The story you may still not find in the news. I hope it inspires someone not to give up. I was raised and born in Makoko I lost my Mum at 7 We moved to Bariga at 12, another slum in Lagos My dad lost everything at 12, sold his property, and a couple of stuff I hawked sweet and spaghetti at 13 At 15, I was awarded the best prefect in my secondary school At 15, I also worked as a labourer in construction sites At 15, I taught basic education in a nursery school At 15, we were sent packing from our rented apartment in Bariga. Nearly homeless for the first time. At 17, I worked as Airtel KYC agent, registering sim At 17, I got admission into the University of Ilorin At 19, 20, won the University of Ilorin scholarship award At 20, appointed as the deputy commandant of the Nigerian Red Cross At 21, in my final year last semester had a 5.0 GPA, scored A in my project dissertation. At 21, Graduated as the best student in my department At 22, won the NYSC Edo State Award. At 23, Founded a non-profit to support children of my kind. At 23, attended my First international conference. At 23, started a blog with over 275k views and readership from more than 20 countries At 24, selected as an SDGs Youth Champion with African Monitor and engaged Office of the Senate President At 24, selected as a Fellow, Carrington Youth Fellowship Initiative and winter $5000 grant with other 4 fellows. At 24, won the Keenista African Youth Competition Award (top 2 -7) prize. At 24, awarded Talent of the Future Africa At 24, featured by UNFPA as a global goal champion At 24, spoke at an international summit At 25, won the United State Consul General Award At 25, completed, authored my first book and sold in more than 3 countries At 25, became a Fellow-in-Residence and Regional Manager of a global non-profit in the United States (Peace First) At 25, won a scholarship in the UK (IDS) At 25, facilitated in another continent outside Africa At 25, made my first million in Naira At 26, won two most prestigious scholarships (Chevening and Mastercard Foundation Scholarship) At 26, studying at The University of Edinburgh (top 16 in the world, best in Scotland and top 5 in the UK) At 26, completed my second book titled 5 years At 27 graduated from the The University of Edinburgh At 27, won the First-ever Ufahamu Africa Essay contest for my piece on life and politics in Africa At 27, Published my Second book “5 Years” on Amazon At 27, became, the first young African Board Member at Peace First At 27, worked with the MasterCard Foundation and co-created a mentoring programme for refugees in Uganda At 27, got a role with Refugee Education UK. At 27 became a World Economic Forum, Global Shaper. At 28, won Oxford Rhodes Scholars-in-Residence African Finance Initiative Grant to scale my social innovation Skill2Rural Bootcamp. At 28, spoke at the UNESCO headquarters in Paris as a youth delegate at the pre-summit of the Transforming Education Summit. At 28, worked with the British Red Cross, and coordinate the Refugee and Befriending Programme in Hammersmith, London. At 28, worked as a Research Assistant with the Mastercard Foundation at the University of Edinburgh on the Identity in Transition project At 28, invited as a guest lecturer by the Open University, UK to take a module on communications for development. At 28, partnered with the American corner to organise a launch and learn event for my second book “5years” the room was filled At 28, presented at the University of Edinburgh Teaching and Learning Conference and was featured by them too. At 28, made the University of Edinburgh Climate 75 list At 29, selected as 1 of the 20 for the University of Pennsylvania Centre for social impact strategy Global Social Impact House Fellowship. Was the youngest in the Fellowship. At 29, Co-authored and published my third book titled “Career Wisdom” and all profit goes to my non-profit.

I am back again with my video series, and one of my most-engaged videos has been the one where I teach or talk about storytelling. Moreover, whenever I teach storytelling, I unlock new insights, and it seems there is just something new to unravel. In this video, I broke down the difference between a story and storytelling and why that distinction matters for anyone creating or sharing ideas. I also explored the concept of the central character versus the story's hero, and how perspective shapes meaning. Finally, I talked about the power of voice in storytelling and how it influences connection, emotion, and impact. If you're interested in storytelling, communication, or content creation, this series will help you think more deeply about how stories are formed and told. Watch the full video below on YouTube youtu.be/9xebQPcu3VU?is=nRut… (20 minutes watch time. A good way to finish your weekend) If it resonates with you, feel free to share and subscribe to the channel. 🎥 Ayoola Jolayemi (Kormbat Studios)

