Nigeria’s Information and Communication Technology industry has been thrown into mourning with the  demise of the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Omatek Plc, Mrs. Florence Seriki (MFR), at the Lagos State Teaching Hospital (LUTH) on Friday. She was aged 53.

Omatek Plc is the first indigenous IT company to be listed on the Nigerian Stock Exchange.

Seriki studied engineering at the Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU). She was a notable ICT entrepreneur and has over the years built Omatek to one of the most successful indigenous brands.

She was said to have complained of stomach ache while in Singapore early this year and was said to have gone through surgery to correct the anomaly and returned to the country. A complication presented itself and had been admitted for further treatment at LUTH where she died. Some sources attributed her death to ulcer.

The Nigeria Computer Society (NCS), also said even among her alumni and association, there was no premonition of her death. The Director of Public Affairs, Mr Iyiola Ayoola, explained that Seriki was an industrialist with a pedigree of integrity and hard work. “It is quite sad. The ICT industry will miss her greatly.”

Born on August 16, 1963 in Lagos to the Udebu family from Ebu, Delta State, Florence, the first child in the family of five girls, attended Reagan Memorial Baptist Secondary School, Sabo, Yaba between 1975 and 1980 and later proceeded to the Federal School of Science, Lagos for her A levels where she emerged the best overall in lower six form. She would later proceed to Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU, Ife, where she studied Engineering.