In commemoration of International Youth Day 2020, we will be celebrating young people across Nigeria that has proven beyond doubt that they can pull so many goals if placed on higher positions or given a lot of resources, many thanks to the things they do and the brands and personalities they have built over time.
In that stead, we will be celebrating five(5) young personalities from the southeast region that has dominated in their various fields and are celebrated beyond the region. They have been grouped into different sectors, and this list is in no particular order;
Hon. Nonso Smart Okafor – Politics and Leadership
The name, Hon. Nonso Smart Okafor means a whole lot to different people – To some, he is a sort of role model, to others, he is a kind-hearted gentleman that was born to lead. Nnewi born and bred, Hon. Nonso Okafor is the present-day David, that came from a very humble beginning to defeat goliath on the course of his political push.
Beyond his present status as an honorable member representing Nnewi North in the hallowed Anambra State House Of Assembly, he was a one-time NYCN(National Youth Council of Nigeria) Chairman in Anambra state, a former SUG president of Federal Polytechnic Oko, a Mandela Washington Fellowship Alumni (YALI Fellow) and a member of different reputable professional associations and bodies.
Hon. Nonso Okafor, First Lawmaker To Complete A Constituency Project – Anambra Speaker
In less than a year as an honorable member in the Anambra State House of Assembly, he delivered two constituency projects(the first among his colleagues), he sponsored the first private member bill in the 7th Assembly, another first, and he currently has the highest sponsored motion in the 7th assembly.
Hon. Nonso Smart has always championed youth-centric causes and has always stood in the front when they are being denied their rights and privileges. He is happily married and blessed with a son.
Zoro Swagbag – Entertainment
Zoro Swagbag, also known as Owoh Chimaobi Chrismathner was born in Onitsha Anambra State on March 20th, 1990 but he is a native of Awgu in Enugu State, Nigeria. Zoro swagbag, rode on the wave of PHYNO that revolutionized the Igbo rap game when he came up with a new pattern that relegated the likes of Slow Dogg, Nigga Raw and all others that were ‘kinging’ a decade or more ago. Zoro stepped into the ring, championed by Phyno but created his own kind of tunes that made not just Ndigbo but Nigerians and other parts of Africa become his fans.
His replication of the Igbo culture, especially the masquerade ‘mmanwu’ in his videos and also on stage while he performs makes him relatively unique among his fellow music folks. Zoro is multi-talented as he can sing and write all his songs. His sound/style though fast is different, catchy, and danceable. His breakpoint was when he sang Ogene, featuring Flavor, one of the finest musicians of this era from South East.
Zoro has featured lots of artists like, Phyno, Flavour, Nigga Raw, Hype MC, Tekno, Psquare, and more. He has won loads of awards notably is: Best Indigenous Video Concept, Nigeria Music Video Awards
Dinma Umeh – Digital Entrepreneur/ Beauty and Lifestyle
Beautiful and elegant looking Dinma Umeh is a goddess of the new media world. She hit top fame with the name “Dat Igbo Chick” on Youtube before she rebranded to her own name DINMA UMEH. Dinma was born into the family of Senator Victor Umeh and Lady Prisca Umeh.
Unknown to most, Dinma’s dad was a former National Chairman of All Progressive Grand Alliance, APGA, a former senator of the federal republic, representing Anambra Central and currently the BOT of APGA. Dinma Umeh, despite her family political background, carved a niche for herself and built a global brand from scratch.
Dinma Umeh is one of Africa’s biggest Vlogger, as her videos have gotten over 23 million views, with 355,000 youtube subscribers. Watching her tutorials has helped a lot of young women understand how it’s done and also grow to become a pro. She also grew beyond the Youtube space to exploring other social media platforms like Instagram where she shares her opinions on societal issues and expands her brand.
Her popularity has soared beyond the scope of her niche and it got her a lot of endorsement. A few months ago, She met with one of Africa’s finest living writer, Chimamanda Adichie who confessed that she has been her fan from day one.
Dinma Umeh is a true testimony that Youth can achieve success by transforming passion and hobbies to into income
Dr. Amara Chukwu Karen Allison – Health
The medical profession is one that demands passion, creativity, and resilience to venture in. This is beyond your normal intelligence, as they face real-time issues that might throw them off balance emotionally, which can also make absent the presence of intelligence.
Dr. Amarachukwu Karen Allison, an Imo-born graduate of Medicine and Surgery from the University of Port Harcourt discovered the first index case of Coronavirus, an Italian at Ewekoro Lafarge Africa’s Plant Clinic in Ogun State, Nigeria, on the 27th February 2020 which marked the beginning of novel COVID-19 in the country. She was ‘just’ a doctor in an establishment but her heroic display made her hit limelight. She escorted the index case to Lagos where he was diagnosed and was said to be positive of the virus.
Dr. Amara on her own was isolated for 14 days because she had close contact with the index case. Her great display of professionalism got the government of Ogun state to recognize her as she was celebrated, also, the Nigerian social media space went agog at her heroic display as they celebrated her and got her on the trend table.
2020 has been a terrible year globally because of the death toll but her name will be mentioned as one of the champions that helped contain/control the widespread of the coronavirus in the country.
Wilfred Ndidi – Sports
Nigeria is one of the fortunate countries in Africa that is blessed with talented football players. From time immemorial, football has been taken seriously in the country. It was even said that a football match that the great Pele participated alongside his teammates halted the Nigerian civil war for some days -that goes to show how football is adored in this part of the world.
Moving ahead, from the days of Christain Chukwu to Etim Esim, to Samson Siasia, to Finidi George, Okocha, Kanu, Mikel, etc, there has always been an era of great players from Nigeria.
In this present time, one will not argue with the fact that Wilfred Ndidi, is one of Nigeria’s biggest football asset as he has proven himself not just for the country but for his club, as he is regarded as one of the best defensive midfielders in Europe.
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Wilfred was born in Lagos, in 1996. He started out his footballing career in a local football academy (Nathaniel Football Academy )in Lagos. He grew through the ranks, did great exploit before he was noticed by Nigeria, and called up for the junior cadre, Under-17, in 2013. That was going to be the beginning of his great footballing career as he got noticed by a Belgian side that exposed his prowess in Europe, before making megabucks deal with the EPL side, Leicester City.
Wilfred is an example of a youth that is helping to fly the country’s flag and he is celebrated beyond the shores of the continent.
We have just mentioned a few names doing the region proud in their chosen career, most of them started from scratch, some built themselves to a certain level before they were noticed.
In all, this should help encourage today’s youth on their path to becoming independent and celebrated. It all boils down to dedication, passion, hard work, and grace.
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