I have been speaking to some young people, professionals, and graduates about Rafiki X (Rafikigen.ai), and it seems they do not know about the advanced AI career support they can get. Powered by both generative and analytics AI. Once you sign up on Rafiki X, you can upload your current CV and set it as the default, then use the chatbot to ask about anything related to your career. From interview prep to rewriting a CV for a new job, etc. I know how it may be time-consuming to sometimes rewrite a CV for multiple roles and how exhausting that process can be. Rafiki X can help with that, and you can use most of the time rewriting to perfect the draft Rafiki gives to you, and spend more time reflecting on who you are, etc and figuring out who to network with in the company you want to apply to or attend a networking or personal development event. If you never have a CV at all, Rafiki X can help create one. Rafiki AI, WhatsApp version, could also help with the interactive side of things, especially those who cannot afford a large amount of data or internet. Through a step-by-step chat with Rafiki AI (skill2rural.org/Rafiki), you can curate a new CV or portfolio. There are still multiple use cases for how to use the platform, so keep exploring. Try Rafiki X: rafikigen.ai/ and let me know how you are getting on. N.B: It is so interesting how also people get to find out about Rafiki X and Rafiki AI via the internet, and did not know I founded it. I love to always hear their reaction when they do so. I think that is the goal to get it in front of many people without knowing the face behind it.

There is something that helped me in my 20’s and allowed me to get ahead in certain aspects of my journey and still a philosophy I hold on to. It was the idea that “I am not that special, there are many brilliant people in the world, and no one is coming to save me, except I fight for myself” The idea is not that people would not help you. It is the idea that you have to be the one to fight first, save yourself first, and go for what you want. You don't expect people to tell you sorry for a rejection when you are supposed to get out and keep working. You don't expect people to just give you something. You build your trajectory and even when you did not win, at least you took responsibility and kept building and doing. I think this idea has made me even accept rejections better and graciously handle them and keep doing. Sometimes the world favours the doers. It is only when you do, you know if you have a chance to win.

Two dreamers in that photo One in Edinburgh The other in Montreal One at the University of Edinburgh The other at McGill University One was an award The other was a keynote speech Both in one of the most prestigious Universities in the world. Truly, there is no force on earth that can stop an idea whose time has come ~ Victor Hugo Two is still one, and it is one that is still dreaming. Day One!

Today, 9 years ago, I made a bold decision to found the @KLCI_Initiative To be honest, I did not know what to feel about this, neither do I know what to say until yesterday, when I was in the mosque, and someone asked about what I do. I was answering bit by bit without revealing much information until I spoke about KLCI and the impact we have created in advancing life, 21st-century, and career education for underserved and displaced young people. He said, Is this all you do? I said yes, this is all I have known, and he was surprised that, despite coming from nothing, someone still decides to found an organisation that supports people on the margins. To be honest, I still do not know how we have gotten here or even how far we have come. This is because I am only able to do this because of our team of volunteers, staff, and supporters who have believed in us. From the day of just three volunteers running career workshops for secondary school students in rural communities to 300 doing that now. To the days of Skill2Rural Bootcamp, where young people co-create innovative solutions to the problems in their communities. To seeing them win national awards and become leaders in their communities. To the debate on our WhatsApp groups To providing and raising money to few participants in our programs to access higher education and further personal development. To seeing our volunteers land their first professional jobs and scholarships because they were able to grow in our organisation. I am not saying we are the best or perfect, but we are trying. To building Skill2Rural.Org, a courseware that teaches 21st-century skills for underserved young people. To reaching hundreds of thousands of young people through hundreds of educators who signed up to the platform. To building Rafiki AI and Rafiki X X(rafikigen.ai) through the support of AWS to leverage generative AI to power career guidance and counselling at scale for underserved and displaced young people. To reaching tens of thousands through that work spanning across 60 countries and piloting a paid tier model to provide equitable access and unlock a global payment system to do so. To seeing some of our earliest participants from Skill2Rural Bootcamp become graduates and in their final year of University, and seeing them take leadership roles whilst studying, and seeing them navigate the world. To be honest, I sometimes under-report our reach or do not know how much we are reaching but I hope someone somewhere is impacted by the work and I hope I can inspire one person that you do not have to be reach and be at the top of the world to create change. I am also grateful for @OmololaLipede, who has been a co-conspirator on this journey and with whose leadership this work wouldn't have been possible. Thank you. Cheers to a decade next year and to the next decade. Design by Alabi Saheed Alani

