Who Is Ainun Najib That Jokowi Asked To Return From Singapore?

Ainun Najib/ISTIMEWA via nu.or.id

JAKARTA - President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) asked the Nahdlatul Ulama Executive Board (PBNU) to return Ainun Najib from Singapore. He was even called by Jokowi as a reliable technology practitioner in the field of data science.

Then who is Ainun Najib in question?

Ainun, who was the initiator of the COVID-19 Guard, is a resident of Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) who was born in Gresik, East Java on October 20, 1985.

Reporting from nu.or.id, this 36-year-old man has excelled in the fields of science and technology since attending SMUN 5 Surabaya. At that time, he won an honorable mention award when he was a member of the Indonesian team in the 2003 Asia Pacific Informatics Olympiad.

After graduating from high school, Ainun then continued his undergraduate education at the Nanyang Technological University (NTU) Singapore majoring in Computer Engineering.

At that time, he represented NTU in the international higher education programmer competition or ACM ICPC in 2006-2007 with two other Indonesian students.

The team once won the ACM ICPC Asia regional level in Tehran, Iran in 2006. Furthermore, the team competed at the world level which was held in Tokyo in 2007.

After graduating, Ainun then joined IBM Singapore as a software engineer. He later served as a senior consultant at the company.

Previously reported, President Jokowi President Jokowi wants PBNU to bring home one of the nation's children, Ainun Najib from Singapore. He even said that the NU kiai had to intervene so that the technology practitioner would return to his country.

This was conveyed when he was present at the inauguration of the Executive Board and the 96th Birthday of Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) in Balikpapan, East Kalimantan.

Jokowi called Ainun one of the reliable human resources owned by NU to help develop technology in the country. However, the technology expert is currently in Singapore.

"He has worked in Singapore for a long time. Seven years ago I met him, he could do anything. He is still very young, his name is Mas Ainun Najib. NU," Jokowi said as quoted from the Presidential Secretariat's YouTube, Monday, January 31.

Jokowi believes Ainun is certainly paid very high in Singapore. However, he is sure that Ainun will return to his country if the kiai from NU talk to him.

"There, the salary is very high. So if you are invited here, you must be able to pay more than the one in Singapore. This will be Mr. Kiai's job. If he is the one who is doing the work, whatever salary you are paid, bismillah, you will definitely want to," he said.

Regarding this request, PBNU's Head of Syuriyah, Asrorun Niam Sholeh said that his party would discuss and follow up on President Jokowi's directives.

"We will follow up and discuss," Asrorun told VOI.

Asrorun agrees that Ainun Najib is a potential young NU cadre. He is considered to be able to contribute to the nation and state as well as humanity.

However, he believes that wherever Ainun is, he will bring benefits to society. Including the world community.

"The question of whether to ask him to go home or another way will be discussed and discussed. The most important thing is the benefit for the nation and society, including the world community," said Asrorun.

"The new PBNU management is committed to consolidating NU human resources for the benefit of the nation. Contributions can be made in various fields, according to competence and expertise," he concluded.