Olusegun Enitan Dada Missed University Lagos Engineering Cutoff. Now ITH Holdings Leads

(NIGERIA) — Olusegun Enitan Dada built ITH Holdings into a multi-brand technology group after missing admission to his first-choice course at the University of Lagos and graduating with a different degree in 2010.

Dada, founder and CEO of ITH Holdings, first aimed to study Computer Engineering at the University of Lagos but narrowly missed the cutoff, Techpoint Africa reported. He also failed to gain admission to Systems Engineering, his second choice.

Instead, Techpoint reported, Dada graduated in 2010 with a degree in Technology Education. He kept pursuing technology anyway, building skills outside his transcript and later turning campus-based training into a business.

That trajectory has drawn attention in conversations about higher education pathways and skills-based hiring, as more workers weigh alternatives to traditional credential filters. Dada’s experience also reflects how company-building can follow, rather than precede, rejections in school and work.

While still in university, Dada enrolled in computer training, pursued certifications, and took on hands-on IT work, according to Techpoint. He paid for certifications with his allowances.

Financial pressure shaped those choices, Techpoint reported, and the period also included the loss of his father. Even so, he continued investing in technical skills during his studies.

Dada also ran into hiring screens tied to degree titles rather than capability. During his industrial training period, he faced repeated rejections from IT firms because he studied Technology Education rather than Computer Science or Engineering, Techpoint reported, despite already earning relevant certifications.

Rather than wait for an employer to take him on, he started teaching. Techpoint reported that Dada launched an IT training program while still in school, using department space to teach students professional IT certifications.

That campus initiative became IT Horizons, which Dada registered in 2009, Techpoint reported. He later incorporated it as a limited liability company in 2012.

Over time, the business expanded into a broader group structure under ITH Holdings. The group now encompasses IT Horizons, Zojatech, Zojapay, and Mance, according to the profile.

Group structures can allow distinct brands to specialize while operating under a single umbrella, a model commonly used to separate delivery lines and scale across markets. In ITH Holdings’ case, the brands map to training and enterprise IT, software delivery, and fintech and payments.

IT Horizons focuses on enterprise IT infrastructure, managed services, cloud, and cybersecurity, according to the profile. Zojatech focuses on software engineering and digital solutions for African markets.

Zojapay sits on the fintech side of the group. It focuses on payments and consumer financial features, including cashback, discounts, loans, and bills, the profile said.

Mance also operates under the ITH Holdings structure. The profile listed it as part of the group but did not set out further detail.

ITH Holdings has expanded operations across Nigeria, Ghana, and the UK, the profile said. The group recently redesigned platforms and opened a new Lagos corporate office, framing the move as supporting innovation, employee experience, and growth in digital transformation.

Joseph Oloyede, Chief Business Officer, connected the company’s growth to enterprise infrastructure work across those markets, the profile said. The expansion also places the business inside cross-border norms that shape hiring, compliance, and delivery.

Multi-market operations often depend on distributed teams and remote delivery, especially for infrastructure and software projects that span clients and time zones. For workers, that can create different routes into international careers, including projects that cross borders without immediate relocation.

Dada also co-founded Smartsend Finance, the profile said, positioning it around remittances and peer-to-peer financial inclusion. The profile described his emphasis on local insights combined with global standards.

The profile also set out a 2030 vision with numeric targets across products and customers. It said the vision targets digital tools for 100 million Africans, including ZojaPay for 50 million Nigerians and IT Horizons and Zojatech for 1,000+ businesses.

Client testimonials in the profile pointed to reliability as a selling point for IT Horizons. TGI Group’s IT Project Manager Gbenga Ehindero praised a problem-solving focus, and Toyota Nigeria’s Head of IT Keji Olubuade noted consistent service over two years.

The group operates from offices in Lagos, Accra, and London, the profile said. It listed a Lagos address at 9B Akin-Ogunmade Davies Close, Gbagada Phase II, an Accra address at 8th Avenue, Spintex Coastal Estate, and a London address at 78 Wembley Park Drive, HA9 8HB.

Dada’s story begins with admissions outcomes that did not match his plan at the University of Lagos, but it did not end with that outcome. Techpoint’s account traced how he treated that early block as a detour, then built a parallel track through training, certifications, and practical experience.

His experience also sits inside a wider debate over what degrees signal in hiring, and what they screen out. In his case, certifications and hands-on work did not prevent rejections during industrial training, but they supported the next step: teaching others and building a business around skills people could demonstrate.

That sequence matters to students and early-career workers who encounter rigid admissions systems or degree-based hiring filters. It can also matter to migrants and foreign-trained professionals whose credentials do not align neatly with job titles in new labor markets, where employers sometimes rely on simple degree checks.

The profile described a broader economic shift as part of the context around the group’s growth. Dada told Techpoint he believes Africa is moving from fragmented activity toward stronger technology infrastructure, with payments, identity systems, cloud adoption, and institution-led growth becoming more mature.

That direction supports demand for enterprise infrastructure, managed services, and cybersecurity, the same areas IT Horizons lists as its focus. It also supports software engineering and digital product delivery in local markets, which the profile tied to Zojatech.

Payments and consumer financial tools, including cashback, discounts, loans, and bills, fit into that same trajectory, the profile said, as fintech products expand alongside infrastructure. In that environment, companies can build across multiple layers at once, from enterprise systems to consumer payments.

For internationally mobile students and professionals, the story also points to routes that run through regional hubs rather than traditional destinations alone. The group’s operations across Nigeria, Ghana, and the UK place it in networks where work, teams, and clients can span borders.

Dada’s path also reflects how institution-building can substitute for gatekeepers who do not open the door. Techpoint’s profile described how an on-campus training program evolved into a registered business in 2009, became a limited liability company in 2012, and later expanded into a holding structure with multiple brands.

The same account shows how early setbacks can coexist with later scale, without relying on a single credential to define capability. Dada missed entry into Computer Engineering and Systems Engineering at the University of Lagos, graduated in Technology Education in 2010, and still built a tech group with operations in three countries.

In the profile, that arc ended with an emphasis on infrastructure and institutional growth, rather than a single product or a single market. Dada’s 2030 vision, with targets that include digital tools for 100 million Africans, signals how he links individual career detours to a larger picture of technology adoption across the continent.