HH People
We are quite excited to chat with you Wahab, more especially given your reticent temperament. So, let’s start from the beginning. Tell us about yourself, your childhood and background.
Wahab
*laughs.
Thank you! Hopefully, my answers live up to your expectations.
About my childhood—I grew up as the first male child in a family of four. Everybody says this, but I was quite the star performer in primary school too, I topped my class and always received prizes from my teachers and parents. It made me feel special, so in a sense, my childhood was full of love and fun memories. You probably won’t believe it (many people don’t) but I was also quite artistic too. As a child, I used to draw, and I loved it. Back then, I’d draw several fictional combat movie scenes. My art was basically an extension of the kind of movies I watched growing up, the good old times of Bollywood, Chinese Kungfu and American action movies.
Like most kids, I had a lot of mischief up my sleeves and I gave my parents their fair share of headaches, especially as I was always eager to practice all the moves that I saw in the action movie. Granted, I was still mostly a quiet child, (and that hasn’t changed much now) however, the fact that I was reserved, and gentle didn’t mean I was not willing to fight if the situation demanded it. In fact, my notoriety became somewhat of a family reference point as I once saved my cousins from a street fight from thugs who came after us with matchets.
HH People
Whao! Matchets? We definitely didn’t see that coming. *laughs. You see why conversations are so great. So, what other surprising sides are there to you?
Wahab
Hmm, let me think about this for a minute. Oh yes, so, back in the day, my family and I lived near a large expanse of land. (We called it No Man’s Land) and it was just there, wasting away. The land was so large that people used to host events there, and young boys turned it into a football field. My cousins and I decided we also wanted to participate in the public use of the land *laughs, we started planting yams and potatoes. We were so excited and were really looking forward to the harvest. Unfortunately, things did not pan out as we expected. One day, while we were cultivating and taking out weeds, a group of rowdy looking men came after us with Machetes.
HH People
Wait, the same guys you mentioned earlier?
Wahab
Exactly. It was both a point of pain and glory. They destroyed the farm and wanted to attack us, but being the group leader, I stood my ground and fought them off with sticks. I was able to hold the forte until my people escaped. Of course, I came out from that incident, unscathed! Good old days, lol.
HH People
*laughs. We are going to be thinking about this story for weeks at least, wow. What other secrets should we know about you?
Wahab
Well, I am a heavy sleeper, it used to be a lot worse back in the day. I remember once when I woke from sleep only to find a small crowd in front of my apartment. Apparently, they had been knocking for a long time and feared something had happened to me. Also, speaking of secrets, I don’t like football, never have. I simply don’t understand what the fuss is about.
HH People
At least we know you like computer programming. Tell us how a Kungfu enthusiast became a computer programmer?
Wahab
I like to think computer programming chose me, I know it is such a dreamy thing to say, it just came naturally to me, and after I took my first computer science class at the university, I knew there would be no going back. I fell in love immediately and even imagined that I would become an IT Wizkid like Mark Zuckerberg or a Tech pioneer like Bill gates etc. The dream is still in the pipeline though.
HH People
So, you were great at school, great on the streets and great in making your career choice. Makes us envy you somewhat. *laughs. Is there anything you have repeatedly failed at?
Wahab
Oh, that’s easy, I’ve never been consistent at the gym as you can tell by looking at me. Lol. There are times I commit to start, but the problem is the consistency–before I know what’s happening, I’ve stopped, and the loop just keeps recurring.
HH People
Hmm, you are not alone though, there’s something about gym consistency that feels like a national struggle. Anyway, tell us more about the things you like: are you a movie person and if so, what kind of movies do you enjoy?
Wahab
How many movies do I need to watch to qualify as a ‘movie person’? These days, I just don’t have the luxury of time to watch movies as I used too. However, I grew up watching Bollywood and Hollywood Combat and Chinese Kungfu movies. So naturally, I love those genres, I have seen several Sci-Fi and Horror movies that are good as well.
HH People
Speaking of watching more movies when you were younger, we’d like to know; if you could go back in time, what would you change about yourself?
Wahab
There was a time I used to think a lot about this, but I finally decided it is not worth it. The reason is the universe has laws. If anything changes the way God has designed them, for example—if our planet earth is a little closer or farther from the sun, we would not have the same ecological conditions that allow for oxygen on earth. This is the same way I think about my life now. Changing anything that makes me who I am might have consequences. However, if there is something I can do differently today, it would definitely be the honing the ability to make friends.
HH People
Hmmm, that was so insightful, thankfully we are already your friends.
Wahab
*laughs. I’m glad to hear that.
HH People
Okay, as your established BFF, we feel compelled to ask what your nicknames were as a child.
Wahab
I’ve had several nicknames but the one that has kind of stuck is ‘Action Man.
It came up one day in primary school, I was drawing my fictional Hollywood combat scene where the ‘Actor’ was fighting the bad guys. I had named my ‘Actor’ action man. Then my class teacher (Aunty Ronke) walked in and was surprised that I was drawing instead of doing my work. From that day, she started calling me Action Man, and the name simply stuck.
HH People
Okay, action man. Lol. You can tell we like the ring of that. Tell us where do you see yourself in five years?
Wahab
I am already in one of the best places to work, so the goal is to continue to grow and take on newer challenges over time. Ultimately, I would like to take on more management responsibilities and get involved in product strategy and organisational decision making.
HH People
Wow, we’ve really enjoyed our chat with you. Just one more thing: if you had the opportunity to change something in the Group, what would it be?
Wahab
I’ve made some suggestions in the past that management graciously adopted. In addition, I recommend better consideration of flexible work hours and a more comprehensive health plan.
Why on earth will you not love football? Oh my God! With your Kung Fu skills, you would have been as football success, Wahab. You will be scoring acrobatic goals for fun.
Wow! Wow! Wow! What a revealing interview? I am now in awe of Wahab.
Well done to the HH People crew for unearthing such interesting aspects of Wahab. Great job!
Awesome story, Wahab! You have to teach me some Kungfu moves now.
I just imagined the scene…..Wahab fighting people with machetes…..hahahahahahaha
Oh wow! Nice story Wahab