Daniel Ogoloma is a passionate, meticulous and innovative young man. He is on a mission to re-engineer society and change the narrative for young people globally.
Having gained grounds as a community leader and advocate for good governance in South and North London, he has become renowned for his ability to redefine the focus of many young people from disadvantaged backgrounds making them more socially mobile and strong contributors to their society as a whole.
Ogoloma is also an entrepreneur who runs a media business in Africa that focuses on building and representing business brands and individuals in the public space. The British-born Nigerian is ultimately a voice for this millennial generation and one to watch for the future. In this interview, he shares his concerns on have young people at the helm of affairs as well as hosting the Emerge Africa conference. Except!
You are one young, vibrant speaker and change agent who stands for the rights of young people, what are your thoughts about not having more young people in the decision making process?
I think it is irresponsible for leaders to not have young people at the helm of decision making whether it is in boardrooms or strategy meetings. Young people are the future; they know what works for their demography so they are best placed to give advice and solutions that will secure positive progress for any nation
Do you see the narrative changing in future elections?
A lot must change in Nigeria before we can see a paradigm shift in our electoral process. The electorate still selects his or her candidate based on ethnicity, tribe or religion which is a huge issue. Candidates should be selected based on merit and ability to showcase great leadership at their potential office level.
What are you currently doing at the community level to support young Nigerians?
There’s so much going on but the main three at this moment are investing heavily in their education by sponsoring the tuition fees of hundreds of young people every year. We started the Nigeria Emergency Food Response Action (NEFORA) to feed 100,000 families across Nigeria over an 8-week period, also I have been inspiring youngsters online by hosting discussions with their positive role models through the New Generation Africa platform.
What specific role should the youths be saddled with in building the nation?
Young people have participatory role to play which is key in building any society. They must get involved in building the country and age is not a barrier or obstacle, everyone has something they are good at or an idea, an opinion, it's needed and that time is now.
You are hosting a conference around Emerging Africa in 2021 in partnership with Oxford University UK, what is the aim?
I want to act as the conduit that brings the best brains and most influential Africans in the continent and in Diaspora together to build a strong network of change agents. This conference is part of that vision, to have the best Africans come to one the best if not the world's best university to share their stories and give industry focused nuggets to thousands via live broadcasting. Over the years Oxford has hosted some of the most influential people on the planet and my desire is for Africa's next leaders to grace the same stage.
Do you think that more young people who have studied abroad should come home to drive change?
Most definitely, it will take the most educated and informed to create a new system that works for Nigeria but above all I believe that it will take those in the Diaspora who aren’t biased, tribalist or bound to culture and religion. New thinkers who just want change from credible leaders regardless of their background
You have an unconditional offer to study in Oxford, can you share how you earned this?
Over the years I didn’t focus on education because I got into community activism quite early but I always knew one day I would return to education but I gave myself one rule, it has to be the best or forget it. I applied to Oxford after a failed attempt at Cambridge the year before and was successful after lots of written work, and three days of interviews at the university.
Follow him on Instagram @dcogoloma
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