Entertainment
Encomiums trails 22-year-old Nigerian nomination for Nobel Peace Prize
While other young girls of her age are busy with their phones immersed in the illusory world of TikTok, Facebook, and other social media pastimes, Zuriel Elise Oduwole, a Nigerian-American child education advocate and filmmaker, is already daringly blazing a trail where angels fear to tread.
A few days ago, the vibrant young mind made a global headlines when she was nominated for the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize. The Los Angeles- born Nigerian-American has spent much of her young life engaging with global leaders and championing causes that uplift marginalized communities across the globe.
A statement issued by the Nobel Prize Committee said that Oduwole was nominated for her activism. At the age of 13, she mediated a territorial dispute between Guyana and Venezuela, met with then-President David Granger at the United Nations to stress the importance of peaceful dialogue.
Her diplomatic efforts went further . In 2020, at the age of 17, she met with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi to discuss on global peace strategies during the Arab blockade of Qatar, which concluded peacefully in 2021.
“It’s heartening that we have a young mind, who has registered her presence on the world stage through her education advocacy and peace pursuit, unlike other young girls of her age who are involved in unethical and time-wasting pursuits. We should commend her. Honestly, Nigerian government should honour her with a national award”, Professor Oluwayomi Abidemi, a sociologist, told Business Hallmark.
Dr. Adeola Owonikan, who teaches Philosophy at Kogi state University, said “the mere fact that this young girl was nominated for Nobel peace is a big achievement, whether she eventually wins or not. No Nigerian has been so nominated; it shows that amidst the decadence in the society we still have Nigerians doing well. If you take a look, you will observe that those young men and women doing well are the Diasporans”.
When this newspaper sampled opinions of 10 young ladies to name their role model, none of them mentioned Zuriel Oduwole, the recurring name that popped up is Funke Akindele. None of them appeared to have heard about her. On this, an analyst, Joseph Prekemeh Boroh, told this newspaper that,” Our youths do not read newspaper, and when it comes to world affairs or global trends they are not interested. The only thing that interests our young men and women is Facebook, TikTok, popular culture, music stars and theatre personalities. It’s sad!”
Her work also went beyond diplomacy. As the founder of the initiative “Dream Up, Speak Up, Stand Up,” Oduwole has woken up the consciousness of many young people and empowered them to advocate for their rights and seize opportunities for their future.
A statement by the Nobel Prize Committee reads: “At 13, Oduwole mediated a territorial dispute between Guyana and Venezuela, meeting with then President David Granger at the United Nations to stress the imperative of peaceful dialogue.
The 22- year-old documentary filmmaker and child education proponent has already carved a global niche for herself, having interviewed many presidents, and attracted the attention of some of the world’s most powerful men and women through her education advocacy.
In 2010, at the age of 10, Oduwole was the world’s youngest person to appear in Forbes. In November 2014, Zuriel became the youngest filmmaker to self-produce and edit a screened work; she was featured by CNBC.
Oduwole has had a one- on- one with presidents and prime ministers in line with her education advocacy and various global socio-development work. Some of these include the leaders of Jamaica, Croatia, Nigeria, Kenya, Tanzania, Malawi, Liberia, South Sudan, Malta, St. Vincent & the Grenadines, Guyana, Sierra Leone and Namibia. She has also featured in popular television stations including CNBC, Bloomberg TV, BBC and CNN.
Little wonder, in 2013, the young lady was listed in the New African Magazine’s list of “100 Most Influential People” and in October 2017, Harvard University graduate school featured her development story.
She had a meeting with U.S Secretary of State, John Kerry in January 6th, 2017, where she discussed extensively on her projects.
Oduwole was born in Los Angeles, California in July 2002. Her first venture into media and advocacy was in 2012 when she entered a school competition with a documentary film about Africa titled, The Ghana Revolution. For this she conducted her first presidential interviews, when she met with two former presidents of Ghana: Jerry Rawlings and John Kufuor.
In 2013, after the release of her documentary film titled, The 1963 OAU Formation, Zuriel Oduwole was profiled in Forbes Magazine. As part of this second documentary, she interviewed the President of Malawi ( Joyce Banda ), the President of Tanzania (Jakaya Kikwete) and the President of Mauritius (Rakeshwar Purryag).
In March 2013, Oduwole formally started a project called “Dream Up, Speak Up, Stand Up”, a campaign which was first launched at the Lagos Business School’s Pan-Atlantic University, for the advocacy and promotion of girl-child education in Africa.
In 2014 at age 12, her self-produced documentary film titled, A Promising Africa, was screened in five countries. On 21 April 2014, Oduwole was listed as the most Powerful 11 year old in the world by New York Business Insider’s in their listing of “World’s Most Powerful Person at Every Age”. In February 2015, Elle Magazine listed her in their annual feature of “33 Women Who Changed The World”, alongside Fed Reserve Chairwoman Janet Yellen and President of General Motors, Mary Barra.
The University of Pretoria in South Africa invited her to speak to their student body in March 2015 as a filmmaker to give the students an insight into how to communicate and tell the story of global events from a specific perspective – as part of their Humanities series.
In April 2015, the Ivy League’s Columbia University in New York, U.S invited her as a featured speaker at their African Economic Forum conference, as well as a segment panelist to speak about the potentials of the new Africa.
President Alpha Conde of Guinea met and spoke with Zuriel in May 2015, as part of an information documentary she was doing on the Ebola Virus, which started in his country, Guinea, before ravaging Sierra Leone and Liberia, to understand the impact on the economies of the region, as well as the effect on children’s education. President Conde was the 15th world leader she would meet to talk about pertinent and pressing issues.
As part of their global #LikeAGirl campaign to shore up girls’ confidence as they enter adolescence, global giant Procter & Gamble engaged Zuriel in June 2015 to create a short documentary about the education of girls about puberty and the support needed during this period of their lives. She wrote, narrated, and produced the video for the campaign with the theme Unstoppable Like A Girl.
In December 2015, she formally launched her DUSUSU Foundation, aimed at building partnerships with corporations and individuals to develop the education capabilities of children, especially the girl child, across the globe.
In April 2016, at age 13, she was invited as the keynote speaker at the annual Maryland State Department of Education’s Early Childhood Educational conference at Ocean City, Maryland, addressing more than 600 adult delegates on how she sees the education of future U.S leaders developing. Later in June 2016, she was invited as the featured speaker as well as a panelist at the annual Women in Entertainment Luncheon in Los Angeles, California, U.S.
The Guardian Newspaper, in late June 2016 signed her on as a columnist to share her insight on issues as seen by a younger generation and giving her a section and segment for periodic writing.