A week has passed since Abiola Olaniran died, and in the vibrant, sprawling tech hubs of Lagos, a quiet grief hangs in the air. In a city that thrives on noise and relentless motion, the loss of the quiet, focused 36-year-old founder feels like a profound silence. Olaniran was more than a successful entrepreneur; he was living proof of a fragile but powerful idea — that you didn’t have to leave Nigeria to build a world-class technology company. He was a digital craftsman who, in building his gaming studio, Gamsole, was also constructing a blueprint for a generation’s hopes.
His journey began not with a bombastic vision, but with a simple, potent observation made as a computer science student at Obafemi Awolowo University. He saw that mobile gaming was the single biggest driver of app downloads. For many, that was a trivial fact. For Olaniran, it was a map to an unclaimed territory. While his peers dreamt of jobs in oil and banking or a visa to the West, he saw a path to building something new, right where he was. Early wins at global competitions hosted by Microsoft and Samsung were not just accolades; they were the first signs that his internal compass was pointing true north.
He founded Gamsole in 2012, and the company’s success — more than 10 million downloads in its first three years — became a foundational story for African tech. But it was how he did it that formed his true legacy. He defied the Silicon Valley playbook, building his empire on the then-unfashionable Windows Phone platform. It was a masterclass in local context, a lesson in finding value where global giants saw none. He built for the world, with games like “Gidi Run” that were universal in appeal, yet he did it on his own terms, from a small office in Lagos. He proved that the center of the tech universe was wherever you had a laptop, an internet connection, and a viable revenue model.
Looking back now, a week after his sudden passing, his past interviews and public statements read like eerie, prescient counsel for the very ecosystem now mourning him. He spoke with the clarity of a man who understood that time was finite and that fundamentals were all that mattered.
“Figure out how you’re going to make money from the business before you get started,” he told online magazine How we made it in Africa in 2015. In the venture-backed world of burn rates and growth-at-all-costs, his words were a call for sustainability. It was a philosophy of survival, a recognition that to build something lasting, it first had to last. Today, that advice feels less like business counsel and more like a life lesson in pragmatism and endurance.
Even more pointed was his quiet declaration of independence for African innovation. “It does not make sense to import Silicon Valley or Wall Street wisdom wholesale,” he argued. This was his core doctrine: that the solutions for Africa must be born of its unique challenges and opportunities. He was urging founders to look inward for their models, not outward for validation.
As his own success grew, he became a quiet gardener in the often-noisy jungle of African startups. He was the first person to write a check for the media platform Techpoint Africa, providing the seed money and office space that allowed it to grow. “He never wanted a spotlight, just progress,” recalls founder Adewale Yusuf. It was a gesture that defined him — a man more interested in building the ecosystem than in being celebrated by it.
His death at 36 is a tragedy of unfinished work. The African tech dream that he so powerfully embodied is still in its exhilarating, chaotic, and challenging first act. But Abiola Olaniran had already given it a solid foundation. He left behind the proof of concept. He left the counsel. And he left an unwavering belief in his home, once stating, “If you are going to win in Africa, I think you should be in Nigeria… this is where you really want to be.”
In the end, he wasn’t just building games; he was building a compelling argument against despair. The blueprint he designed is now open-source, available to any young dreamer in Lagos, Accra, or Nairobi who chooses to stay and build. Abiola Olaniran’s life was a testament to that choice, and his legacy will be found in the countless others who dare to follow his lead.