About Me
Welcome to my digital space. I'm Akwolu Innocent Chinweike, a results-driven full-stack software developer based in Lagos, Nigeria, with 4+ years of experience building and maintaining robust, scalable web applications. I specialize in developing responsive, intuitive user interfaces and designing efficient, secure backend systems with expertise in API integration, database management, and building end-to-end solutions that prioritize performance, maintainability, and exceptional user experience.
My Tech Journey & Evolution
My journey into software development began in November 2022 during my final year at the Federal University of Agriculture, Makurdi, where I was pursuing a Bachelor of Engineering degree in Civil Engineering. What started as curiosity about working remotely evolved into a passionate pursuit of technical excellence. While I had theoretical knowledge of programming languages like Python, Java, C#, and C++, I had never written a single line of functional code—a reality that would soon change dramatically.
Foundation Building (2022-2023)
My transformation began when I observed fellow students creating websites with HTML and CSS, and building games with Python. This sparked an intense desire to understand the technology that was reshaping our world. I began with Python fundamentals in 2022, tackling basic concepts like data types, variables, and control structures through free courses and comprehensive PDF resources.
The initial learning curve was challenging—I often found myself able to follow tutorials but struggling to replicate solutions independently. Rather than viewing this as failure, I recognized it as part of the natural learning process and maintained unwavering persistence.
Pivotal Moment: A conversation with a senior colleague from the Electrical and Electronic Engineering department, who had 3+ years of web and app development experience, shaped my trajectory. His insights about market opportunities and job accessibility in frontend development influenced my strategic decision to pivot from backend-focused learning to full-stack development with strong frontend capabilities.
Structured Learning & Skill Development (2023-2024)
Recognizing the importance of structured learning, I invested in comprehensive education through multiple channels:
Formal Education
Enrolled in a Complete Full-Stack Web Development Bootcamp on Udemy (completed March 2025), providing systematic coverage of modern web technologies.
Community Learning - ALX Software Engineering Program
Joined ALX Software Engineering Program (June 2023 - January 2024), where I developed foundational expertise in:
- • System administration (Shell, Linux)
- • Version control (Git, GitHub)
- • Low-level programming (C language - including advanced concepts like variadic functions and linked lists)
- • Python programming
- • Software engineering principles
Transformative Impact: My 6-month ALX experience was transformative, particularly the C programming modules which crystallized my understanding of programming fundamentals and enhanced my grasp of JavaScript and Python concepts that had previously seemed abstract.
Self-Directed Learning
Leveraged hundreds of hours of YouTube tutorials, documentation, and hands-on practice to master both frontend and backend technologies.
Technology Mastery & Specialization
Through systematic learning and practical application, I've developed expertise across the full technology stack, transforming from theoretical knowledge to hands-on proficiency in building production-ready applications.
Frontend Mastery:
- • React & Next.js ecosystem
- • TypeScript & JavaScript ES6+
- • Responsive design & Tailwind CSS
- • Animation libraries (Framer Motion)
- • State management & API integration
Backend Excellence:
- • Node.js & Express.js
- • Database design (MongoDB, PostgreSQL)
- • RESTful API development
- • Authentication & security
- • DevOps & deployment strategies
Professional Summary
Equally proficient in developing responsive, intuitive user interfaces and designing efficient, secure backend systems. Experienced in API integration, database management, and building end-to-end solutions that prioritize performance, maintainability, and user experience. Adept at collaborating in agile, cross-functional teams and committed to continuous improvement, clean code practices, and delivering impactful digital products.
Professional Experience
Backend Software Engineer
Velofi
Onboarding: Built the core onboarding backend (registration, authentication, BVN verification, customer tiering, and account provisioning via financial processor integrations), so users could be verified and given funded-ready accounts end to end.
Investments & payouts: Built the investment and returns workflows, including monthly and annual payouts, using idempotency keys so retries and network failures never produced duplicate financial operations.
