By Bukky Titiloye, Ilorin
Hassan Jamiu Olawale, a model and 400 level Banking and Finance student of Kwara State University (KWASU) recently won the third edition of GTcrea8 promo, a scheme designed by Guaranty Trust Bank Plc (GTBank) to inspire young people to save. The feat came with a prize of Mini Cooper car.
Hassan’s journey to winning the car began when he started having issues with buying goods online. These made him go to his bank for information about internet transactions.
He told Qed.ng: “There was a time I was actually having issues with getting some stuff online, so, I had to go the bank to complain and they hinted me about the GTcrea8 account. I started doing my transactions and getting things online.
“Then, one morning, I received a call from GTBank telling me I just won a car. I was so surprised. There was no registration, no payment for registration. GTcrea8 is all about your activeness in your savings account, how often you use your account.”
Like his bank, the man from a family of four also likes solving problems and making living easier for people. That is the inspiration for ICHOPPY and SALUBATA, two business and lifestyle applications he created with some friends.
In announcing Hassan winner of GTcrea8, GTBank did not only reward a young man for cultivating the habit of saving, it uncovered an innovator with eyes on changing the way people live and function. He saw a need and tapped into it.
“ICHOPPY is a lifestyle on its own,” he told this online newspaper. “It is a lifestyle application created to ease the burden of students.
“Most students find it uneasy getting food especially when it’s close to examination period. During this period, students usually have less time to cook. Asides that, there’s also a problem of holding cash with you all the time and everywhere or sometimes, you just go about with your ATM card.
That is why we came up with ICHOPPY, a feeding convenience mobile application that makes feeding easy for students.
“It has different channels on it. One is SALUBATA, a fashion app that helps you express yourself through your dressing thereby making other people listen you.”
Hassan is not alone in ICHOPPY. He co-founded it with Oladele Michael, Olorunomaiye Emmanuel and Ayangbemi Dayo. They are presently working on covering higher institutions in Kwara State before expanding to other places.
“ICHOPPY has been around for three years now. It started in 2013. We did the testing last year and now, we are still doing the face implementation, a secondary test where we do the test with real people, real subscription, real food, real transfer, real transaction and more students.
“It was initially tested with students who used it and it worked for them. It was first tested last year with 150 students from the University of Ilorin, Al-Hikmah University and Kwara State University. They all paid and we tested the different functions, it worked and there was no regret.
“ICHOPPY is more than just the food because there is also SALUBATA, a fashion app that makes it easy to go into fashion. You can even get some items for free when you subscribe on the platinum platform. It is not all about the “bata” or sandal. It is a total package on its own and it comes with SALUBATA wristbands,” one of the creators said.
Other sub-channels under ICHOPY are Jojo and Whales. They are all trending topics in Ilorin.
Having scored a winner with GTCrea8, Hassan is looking forward to becoming one of Nigeria’s biggest creators.
“We are planning on partnering with big players in telecommunications. We are looking forward to achieving that as we take it step by step”.
Right now, he has a Mini Cooper to take him from place to place.
