The British Council yesterday hosted The Future Awards Africa 2018 nominees to a reception in Lagos with young change-makers including Niniola, Zainab Balogun, Emmanuel Oyeleke, Ink Eze, Folu Storms, Fisayo Fosudo and others receiving their certificates of nomination. With 20 categories and 100 nominees selected this year, The…
Nemitari Ajienka (24) Far too many people think the academia is boring and staid. This assumption has come from decades of exclusionary politics that have alienated young people of every generation from excelling through a complex web of financial quotas, interdepartmental politicking and the very nature of academia…
Michael ‘Psalmist’ Akinrogunde (23) When Michael Akinrogunde was chosen as a finalist for the Accelerate Filmmaker project in 2017, he set out to make the best film possible. His project, Penance, was the culmination of ideas honed through other competitions like his entry to the We Are Water…
Olive Emodi (29) In a story she tells often, Olive Emodi talks about how the one and only Richard Mofe Damijo was one of the first people to take interest in her career as a television presenter and encourage her to get serious with her talents. Through the…
Awazi Angbalaga (24) Radio presenting is a tough cookie to crack but Awazi Angblaga always knew it was the one thing she wanted to do professionally. So when the opportunity presented itself in 2016, she embraced it wholeheartedly and reinvented herself as Awazi, a presenter hosting the newly…
Hannah Ojo (30) Few women in Nigerian Journalism are as decorated as veteran journalist Hannah Ojo. Ojo who runs an investigative journalism beat for The Nation Newspaper, Lagos, Nigeria, has covered stories that expose organizations and persons engaged in activities that have negative environmental and health impact on…
Chidi ‘Lex ash’ Ashimole (27) To understand Chidi ‘Lexash’ Ashimole transition into photography is to watch grace in motion. Since he went professional in 2014, Ashimole has concerned himself only with improvement in photography, challenging himself by working in various conditions and mediums and experimenting with documentary photography, fashion…
OluwaFemi Aliu (25) Agritechnology is tricky because it doesn’t matter how vast and complex the technical system you have built to monitor, improve on and evaluate your ideas, they are often eventually executed or supervised by humans, and humans are predictable at best and downright hostile to ideas…
Hauwa Ojeifo (26) It’s not very often that the work of mental health activists from Nigeria is championied by the MTV Music Video Awards. But Hauwa Ojeifo of She Writes Woman has transcended the stereotyping of traditional mental health activism in Nigeria, rebranding herself as a global advocate…
Gloria ‘Maraji’ Oloruntobi (21) Gloria ‘Maraji’ Oloruntobi is the undisputed queen of comedy in Nigeria, commanding an impressive minimum of N500,000 to create one-minute skits for the myriad brands that actively seek her out for partnerships and collaborations. Maraji has gained this reputation through her incisive and expertly…
Nkechi ‘Ink’ Eze (29) How do you step outside of the shadow of your media mogul sister? You do as Nkechi ‘Ink’ Eze did and leverage that access to expand her brand and build an empire. Ink Eze is the Founder of AsoEbiBella, a platform for sharing African traditional styles,…
Dr. Dami Ajayi (32) Public Healthcare is an important part of any progressive society. Often the challenge lies in creating a public health ecosystem that cares not just for physical ailments but also neuropsychiatric health and wellbeing. Mental health is often ignored in Nigerian health, or chalked off…
Kingsley Ayogu (23) Hyperrealism is all the rage in Nigerian art, inspired by a departure from abstraction and a desire to present the world in its truest form. Many prodigies have been at the forefront of this movement, challenging the status quo with their dedication to craft and…
John Oke (24) The Nigerian tech industry has gone in ten short years from pariah defined by seedy cybercafes rife with fraudsters to a major employer and exporter of labour, a national resource and an independent avenue for young Nigerians with problem-solving skills and ambition for greatness to…
Lubem Mtile (29), Yola Northern Nigeria has been called the hotbed of illiteracy in Nigeria, with a reputable institution like the United Nations Children Emergency Fund (UNICEF) reporting as many as 10 million girls with no access to basic education. It is clear that government cannot alone fulfil…
Tobi Amusan (21) It is incredibly difficult to be a woman in sports. This is especially true of athletics, where the path to excellence is measured in milliseconds and centimetres and the pressure to succeed is near unbearable for the uninitiated. Not every woman can handle the strain…
Sunkanmi Ola (26) When Sunkanmi Ola established Syracuse Digital, his advertising and product development agency, he breathed new life into an industry that settled into a ruinous routine. Ola began his drive for supremacy by hiring some of the most talented professionals in digital marketing, graphic design, advertising…
Uche Okafor (32) Is there a Nigerian who uses Ridesharing apps and doesn’t already know Uche from Taxify? As the Country Manager of international ride-sharing startup Taxify, Uche Okafor has personally taken on the fortunes of the Ridesharing app, personally signing email and text correspondence, personally handling complaints…
Damini ‘Burna Boy’ Ogulu (27) After spending 4 years as Nigeria’s musical enfant terrible, Damini Ogulu, otherwise known as Burna Boy surprised everyone and no one, when he locked himself up in the studio and cooked up what many insiders agree is the undisputedly the album of the…
Tosin Ogundadegbe (30) ‘Style Infidel’ There are many ways to rise to the top of Nigerian fashion. The vast majority do it by leveraging their privilege, wealth and access to create the illusion of growth and advancement and reach the top only to become stunted. Others like the…