Meet our 25Under25 winners for 2022
Meet the people who are making a difference in their community – they’re both dreamers and doers.
ACTIVE CITIZENSHIP & GOVERNMENT ENGAGEMENT
OLADIMEJI CAXTON-MARTINS - STREET KIDS HELPING INITIATIVE
Founder, Street Kids Helping Initiative (A non-governmental Organization dedicated to helping less privileged children access quality education and empowering them with sustainable skills for their future) Oladimeji is a creative event compere, on air personality with the suave blend of wit, fun and excellence. He started the Tech Tour Project in 2018(to empower less privileged children with basic Tech education and Skills) Over the years he and the team have trained over 1,000 kids in Lagos and Ogun State. With the Tech Tour Project, He plans to empower over 2,000 children by 2025. When Oladimeji is not hosting events, he’s spending time with the children from SKHI.
AGRICULTURE
Israel Chigozirim - Riwe Technologies Limited
Israel is a visionary leader, an AgriTech Entrepreneur, and the founder of 2 fast growing Startups, including Riwe Technologies, an Agri-Climate Tech startup helping farmers and communities build resilience and become more sustainable in the face of climate change through the adoption of climate smart technologies. Israel is a writer and an Author of three published books with others in view. He is a Fellow of the United States Institute of Peace, and a Social Impact Fellow at Lagos Business School. He provides mentorship to thousands of youths globally through platforms such as Savvy Fellowship and Startup without Borders. Israel has won several awards and has been nominated for others, too, including, Startup Innovations Challenge awards by UN World Food Forum, and Next rated Startup by Startup South. His vision is to influence the world, and to change erroneous social narratives through Entrepreneurship, Information Technology and Venture Capitalism.
ARTS, CRAFT & CULTURE
Solomon Chidinma - Jachi art
Chidinma is an art entrepreneur who turns waste to gold by recycling and creating art works with waste fabric materials. She is the CEO of Jachi art. She is a final year student studying Fine and Applied arts in Alex Ekwueme Federal University, Ebonyi state. Jachi art has been able to achieve a lot of things in the space of 5 years of practicing art, she has an interest in recycling waste to art.
BEAUTY & MAKEUP
AYOMIDE OJOMU - 360 BEAUTY ENTERPRISE
Ayomide Ojomu is a Beautypreneur and the CEO of 360 Beauty Brand; a fast growing Beauty Business adding glamor to lives and giving expression to the beauty in every woman. 360 Beauty offers make-up services and quality jewelry for all events and occasions. Ayomide Ojomu attended Babcock University and graduated with a Bachelors of Science Degree in International Law and Diplomacy. She is currently studying for her Masters in International Business and Marketing in Sheffield Hallam University UK.
CREATIVE WRITING & CONTENT CREATION
Ayotunde Olayinka Bello - Ninth Media
Ayotunde Bello (@Director_Bello) is a creative powerhouse with a knack for content development and strategic brand storytelling. He is co-founder & leads creative direction for Ninth Media – a bespoke communications outfit that has delivered creative excellence to a glowing clientele list spanning from global headliners to challenger brands like Grammy Award winning artist Burna Boy, Vogue, Redbull, CWG Africa, Garmspot, Oraimo, and ZoomLifestyle. Bello prides in the range of creative projects he can take on – whether it is being the youngest filmmaker to work on a full-feature documentary for a Grammy award winner, shooting a short movie, editing a primetime TV series, or creating a corporate documentary. His creative pieces have been viewed by millions of people and have enjoyed critical acclaim. His consistent execution excellence has cemented his entry into the media scene and continues to light his way to becoming a mogul. Recognizing his prodigious stride in film making and directing, Bello was named one of the most “phenomenal” creative personalities in 2021 by Pop Central TV in a list that also hosted Don Jazzy, Tems, Burnaboy, and others. Bello is a decorated graduate of Covenant University where he clinched his set’s award for creativity and undaunting entrepreneurial resilience. When he is not hacking it out in his Lagos studio on one of his many professional or passion projects, he is playing FIFA or catching up on a basketball game.
