Nigerian tech expert dies days after winning N69bn contract

A Nigerian tech expert, David Gbodi Odaibo has reportedly died in his sleep, 7 days after winning a $125 million (approximately N69billion) U.S government contract.

His brother and CEO of Retina-AI Health Incorporation, Mr. Stephen Odaibo narrated how he died in a post shared on LinkedIn.

Stephen said his brother who was fully vaccinated and did not have COVID-19, had a cardiac arrhythmia/heart attack in his sleep and passed on at the age of 42. He revealed that the death has left them devastated.

Before his death, David wrote an algorithm for automatically detecting threats at airports and it won a $125 Million contract from the Department of Homeland security, beating out companies backed by billions of dollars.

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“My brother, David Gbodi Odaibo, passed away yesterday. My heart is broken. He had a cardiac arrhythmia/heart attack in his sleep. He was fully vaccinated and did not have COVID. He and I were so close. He was only 42. David was kind, gentle, brilliant, and humble.

“He had a PhD in Computer Engineering and was a Kaggle Grandmaster, the highest attainable skill level in practical Machine Learning. He introduced me to AI.

“The algorithm he wrote for automatically detecting threats at Airports just won a $125 Million contract from the Department of Homeland security about 1 wk ago. His code beat out companies backed by Billions of dollars. So in the future when you safely fly the skies, please remember my brother David.

“Our hearts are broken. My poor parents, his wife and two young children. His 4 siblings. We are devastated. David and I were tremendously aligned in our interests and would often talk for hours. Our connection was rare and precious. We ended phone conversations with “love you.”