David Gbodi Odaibo, a young Nigerian tech whiz who recently secured a $125 million (roughly N69 billion) US government contract, has died.

David died in his sleep only seven days after winning the contract, according to his brother, Stephen Odaibo, who broke the sad news on LinkedIn.

In his sleep, the deceased is claimed to have had a cardiac arrhythmia/heart attack.

Stephen Odaibo wrote;

“My brother passed away yesterday. My heart is broken. He was fully vaccinated and did not have covid. He and I were so close. 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 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.”

Hug your loved ones and tell them you love them. Though there may be sorrow in the night, joy comes in the morning. I’m comforted that David is with our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.” Stephen wrote.