Someone responded to my post about “Standing on prayers, purpose and art” in a way to survive in this difficult and complex world. And they asked, “I understand the prayer and purpose aspect. What do you mean by standing on art?” I responded by saying “Thank you for your question. Standing on art means finding an outlet for your frustration, for what you feel through poetry, painting, writing, and any form of expression that gives meaning to what you feel on the inside. Sometimes art is a dialogue between the creator and the thing you end up producing. It carries multiple meanings beyond mere words. Sometimes we may end up finding an outlet in other things or in the wrong things, but standing on art alongside purpose and prayer can be equally powerful.

It is so incredible to see how nuanced life can be and how it humbles and teaches us every time One moment you may be going through a difficult health situation and in another moment, you are flying around the world giving a keynote speech One moment, you may lose a closed family, and a month later, you are celebrating the birth of a new child One moment, you lose your job, and another moment, you are forced to explore a new talent One moment you are sad because you lose a friend and another moment you meet someone so amazing One moment you are scammed, and another moment you are in a situation where someone comes through for you during a difficult phase One moment, you got rejected in an application, and are about to give up, another moment we are nominated for a huge award One moment, your business hit unicorn status, and another moment, it seems everything is crashing out. When we look deeply at the things we experience, we will be grateful for both the pain and the joy that we experience. I think we take pain for granted a lot and I am telling you even the richest of the rich cannot escape it. It is what is beautiful about life and when we look deeply, we will be grateful for both the good and bad times, and a privilege to experience life. That even in both good and not-so-good times, we maintain our awesomeness and spark. I think when you get to that level, I think it's a level that you cannot win. You aren’t competing with life anymore, you are grateful for its existence and you are navigating the curveball thrown at you - like swimming through the waves. Caption: Local man on the journey again to speak about Rafiki X and @KLCI_Initiative

The gaze tells you the story. So before you judge me, look at my gaze first. Look at my story first and all you would see is the gaze of a child running. All the story you need is right in my gaze and it is a gaze of a seven-year-old who never stopped running. From Nigeria 🇳🇬 to the world 🌍 From Africa to the world 🌎 From one local to another one, from one global to another one. From one stage to another stage. From one city to another city. From lack of clarity to one. From speaking when I was nothing to one. From choosing to be an inspiration rather than a speaker. From building the @KLCI_Initiative to speaking about it in multiple world cities. Makoko, Olambe, Matogun, Lagos, Ogun, Oyo, Ilorin, Montreal, Edinburgh, Bath, Canada, Accra, United Kingdom, And so on. You can still see the dreams in my gaze! It is still the dream of a child running.

Whenever I reflect on why I should never give up, one person that always comes to mind was my immediate senior brother. After secondary school, he spent 4 years moving from one university admission opportunity to another but to no avail. Not that he failed these exams but the Nigerian education admission system wasn’t favourable. There was a time he enrolled for the Nigerian Defence Academy to join the military but he sustained an injury and couldn’t complete the process. After this, he started a pre-degree programme for two years and finally secured direct entry to study Estate Management. By then, 6 years had passed, and many of his peers had already completed their degrees and/or NYSC. 2 years into the programme, he made a bold move. He left the programme and moved to Russia to study Aircraft Operations Engineering at Saint-Petersburg State University for Civil Aviation. This meant another 6 years of studying and spending 12 years in total chasing his dream when it appeared that many of his mates are far ahead in life ahead of him. But then, success has a way of bridging the gap between you and those who have gone ahead of you. Within a few years after graduation, he became a Senior Aircraft Maintenance Engineer. His journey taught me one of life’s greatest lessons: no one truly understands how another person’s story will unfold. Meanwhile, success is not a race and does not follow a universal timetable. Life often rewards those who refuse to give up on themselves. This is why I will always be inspired by resilient people like my brother and my dear brother—Mr Toyyib @taadelodun. Their stories always remind me that persistence can take you further than talent, timing, or circumstance ever could.