Device security: Designed single-device login: each successful sign-in issues a device token stored in Redis; signing in on a new device triggers an email asking the owner to allow or block it, then a one-time verification code over WhatsApp, after which the new device is trusted and the old one is signed out — protecting customers from account takeover.
Admin access: Implemented granular admin role-based access control, giving operations teams exactly the access they need and nothing more.
Partner APIs: Developed APIs across a microservices architecture, including API-key and webhook integrations for external partners and automated ZeptoMail notifications, which removed manual email work.
Backend Software Engineer
Fixr
Performance: Optimized backend APIs by identifying and addressing performance bottlenecks, reducing typical response times from approximately 3 seconds to 300–900ms across affected endpoints.
Real-time chat: Designed and implemented a real-time chat system using WebSockets and Socket.IO, enabling direct communication between customers, technicians, and administrators without relying on phone calls or external WhatsApp conversations for routine support and coordination.
Payments: Took ownership of the Paystack payment integration for customer subscriptions and inspection payments, redesigning the flow and implementing idempotency handling to eliminate duplicate-transaction issues.
Technician wallet: Designed and rebuilt the technician wallet system, enabling fund requests, approvals, and direct bank withdrawals — cutting technician support calls by an estimated 80%+ for urgent funding needs (equipment purchases, urgent inspections, etc.).
Platform scale: Re-engineered core flows — notifications, bookings, and referrals — for a platform serving 400+ active technicians and 3,000+ customer app downloads.
Engineering Lead
Recommend
Technical leadership: Owned the technical architecture and implementation of the company's web, backend, and bot systems, leading a 3-person team and establishing reusable patterns for development and deployment.
Real-time platform: Designed and implemented the platform's real-time communication system using WebSockets and Socket.IO, moving customer conversations and purchasing interactions from WhatsApp into Recommend's own application.
Data & DevOps: Designed, managed, and optimized the PostgreSQL database architecture (via TypeORM), and built CI/CD pipelines across repositories that automated build and deployment and reduced manual release work.
AI bot: Built an AI-powered WhatsApp customer-service bot by integrating OpenAI and fine-tuning it on proprietary business knowledge to eliminate hallucinations and deliver accurate responses to prospective clients.
Auth & access: Implemented secure authentication (email/password and Google OAuth) and granular role-based access control across Super Admins, tiered Admins, Vendors, and Distributors, plus platform-wide Paystack payments.
Full-Stack Developer (Volunteer)
Safara Magazine
Backend foundation: Architected scalable backend infrastructure and database schema using PostgreSQL and Prisma ORM, establishing the foundation for future feature development.
CI/CD: Implemented automated CI/CD pipelines with GitHub Actions, streamlining deployment and reducing manual intervention.
APIs: Built RESTful APIs with Node.js and TypeScript to support content management, user authentication, and real-time interactions.
Code quality: Enforced code-quality standards through systematic code reviews, ensuring a maintainable codebase across the engineering team.
Frontend Developer
Veemost
UI development: Developed responsive, accessible user interfaces using React, Tailwind CSS, and Framer Motion, improving user engagement across devices.
Performance: Optimized application rendering performance, achieving faster load times and enhanced visual stability.
Collaboration: Contributed to consistent delivery within a cross-functional Scrum team (Product Managers, Data Analysts, DevOps Engineers, UI/UX Designers, and Testers) through daily stand-ups, sprint planning, and code reviews.
Frontend Developer Intern
HNG12 Internship (Finalist)
Team delivery: Collaborated within a cross-functional Scrum team of Backend Developers, Product Managers, Data Analysts, DevOps Engineers, UI/UX Designers, and Testers.
UI development: Developed responsive, accessible user interfaces based on UI/UX designs using Next.js, Tailwind CSS, and TypeScript.
API integration: Integrated RESTful APIs provided by the backend team to enable dynamic and interactive application features.
Agile practice: Participated in daily stand-ups, sprint planning, code reviews, and regular team check-ins to ensure alignment and continuous delivery.
