Lagos, Nigeria · Web, mobile & systems
I build the systems that
aren’t allowed to fall over.
I’m Shepherd, a software engineer in Lagos, Nigeria. Building web, mobile and the systems underneath: payments, card issuance, medical records and storage, where downtime is measured in consequences rather than minutes.
Replies within one business day · WAT (UTC+1)
Load carried
- 85%
- of all cards issued in Nigeria
- Pryme · Qore Technologies
- 5M+
- pensioners verified nationwide
- I AM ALIVE · PTAD
- 1,000+
- clinics and users on the EMR
- Zimdoc · Amazing PhysioTherapy
Software, end to end
Most engagements I take on are one of these. If yours is something else, say so anyway. I'll tell you if it isn't a fit.
The whole product, not one slice
Web, mobile and the services behind them, designed together. When the same person owns the API and the screen consuming it, a category of integration bug simply never happens.
Systems that hold money and identity
Payment platforms, card issuance, biometric verification, pension confirmation. Domains where a bug is not a bug report, it's someone's salary.
Rescue work on live systems
Performance and reliability work where a rewrite is not on the table. I took one production API from 92ms to 30ms without stopping it, and got a team's deploys down from three minutes to fifteen seconds.
Products I've worked on
Real systems, live in production, with the numbers attached. Each one explains the problem, what I actually did, and what changed.
An EMR backend for 1,000+ clinics
Built the backend for the Zimdoc medical records app, took deploys from three minutes to fifteen seconds, and cut response times by two thirds.
Amazing PhysioTherapy
- 1,000+
- users and clinics served
- 3min → 15s
- deploy time, 92% faster
Just-in-time card issuance at national scale
Backend work on Pryme, Qore's card issuance platform, which sits behind 85% of all card issuance in Nigeria.
Pryme · Qore Technologies
- 85%
- of all cards issued in Nigeria
- Just-in-time
- issuance at the branch
Core banking for 500+ African institutions
Backend work on BankOne, Qore's cloud-native core banking platform, used by more than 500 financial institutions across Africa.
BankOne · Qore Technologies
- 500+
- financial institutions on the platform
- 13 years
- the platform has been running
Pension verification for every Nigerian pensioner
The I AM ALIVE confirmation system for PTAD, serving over 5 million pensioners, built for people who are elderly, not technical, and often on a bad connection.
PTAD, Federal Government of Nigeria
- 5M+
- pensioners verified nationwide
- Nationwide
- every eligible Nigerian pensioner
Facial biometric verification as an API
Facial verification a business can integrate in an afternoon, without hiring anyone who knows what a face embedding is.
Dotta
- API-first
- integration model
- Biometric
- facial verification
Self-hosted S3-compatible object storage
An object storage server that speaks S3, so your existing tools keep working against hardware you own.
Open source
- S3-compatible
- API surface
- Go
- core implementation
Where I've worked
Now
Where it started
Full detail, with what I actually did in each role, is on the about page.
04 / Optional detour
There’s a 3D version of this portfolio.
A workspace you can walk around, with the same work on the screens. It loads only if you ask for it, so it costs you nothing to ignore. Everything in it is also on the pages you just read.
Explore the workspaceBefore you get in touch
- What kind of work do you take on?
- Full products, and the pieces of them: web frontends, mobile apps, APIs, and the system design holding it together. I'm most useful where correctness matters more than raw shipping speed, so money, health records, identity. Having one person own both the API and the screen consuming it saves you a whole class of argument.
- Are you available for contract work right now?
- Yes. I take on contract engagements alongside my full-time role, and I'm also open to the right full-time position. Tell me the scope and timeline and I'll tell you honestly whether I can do it justice.
- How quickly do you reply?
- Within one business day. If a project isn't a fit, I'll say so in that first reply rather than leaving you waiting.
- What time zone do you work in, and does that cause problems?
- I'm in Lagos on WAT (UTC+1). That's a full working-day overlap with the UK and continental Europe, and about four hours with the US East Coast. In practice, European clients notice no difference at all.
Got something that can’t go down?
Tell me what you’re building and what worries you about it. I reply within one business day, including when it isn’t a fit.
Or email contact@shepherrd.dev