E-COMMERCE
Oyin Soyombo - Litfootwear Enterprise
Oyin Soyombo recently built a curated African digital footwear marketplace, Litfootwear. He is a medical student with superb interest in fashion modeling and footwear. Oyin’s career interests, entrepreneurship flair and experiences give him both an analytical and a creative perspective on the apparel retail industry. He enjoys a challenge and can work independently or within a team to create and implement innovative solutions and efficient brand strategies. E-commerce (Footwear) Brand management (Footwear) Fashion Strategy (Footwear) Marketing (Footwear)
EDUCATION
Samantha Lazarus Oluwapelumi - THE SPRINGSGATES GRAMMAR SCHOOL
Samantha Lazarus Oluwapelumi is a quintessential educator, who focuses on helping individuals and business brands to improve their English language, writing, public speaking and effective communication acumen and proficiency. As an English and Writing Coach, she has trained over 16,000 individuals in Nigeria, South Africa, Ghana, Pakistan, Côte d’Ivoire, Dominican Republic to mention a few, on how they can improve their English and writing aptitudes. As a TED-Ed Educator, she is recognized by TED-Ed to organize TED-Ed student talks, teach and make use of the TED-Ed platform to improve ELLs (English Language Learners) and make learning fun. In her quest to improve her public speaking mastery, she registered and got certified as a TEDx-trained speaker under TEDx Bingerville, Côte d’Ivoire. With her educational brands The Springsgates Grammar School, an award-winning online educational institute, and The Springsgates Educational Services she has been able to proffer solutions to the challenges facing ELLs (English Language Learners) by offering free courses that have aided their effective communication, public speaking, writing, reading and listening skills. Her Facebook community – Learn English and Writing w/Samantha has over 87,000 members from diverse geographic locations. She has a YouTube channel with 1,500 subscribers. With these two platforms, she has been able to make an impact, empower and educate individuals on an international scale, as those platforms have enabled her to reach a larger audience, instill a sense of belonging in them and encourage them to embrace improving their proficiency and master the skill of Effective communication and public speaking, which are essential in this digital world.
ENERGY & SUSTAINABILITY
MICHAEL UCHIME - RAINBOW PETROLEUM RETAIL AND SUPPLY LTD
As Founder/CEO RainbowGas, Michael Uchime is on a mission to lead Nigeria’s transition from cooking with firewoods and charcoals to cooking with Liquified petroleum gas (LPG) and displace missions of unsafe kerosene stoves by 2030. A Geology and mining graduate of Anambra state university, Raised in Enugu, South Eastern Nigeria, Uchime is a devout Catholic who’s hobbies include traveling & lawn tennis. His EnergyTech Company developed a mobile App that makes it possible to order for your cooking gas from the comfort of your kitchen without having to carry heavy gas cylinders to the gas plant. This is a demonstration of a passion to challenge the status quo and finally provide Nigerians with clean and affordable cooking gas. Uchime has his eyes on prioritizing the UN Sustainable development goals (SDG) as his business further expands: SDG 3 (Decent healthy living) SDG 7 (Affordable and clean energy) SDG 13 (Climate action).
ENVIRONMENT & INTERIOR DECOR
Joseph Eshofune Erughe - Reset Interiors
Joseph Erughe is the founder and manager at Reset interiors which is an interior design and decoration company located in Benin city Nigeria. After finishing his diploma program from the Federal polytechnic Auchi, he went on to study Petroleum Engineering in the University of Benin, there he found his passion for business and quickly got interested in Interior designing, Agriculture, home security. His interest in interior design and decoration was the most promising, though it came naturally he went on to build capacity by going through training and mentorship at an interior design and decoration company in Benin city (Ri-planet and solutions) here he was given the opportunity to express his abilities as a designer and with this he decided to go for further trainings on business management, painting, woodwork and carpentry on June 12 2021 He was featured on African business connect (ABC) one of African Leading Non-governmental organization that celebrates and promotes rising African business professionals. On the 17th December 2020 he started Reset interiors which has carried out a lot of projects ranging from home and offices decoration, to a complete home improvement, Reset interiors was birthed out of a burning desire to see that the mindset and attitude individuals have towards interior design and decoration is positive guided to accommodate the benefits of a properly decorated and designed environment Reset interiors has gone on to teach and train other individuals in the business and skill of interior design through its internship program that started in 2022 and this is because Joseph Erughe has the desire to tell the Africa story differently, through empowerment and community development.
