to have everything figured out before taking the first step. What you need is a genuine problem worth solving, the humility to keep learning, and the resilience to continue even when progress feels slow.

Do not become so focused on building a company that you forget to build yourself. Read constantly. Learn continuously. Listen carefully. Surround yourself with people who challenge you to think better. Most importantly, remember that failure is not the opposite of success. For many entrepreneurs, it is part of the journey toward success. The future is built by people who choose courage over comfort.

Looking ahead, what legacy do you hope RouteEd will leave, not just in Nigeria, but across Africa and the rest of the world?

When people hear the word legacy, they often think about companies. I think about children. I hope RouteEd contributes to a future where parents no longer spend the school day wondering whether their child arrived safely. I hope we help schools strengthen the trust families place in them every single morning. I hope we encourage a culture where student transportation is treated with the same seriousness as every other part of education.

If RouteEd helps reduce uncertainty, improve communication, strengthen accountability, and give families greater confidence during one of the most vulnerable parts of a child’s day, then I believe we will have made a meaningful contribution.

I also hope RouteEd demonstrates that world-class technology can be built in Africa to solve African challenges while serving families across the globe. Because I believe our greatest export should not only be talent. It should also be innovation.

My dream is that one day, parents everywhere naturally ask one simple question before enrolling their children in a school: “Is your school RouteEd enabled?” Not because it is fashionable. But because visibility, accountability, and peace of mind have become the expected standard.

At its heart, RouteEd is not simply building transportation technology. We are building trust into one of the most important journeys a family makes every day. And that is the legacy I hope we leave behind. (Sunday Tribune)

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