Frontend Software Developer
NLPC Pension Fund Administrators (NLPC PFA)
Pixel-perfect implementation: Transformed Figma designs into pixel-perfect, responsive React components with consistent cross-browser compatibility.
API integration: Integrated RESTful APIs with comprehensive error handling and loading states, reducing application downtime and improving reliability.
System stability: Partnered with backend engineers to debug API integration issues, enhancing overall system stability.
Version control: Maintained a clean Git workflow with an organized branching strategy and detailed pull requests.
Backend Software Engineer
StackLoom
Database optimization: Optimized PostgreSQL performance using Prisma ORM, improving query efficiency and data-management scalability.
DevOps: Reduced deployment time by ~60% through automated CI/CD pipelines using GitHub Actions and Render.
Media management: Integrated the Cloudinary media-management system, enhancing image-storage reliability and application performance.
Collaboration: Collaborated in agile workflows including daily standups and sprint reviews, aligning technical implementation with product requirements.
Full-Stack Developer (Backend-Focused)
Freelance
Full-stack delivery: Delivered custom full-stack web solutions for clients, specializing in backend development and database architecture.
APIs & services: Built RESTful APIs and backend services using Node.js and Express.js, handling authentication, data validation, and business logic.
Frontend integration: Developed responsive frontend interfaces with React and Tailwind CSS, ensuring seamless integration with backend services.
Project ownership: Managed complete project lifecycles from requirements gathering to deployment, maintaining direct client communication and delivering on schedule.
Frontend Developer
AuroraWorks
Implementation: Translated Figma design specifications into high-quality, responsive code.
Collaboration: Worked closely with designers, backend developers, and product managers to bring projects to life.
Version control: Used Git to manage the branch codebase effectively.
Notable Projects
ExpensePro - Comprehensive Expense Tracking Platform
A full-stack financial management application that allows users to track expenses and income, manage budgets, and gain insight into their financial habits. The platform features a user-friendly dashboard with interactive analytics, supports multiple currencies, and includes intelligent reminders for bills and recurring payments.
Key Features:
- • Interactive analytics dashboard
- • Multi-currency support
- • Intelligent bill reminders
- • Real-time progress tracking
Technical Highlights:
- • Secure data management
- • Financial goal setting
- • Recurring payment automation
- • Responsive design
- • Performance optimization
Tailor Craft - E-commerce Platform for Custom Clothing
An innovative web platform connecting clients globally with skilled tailors for bespoke fashion across traditional, international, and modern styles. Features include responsive design, style browsing, material selection, measurement input, and seamless order management. Built with a focus on component reusability, type safety, and performance optimization.
Platform Features:
- • Global tailor-client connection
- • Multi-style fashion categories
- • Interactive material selection
- • Custom measurement system
- • Order tracking & management
Technical Excellence:
- • Component reusability focus
- • TypeScript type safety
- • Performance optimization
- • Responsive design system
- • Scalable architecture
Food Delivery Platform – End-to-End Digital Ordering System
An e-commerce webstore that allows users to browse and purchase a wide range of products with ease. The app allows admins to easily manage products, perform CRUD operations, and keep inventory up to date. Users can add products to their cart, securely checkout, and receive updates on their orders.
User Features:
- • Product browsing & search
- • Shopping cart management
- • Secure checkout process
- • Order tracking system
- • Real-time updates
Admin Capabilities:
- • Product management CRUD
- • Inventory tracking
- • Order management
- • Analytics dashboard
- • User management
Education & Certifications
B.Eng. Civil Engineering
Federal University of Agriculture, Makurdi
Second Class Honors, Upper Division (2:1)Professional Certifications
Technology Mastery & Specialization
Through systematic learning and practical application, I've developed expertise across the full technology stack:
Professional Philosophy
"Results-driven development with a commitment to continuous improvement, clean code practices, and delivering impactful digital products."
I believe in building applications that scale efficiently while serving real human needs. My approach emphasizes collaborative excellence in agile, cross-functional teams, maintaining high development standards, and prioritizing performance, maintainability, and exceptional user experience in every project.