EVENT PLANNING
Christian Agu - Chris Event
Christian is a seasoned Event Planner who started by decorating church altar tables to build a great company with over 13 full-time staff. Christian is a graduate of Electrical Engineering, Federal University of Technology Owerri. He obtained his second degree, a Mini-MBA from the prestigious Lagos Business School where he finished as the top of his class and got awarded by the institution. Christian started decorating at age 12 and is passionate about solving problems through designs, detailed planning, and decoration. His works have been recognized locally and internationally by organizations due to the Impact driven model. He has trained lots of young Event planners/Organizers and enabled them to thrive. Chris Events in the last 3 years has grown from a university business to a company that services Government, Corporate and individual events. Chris Events is currently planning a big Social Media Week event in the Eastern states, and it’s set to be the first in the city. Christian decorates, designs, Plans, teaches, and inspires. He is one of the young Event Planners transforming the industry one at a time.
FASHION
SAMUEL ADAKOLE ANEFU - JAYKOLE FASHION EMPIRE
Samuel Adakole Anefu is a Fashion entrepreneur whose career in the fashion industry was born out of passion. He is currently an Accounting Graduate of the prestigious Covenant University.
FINANCE & FINANCIAL TECHNOLOGY
Emmanuel Obiayo Michael - ELITE LEARNERS HUB
Master Obiayo Emmanuel Michael is a 300L student of Accountancy Dept in the University of Nigeria Enugu Campus and is also a certified Microsoft Office Student of AFRIHUB with a zeal for teaching. This fiery passion led to the birth of ELITE TUTORS HUB. Having gathered numerous experiences tutoring students even whilst a student at the Institute of Management and Technology Enugu where he bagged his National Diploma in Accounting and as well an AAT certificate as an Associate Accounting Technician, he continues to exceed expectations in this regard, training persons in higher institutions and in higher levels. ELITE Learners HUB/ ELITE HUB was born out of the need to reach out to lots of people who didn’t have access to the knowledge and practice of Accounting Technical Skills such as the use of Microsoft Excel for accounting purposes and other accounting software such as QuickBooks, Sage 500, Peach tree, Tally, Bookkeeper etc. Properly. Since its commencement, ELITE HUB has been able to tutor 200-500 students in Institute of Management and Technology Enugu, University of Nigeria, Enugu Campus, and other institutions in Lagos State. ELITE HUB is also a Forex and Blockchain HUB that also specializes in teaching students and offering mentorship programs on the Financial Market, such as the Foreign Exchange market(FOREX), STOCK and Crypto Market.
FOOD & DRINKS
DEBRA PEPPLE - HOUSE OF AZU
Debra is a 23-year-old Food and drinks entrepreneur who started out her business in 2017 called ‘Debs’ Kitchen’ before ‘House of Azu Meals’ began in 2020. She is a Business Management student studying in Birmingham City University. Debra also finds hobbies in singing and story writing. She is diligent in work and always seeks out opportunities for personal and professional development.
HEALTH & SKINCARE
Ismail Ajagbe - Measura Health Limited
Ismail Ajagbe is a Computer Scientist, Cloud Architect and Talented Technology Specialist with years of experience in the industry. As a Techpreneur, Volunteer and Innovator, he won the Ladoke Akintola University of Technology (LAUTECH) 1st Innovative Challenge 2021, which impacted over 15,000 attendees and 1,000 beta users. He also bagged several awards, recognitions, and certifications due to his innovative spirit. He co-founded Measura Health, a startup building the Uber for Preventive Healthcare to create a new Africa where preventive healthcare is comfortably accessible and affordable to everyone. As the CTO, he spearheads ideas and their executions. Under his technical leadership, with just an MVP, the startup has gone on to win two national and three international awards for its impact on over 25,000 Africans and its mission to reduce the leading causes of death in Africa, i.e., non-communicable diseases by 75%, and impact Africa’s population of over 1 billion people. Ismail is passionately driven by the positive impact of technology on a better standard of living for the people. His obsession is to make humanity better than he met it!
