How many world presidents have you met?

Ask yourself this question, you’d have nothing to say. Ask maybe the leading industrialist this, and he might say he had the privilege to meet the man who runs his country. But ask an 11 year old girl named Zuriel Oduwole this, and she’d exclaim, “14!” and as if that’s not baffling enough, she’d follow that up with a “…so far. ”

All Zuriel was trying to do, was make her project “about a revolution or reaction in history” for a USA based documentary making contest, the best and most thorough ever. She did not want to leave any stone unturned in trying to authenticate her data, and went out on a hunch to write to the Ghanaian head of state Jerry Rawlings to get his point of view on her chosen topic, the Ghana revolution. She felt that Africa was always portrayed negatively, and wanted to change that.

We can all learn something from her. Every journey to greatness begins with the courage to try. She tried, and was invited to the African continent to meet the man in person. She was extremely nervous she said, but pulled off the whole thing herself - to abide by the rules of the contest. She was 9 at the time.

One positive response, coupled with the adrenaline she felt in being acknowledged and paid heed to, was enough for her to want to pursue this grand hobby further. Today, being envisioned as the next Oprah Winfrey because of her knack of convincing the greats of the world to speak to her with such ease-  her score is a stupendous 14 presidents and prime ministers, and many more world leaders in her quest for knowledge.

Amongst those are  Nigerian president Goodluck Jonathan, the Tennis queen-bees- William’s sisters, Mr Aliko Dangote, the richest black man in the world… but she has a favorite. President of Jamaica- Portia Miller.

“She held my hands and prayed for me and then she put me on her lap to take official pictures with her, which was very different from all the other 13 presidents and prime ministers I have interviewed,” said Zuriel  to UK’s Voice.

And the most enlightening leg of her journey began, when she noticed how few African Girls went to school. She sold her heart and soul to the cause almost instantly, because she was so very fond of school and learning herself. In her endeavour to bring change, she started “Dream Up, Speak Up, Stand Up” an organization that urges girls to stay in school.

Through this programme, she has spoken to over 30,000 girls all over Africa, to show them the light and the merits of staying in school.   “I started the campaign in March 2013 in Lagos, Nigeria, at the Lagos Business School's Victoria island campus, and so far, I have launched the project in five African countries. they are Nigeria, Malawi, Mauritius, Ethiopia and Tanzania...” she said to Huffington Post.

Zuriel Oduwoles on her 12th Birthday
Picture By: Bella Naija

Keen to prove age is nothing but a number, Zuriel wants to show parents – and the world – by “using me as an example, what their children can do. I want little girls to be able to accomplish their dreams, like I did. If I can show girls how I walked a mile, they’d be inspired to walk a mile and a half” she said to Huffington Post.

And just like any other child, Zuriel has a whole lot of things she’d like to become when she grows up- professional basketball and robotic engineering are high up on that list, but what she yearns for is to retire at 19 from documentary making, and become president of the United States.

“I feel if I am president of an African country, I might be able to affect one or two other countries, but if I am president of the United States, I would be able to most countries in the world including those in Africa and the Caribbean region.” she said, as-a-matter-of-factly.

Today, Zuriel is the youngest girl ever, to have been interviewed by Forbes as a future world leader. An honor of this magnitude, and she is still rather modest. “I’m just a regular 11-year-old girl who enjoys making documentaries. And I want every girl to not give up dreaming, and as long as they believe in their dreams, they would one day see where it takes them.”

Sources: UK’s Voice, Huffington Post.

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