President Wavel Ramkalawan meets education advocate Zuriel Oduwole at UNGA — News — The Guardian Nigeria News – Nigeria and World News

When the US Secretary of State John Kerry met with then 14 year old Zuriel Oduwole in January 2017 in his office at the State Department in Washington DC and the images made some Newspaper covers in parts of the world, very few knew that prior to that meeting, she had already sat down with several world leaders from the age of 10. They included President Jakaya Kikwete of Tanzania, President Ellen Johnson Searleaf of Liberia, President Goodluck Jonathan of Nigeria, President Jorge Fonseca of Cabo Verde, President Marie Louise Preca of Malta, President Salva Kiir of South Sudan and President Uhuru Kenyatta of Kenya to name a few.

In most of these discussions, Zuriel showed herself as an example of what an educated can do, and the need to ensure that girls are not hindered in their cognitive development, especially across Africa and the Caribbean. She wanted the leaders to create policies that ensures all girls across the globe are in school till at least the age of 18, so they are not getting married young.

It is why President Wavel Ramkalawan of Seychelles met with Ms. Oduwole and her DUSUSU Foundation co-founder – Azaliah Oduwole on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly on September 27th in New York to explore ways some of her empowerment and development projects could be an introduced to the youths of Seychelles. A self-taught film maker, Zuriel became the world’s youngest film maker at the age of 12 in 2014, when her self-produced, self-edited and self-scored documentary showed in two movie theater chains [Genesis and the Film House cinemas], and also screened in Ghana, Nigeria, South Africa, the UK, and Tokyo – Japan.

‘These are the kind of skills from young people, by young people, and for young people I would like to see in my country’, President Ramkalawan said, as he addressed the audience gathered for their meeting. Listening at the session also were the Seychelles Minister for Family and Youth – Hon Marie Celine Zialor, the Seychelles Ambassador to the UN – H.E. Ian Madeleine, diplomats, guests and friends of the people of Seychelles.

President Ramkalawan is the 37th world leader Zuriel Oduwole would meet with, to discuss issues that impact our world with, while proffering simple solutions as she saw them.

Some three years ago, Zuriel Oduwole paid a similar visit with her foundation members to meet with the President of Ghana H.E. Nana Akuffo Addo in Accra, after she taught a series of film making classes to out of school ‘older teenage girls’, across Ghana.

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