HOSPITALITY & TOURISM
Precious Bassey - PurpleLeisure
Precious Bassey is the Founder of Purple Leisure, who started out as a short let agent in Lagos state and has since then grew Purple Leisure into a multi-millionaire Company that caters for client’s travel, mobility, security and accommodation needs with services spread all over Nigeria. A graduate of Local government and development studies Abu Zaria and a licensed Aviator.
MANUFACTURING & LOGISTICS
ADERINSOLA OMIRIN - SOLASOLES NG
Outstanding footwear manufacturer, Omirin Aderinsola was born in Lagos, Nigeria. . She is the CEO of Solasoles Ng, a Nigerian handmade footwear brand, that focuses on the production of sustainable handmade footwears for women and kids and also production of orthopedic footwears for people with special needs. She is also the founder, and the Foundational startup coach of Startupspaceng, a community and consulting firm for start-up entrepreneurs where she coaches small business owners on the foundational elements of scaling a business. She was featured on BusinessDay, Nigeria’s top financial paper on her remarkable entrepreneurial journey as an outstanding creative footwear manufacturer. She launched Solasoles in 2018, at the age of 17 in her first semester of 200 level in Covenant University. By the age of 18, she became a millionaire as a student. By 19 in her 400 level, her products had been shipped to the 36 states of Nigeria, including the federal capital territory and internationally. She graduated from Covenant University in 2021, with a degree in Sociology as she won the entrepreneur of the 16th set in the university. Despite the challenges associated with combining school and business, Aderinsola developed a system that was working without her being present through strategic positioning of people and resources. Aderinsola’s Brand Solasoles, currently has over 22,000 sessions from over 47 countries globally on Shopify, the third largest e-commerce platform in the world. Aderinsola has certifications with honors in ‘successful presentation’ from University of Colorado and ‘preparing for launch’ from the University of Illinois. Aderinsola as coach has influenced the growth of over 200 start-ups with Startupspaceng since the beginning of the year 2022 Aderinsola as a shoe manufacturer has produced over 19,000 pairs of footwear, catering to over 9,000+ women with an average order value of 2 pairs and above, to wholesalers, marketers etc.
MEDIA & COMMUNICATIONS
OKOLIE MICHAEL - PANDA MEDIA ENTERTAINMENT AND PRODUCTIONS
Michael ‘Panda’ Okolie is an award-winning radio presenter, and has certifications in project management and digital marketing. He is an indie filmmaker, a content creator and a lover of entertainment. This love drove him to found the award winning media and entertainment brand, Panda Media. He also began hosting an online series titled Journey as a creative, where he interviews excelling creatives and gets them to share their journey in the world of creativity. He has partnered with SME100 Africa for a campaign on period poverty which was tagged pad up by a girl. Michael has provided opportunities for young creatives to showcase their talents and is often known for using new faces and talents in each new short film project. He also collaborates annually with the Onye Njem brand for a creatives-centered event called Creatival, which has featured over 50 new acts in its 3 year existence. He has partnered with brands such as Wilson’s lemonade, The All Varieties Awards, Channels television, News Direct, Silverbird television and a host of others. He’s also a PR strategist who has worked as the lead PR on a youth empowerment project with the Ministry of Trade and Negotiations. Michael is a graduate of the prestigious Hezekiah University where he studied Industrial Chemistry. While in school, Michael served as the student union president. He recently completed training with Tony Elumelu foundation.
MUSIC
ESTHER EKPENDU CHINENYE
Esther is a musician that personally enjoys music as well as putting it out.She’s been singing since her childhood days and once graduated as the best music student at an NGO program,socasemp 2018. She since then made covers of all kinds of music ranging from afro pop to RnB and so on at renowned studios such as clout studio, AKtivated studio and many more. Esther’s vocal texture for one is very rare and each note and tone of her music carries so much richness that it empowers and enriches you through her singing. She therefore aims at putting out her original songs soon.