Honored & excited to be attending & presenting at #EASL2026 for the very first time in Barcelona! Looking forward to connecting with so many inspiring researchers & clinicians. If you’re attending, come check out my posters (TH 6 & 7) - would love to chat and meet you there!

🚀 NEW EPISODE OUT #ماوراءالصحة🌍 What happens when you bring social entrepreneurship into medicine? I interviewed innovator & social entrepreneur @iamkayfactor to break down a blueprint for lasting medical impact. Thank you, Hammed! Watch & Subscribe: youtu.be/Fvg2vxwZhMc

🚨GLOBAL TALENT VISA (Research Route) X SPACE 🚨 Following the numerous messages and questions from prospective applicants on how to successfully apply for the UK Global Talent Visa (Research Category), I’ll be hosting an insightful X Space this Sunday featuring current GTV recipients 🎓🇬🇧 They’ll be sharing: ✨ Their application journey ✨ Key strategies and lessons learned ✨ Common mistakes to avoid ✨ Tips for building a strong portfolio/evidence If you’re a researcher, academic, PhD student, or aspiring applicant considering the Global Talent Visa research route, this conversation will be highly valuable. You’ll also have the opportunity to connect with recipients in your field and ask them questions about recent changes and how to better prepare your application. 🗓 Date: May 17 ⏰ Time: 5PM (GMT 1) 📍Venue: X Space twitter.com/i/spaces/1qKDzPe… Please help retweet: @taadelodun @ireteeh @iamkayfactor @TosinOlugbenga @the_Lawrenz @oko_chukwuemeka @AskMichaelTaiwo @Yemisiolufemi

I just spoke about this on Rapid TV just a few days ago. If we leave those who score the lowest of the low in our entrance exam and send them to the Colleges or Faculty of Education, what kind of students are we going to produce for the workforce? Now there isn't a cut-off.

The school can become a space where young people harness their full potential. The school can be a space for plurality, innovation and creation. Where young people can express themselves beyond who they think they are.

I have had the chance to speak on multiple diverse panels, and one of the things I have learned is “Hold your own” Hold your own thoughts. Share them passionately in your own voice, and know that your voice is as important as others'. Sometimes because of your background or where you come from, you may want to shrink. You may want to think your stories don't matter. That your voice, words, energy, and tone don't matter. It does matter, it is what that space truly needs. Sometimes when I think about decolonization. When I think about it more broadly, I do not see it as just sharing our thoughts about it or reflecting on it. I see it as a form of being. Our presence, our voice, our dress, any part of it, our thoughts, origin, and background etc are all part of decolonization. It is being in that space and deconstructing the space through who you are. So when you are in a panel that you feel you do not belong in. When you are in a space that you feel isn't yours. Stay with yourself and hold your own. You are not just the panelist or a speaker. You are the space. So own it.

One of my submission at the One Young World at the University of Bath forum was sharing an alternative to specialization which is plurality. Maybe the school could be a space to express ourselves. Cc: @OneYoungWorld @oywbath

𝑶𝒑𝒑𝒐𝒓𝒕𝒖𝒏𝒊𝒕𝒚 𝑨𝒍𝒆𝒓𝒕! Unlock Funding for the 6th African Youth SDGs Summit! Special Webinar Series: ''Funding Your Journey to Global Policy Space'' 📅May 6 2026 ⏲️1:00 PM GMT Secure your learning seat today via link below 👇 #SDGs #AYSDGs #AYSDGs2026 #Agenda2030

I could recall sometimes in 2017 and 2018, I was trying to share my thoughts but no one was listening. I am like why should they listen to me when I have not built anything tangible? I also noticed my voice wasn't gaining the necessary traction as well and I said “I will definitely surely be heard” and today, I am delivering Keynote Speeches across continents and countries. What a moment to be alive. Time truly tells what endures. If you are not gaining the traction you need, I hope this poem gives you solace too. You will be heard #poetry