Two young Nigerians; Oluwatoyosi Ogunseye and Olusegun Odunaiya have been chosen to join other young Africans to be a part of President Barack Obama’s Young African Leadership Initiative #YALI, in the United States of America.
Oluwatoyosi Ogunseye has over 10 years of experience as an investigative journalist on a variety of beats such as politics, crime, business, health and the environment. Ogunseye, who is the first female editor in the over 40-year history of Punch Newspaper (the most widely-read newspaper in Nigeria), is the Editor of the Sunday title Sunday Punch.
She holds a B.Sc. in Biochemistry from the University of Lagos, a PGD in Print Journalism from the Nigerian Institute of Journalism, an M.Sc. in Media and Communication from the Pan-Atlantic University and is currently studying for a Ph.D. in Politics and International Relations at the University of Leicester.
Olusegun Odunaiya has more than six years of experience working in the renewable energy sector with a focus on solar energy systems. As the operations officer for Havenhill Synergy Limited (the business venture he started over four years ago) he directly oversees a project called “End Blackout” in rural communities.
The initiative which President Barack Obama announced last year June during his Town Hall Meeting with youths from African countries, will gather 500 young African leaders to the United States each year for leadership training and mentoring.
According to the first black American president, the fellowship, will invest in a new generation of young African leaders who are shaping the continent’s future, respond to the strong demand by young African leaders for practical skills that can help them take their work to the next level in the fields of public service and business, deepen partnerships and connections between the United States and Africa and build a prestigious network of young African leaders who are at the forefront of change and innovation in their respective sectors.