PERFORMING ARTS
OKONKWOR PAUL - DANCER/CHOREOGRAPHER
Okonkwor Paul is a choreographer/dancer with a mission to change the perception of dance in Nigeria, He is a graduate of Covenant University and has been privileged to work in collaboration with Reflections Global Dance Ministry to organize Dance considerations for Tehilla night concerts featuring Gospel Artists such as Sinach and Dunsin Oyekan, and also Can u? 17 concert.
PHOTOGRAPHY
AKALEZI TIMOTHY - ACARLEZY STUDIO
Timothy is a professional photographer based in Lagos, Nigeria. A graduate of computer science from Ecole superieure De Gestion et De Tecnologie (ESGT) in Benin Republic. He specializes in making portrait and event photography digitally. However, creating timeless memories, capturing truly deep moments and sharing breathtaking results is what photography means to him. He looks for a sense of defiance and fortitude in his works, placing people in exaggerated situations that highlights an aspect of who they are.
PROFESSIONAL SERVICES
Emmanuel Dairo - Red Circle Digital Agency
Emmanuel Oyeyeoluwa Dairo is a Digital marketer and CEO of Red Circle Digital agency. He started out as a graphics designer and right now has impacted a lot of lives with the learner initiative, where he trains youths for free on graphics design, digital marketing and many more. He is a graduate of the Nigerian Institute of Journalism and also 02 Academy Lagos
SOCIAL ENTREPRENEURSHIP
Victory Ifeanyichukwu Uzoma - Parkers Mobile Clinic
Victory Ifeanyichukwu Uzoma is a Social Entrepreneur and Public Health Advocate with over 2 years experience working on Social Impact Projects covering health education and community development in Edo state, Nigeria. Victory is the co-founder of Parkers Mobile Clinic, a health initiative solving the problem of poor accessibility to quality health care services through mobile home health delivery in Eastern Nigeria. In the last two years, the organization has organized several community projects. Currently, Victory is the Campus Director for the National Malaria Elimination and Sensitization Project (NMESP) under the Nigerian Medical Students Association, where she organizes various community impact projects with the end goal of sensitizing and eliminating malaria in Edo State. Due to her commitment in community development, she was selected as an UNLEASH Global Innovation Talent as well as a Millennium Fellow, class of 2021. Over the years, she has led several projects with various organizations, she has also attended exchange programs across Nigeria for training in Leadership, Social Entrepreneurship and Personal Development. Currently, She is a Fifth year medical student of Ambrose Alli University with a passion to transform the health care system in Africa.
SOFTWARE & DESIGN
Daniel Samuel - Sugary Digital Growth
Daniel Samuel is a Freelance Graphic designer, Web developer, UX/UI Expert, Social media manager and Google Certified Digital Marketer, delivering quality services to businesses around the world. Daniel holds a CS50 Certification from HarvardX, Graphics and Media Certification from NIIT (National Institute of Information Technology) and Frontend Development Certification from Side Hustle. He has worked with different organizations and individuals on numerous projects, the most recent, Skillfusion, an online platform where people can learn, earn and connect. He is currently working with a Fintech Start-up with the mission of eradicating financial illiteracy in Africa.
SPORTS
RUKEVWE EDWARDS - TRACK ATHLETES
My name is Edward Rukevwe, am a 300 level student of Delta State. I love sports and I have a passion for it, and I hope to one day Excel in what am passionate about.
TECHNOLOGY
Anyalewechi Precious - D' RUBIX IT SOLUTIONS LTD
Anyalewechi Precious is the future Global billionaire, an entrepreneur, business consultant, network security specialist, an avid thought influencer and the Founder of D’ Rubix Group, a firm of professionals established in October 2018 specializing in Tech, Fashion and Consultings as well as works with the Government of Imo State and other firms within and outside Africa. As a voracious learner who is excited about teaching, he has had about 10,000 entrepreneurs from over 4 continents being a part of his business sessions – social media live videos, convened events and virtual summits he’s a guest of. He believes in the mantra that “there are no limits to what we can achieve so far as we set our minds to it”. He also Founded a multicultural 70-man team of Youths and value driven individuals to Skill the Streets – a humanitarian objective of his company on a mission to give relevant skills which are economically viable to the society which have been held in two editions (2020 and 2021) in Port Harcourt and scheduled to hold in Owerri in 2022.