Why We Built TaxJeje
The story behind TaxJeje — from university lecturer to software founder, and the moment that sparked it all.
From Academia to Entrepreneurship
My journey to building TaxJeje wasn't a straight line. For years, I was a university lecturer in Nigeria — standing in front of classrooms, grading papers, working to shape the next generation. It was fulfilling work, but something inside me kept pushing for more.
I took study leave to pursue a PhD in Software Engineering. My background in Electrical and Electronic Engineering, with a focus on pattern recognition, deep learning, and computer vision, had prepared me well for the research ahead. Those years of diving deep into algorithms and solving complex problems changed how I see the world — everything became a system that could be optimized, a problem that could be solved with the right approach.
After completing my PhD, I made a decision that surprised many of my colleagues: I resigned from lecturing. The academic path was secure, respectable, but I wanted to build something. I wanted to create solutions that would directly impact people's daily lives.
In 2026, I founded Fattah Labs Ltd here in Kaduna, Nigeria. The vision was simple — use technology to solve real Nigerian problems.
The Moment That Changed Everything
One evening, I was reading about the Nigeria Tax Reform Bills that had been making their way through the National Assembly. The four bills — what would become the Nigeria Tax Act, the Nigeria Tax Administration Act, the Nigeria Revenue Service Act, and the Joint Revenue Board Act — represented the most comprehensive tax reform in Nigeria's history.
When President Tinubu signed them into law on June 26, 2025[^1], I started thinking about what this meant for ordinary Nigerians.
How are freelancers supposed to understand all this?
I started thinking about the people I knew. The content creators. The remote workers earning in dollars from Upwork and Fiverr. The YouTube creators getting paid by Google. How were they supposed to:
The more I thought about it, the clearer it became. These people would face enormous difficulties navigating a complex tax system that wasn't designed with them in mind. They needed something specifically built for their situation.
That evening, TaxJeje was born in my mind.
The Problem Is Real
Nigeria has over 14 million freelancers and remote workers. Most of them:
The existing solutions? They don't work for us. QuickBooks is built for American small businesses. Wave doesn't understand Nigerian tax law. TurboTax doesn't even operate here.
Nigerian freelancers were left with spreadsheets, confusion, or expensive accountants who may not even understand the gig economy — or the new NTA 2025.
What TaxJeje Does
I built TaxJeje to be the solution I wished existed:
The Name "TaxJeje"
"Jeje" is Nigerian pidgin for doing something gently, calmly, carefully. That's exactly what we want for your tax experience — no stress, no wahala, just a smooth process that guides you through everything step by step.
Do your taxes jeje.
Built on Nigerian Realities
My years in academia taught me one thing: solutions must be grounded in real understanding. I didn't build TaxJeje by copying foreign apps and slapping on Nigerian colors. I built it from first principles, understanding:
Every feature exists because it solves a real problem faced by Nigerian freelancers.
Where We're Going
TaxJeje started as a tax calculator, but we're building toward something bigger: the complete financial toolkit for Nigerian freelancers.
That means:
Try It Yourself
If you're a Nigerian freelancer, content creator, or remote worker, I built this for you.
The core features are free. Always will be. Because everyone deserves to understand their tax situation without paying a consultant.
And if you have feedback — good or bad — I want to hear it. Reply to any of our emails, or hit the feedback button in the app.
Let's make tax season something you handle with confidence, not fear.
Let's do this jeje, together.
— Yusuf Tahir Suleiman, Founder, Fattah Labs Ltd
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