From Lagos to Nagoya: The Self-taught Nigerian Developer Building Robots Without Borders

Oluchi Chibuzor

When Emmanuel Omeogah first began teaching himself to code on an old laptop, plugging in his computer and sitting still wherever he managed to find electricity, he could not yet foresee where exactly the road would take him. But he pursued it with relentless determination and perseverance, a choice that has shaped the accomplishments he claims today. He was not chasing a formal degree — that part was over for him and his course of study, Quantity Surveying, no longer felt aligned with his future. Instead, he chose to chase his future head-on. Today, that future is taking shape in Nagoya, Japan, where he is the technical co-founder of Fainzy Technologies, a robotics company developing contactless service technologies for the hospitality industry. As a self-taught developer navigating two continents, Omeogah is not just building machines and systems, he is designing a future where innovation knows no boundaries.

Without any formal background in computer science, Omeogah’s tech journey began out of necessity and pure curiosity in 2017. He describes curiosity as a major propelling force in his career, a constant and unsettling need to understand how and why systems work. As for necessity, the urge to build a platform to support a business idea — without the funds to hire a developer — led him to join the Andela Android Learning Community straight out of university. With just internet access and an aging laptop, he relied on free online resources to build his knowledge from the ground up. He joined several free bootcamps and internships to sharpen his skills, and he never stopped pushing himself to learn. This ongoing self-education fueled his early projects — some self-initiated, others completed during internships, and eventually as an employee in Fidelity Bank’s cybersecurity division in 2021. He began solving real-world problems, and each success, no matter how small, moved him forward. Over time, his expanding portfolio and growing confidence led to a full-time role as a software developer at SenexPayment Services.

At SenexPayment Services, a Nigerian fintech company that gained media recognition for its contributions to the local cryptocurrency ecosystem, Omeogah quickly became a core member of the development team. There, he built the company’s flagship product: a digital wallet system that allows users to hold, swap, and convert over a dozen cryptocurrencies. The product includes a native feature called SenCash, which enables instant crypto-to-fiat exchange. He also developed the company’s crypto exchange platform, designed for scalability and capable of accommodating additional digital assets over time. Drawing from his earlier experience in cybersecurity, he ensured that security remained central to all system architecture. His talent for translating business needs into scalable technical solutions earned him a reputation as both a reliable engineer and a systems thinker. This led to his promotion to Lead Programmer in 2024.

Today, Omeogah is applying his skills on a global stage as the technical co-founder and CTO of Fainzy Technologies, a robotics company based in Nagoya, Japan. Fainzy is developing contactless service technologies for the hospitality industry, aiming to streamline operations such as hotel room service, restaurant table delivery, and even outdoor food delivery. Omeogah’s involvement in the venture began as an early-stage collaboration with his Japan-based co-founder and CEO in 2021. As a self-taught developer from Nigeria entering Japan’s highly advanced robotics ecosystem, Omeogah has faced both cultural and technical hurdles — from language barriers to navigating a high-stakes innovation environment.

Yet, under his technical leadership, the team has built a functional MVP: a robotic system that autonomously delivers meals from the kitchen to designated restaurant tables, along with a web application that enables the robots to localize their position and route efficiently. Since late 2021, the system has been piloted in a café at Nagoya University. Building on this, the team is developing a second-generation solution — outdoor delivery robots capable of navigating rugged terrain for last-mile food delivery. To support this, Omeogah’s team has developed a mobile application through which users can place orders from nearby stores, which are then fulfilled and dispatched using Fainzy’s robotic fleet. A centralized monitoring system — also designed under Omeogah’s technical direction — provides real-time oversight and ensures the proper functioning of all deployed units. Reflecting on one of the early technical challenges in 2022, he notes, “Building the multi-tenant architecture for the Fainzy Stores marketplace was one of the hardest parts when I started. There was no ChatGPT then — I had to do a lot of digging and pore through documentation just to make it work.”

While the startup’s initial deployment is in Japan, Omeogah envisions transformative applications in emerging markets like Nigeria, where robotics could help bridge labor shortages, improve hygiene standards, and enable contactless delivery in underserved areas. His work at Fainzy represents not just a personal milestone, but a broader narrative of boundary-crossing innovation — redefining who gets to shape the future of high-tech industries.

Omeogah’s story is not just impressive, it is rare. It’s uncommon to see a self-taught technologist from Nigeria not only enter but lead innovation in robotics, a space still dominated by elite institutions and resource-rich nations. His cross-border work with Fainzy Technologies challenges the traditional geography of innovation, proving that meaningful, high-impact technology can emerge from unconventional paths and underrepresented regions. In developing countries like Nigeria, where human resource limitations and logistical inefficiencies remain persistent, robotics offers more than novelty — it presents a practical solution to real-world problems in healthcare, food service, and urban delivery. Omeogah’s work reflects a growing shift in the global tech landscape: one in which the Global South is no longer just a consumer of advanced technology, but an originator of it. His trajectory signals what’s possible when access, ambition, and ingenuity converge — regardless of geography.

“If you want to learn anything, you can,” Omeogah often says — a philosophy that has defined his journey. “If we can build something world-class from Nigeria or Japan with limited resources, then there’s no excuse.” As he continues scaling Fainzy and exploring frontier technologies, he’s also looking ahead to partnerships within Nigeria’s tech ecosystem, with the goal of creating more structured and accessible learning pathways for aspiring developers. His mission remains clear: to build intelligent systems that solve real problems — and to make that kind of innovation possible for others too.