Award winning Nigerian singer, Davido has secured a spot on TIME100 Next list. Grabbing a spotlight on the exclusive list alongside him are four other
Award winning Nigerian singer, Davido has secured a spot on TIME100 Next list. Grabbing a spotlight on the exclusive list alongside him are four other Nigerians, tech expert, Olugbenga Agboola and the trio of Damilola Odufuwa, Odunayo Eweniyi, and Feyikemi Abudu. While Odufuwa and Eweniyi are founders of The Feminist Coalition, Abudu is a member of the group.
TIME100 Next list highlights 100 emerging leaders who are shaping the future.
Writing about Davido, winner of Big Brother Naija season five, Laycon in his tribute said, “Davido is one of the biggest voices in Afrobeats because his music connects with people, often in ways that transcends his expectations. You can tell Davido puts 100% into every song he makes.
“And the results are clear: his album ‘A Good Time’ surpassed a billion streams in 2020. Afrobeats is a worldwide phenomenon, and Davido is one of many Nigerian artists who has made that possible; now more and more artists, from Nicki Minaj to Young Thug, want to work with him. By bringing Afrobeats to the global stage, he’s paved the way for people like me.”
Writing about Washington DC based Olugbenga Agboola, Flutterwave’s co-founder and CEO and why it made the TIME100 Next list, the magazine recognizing his contribution during the #Endsars protest said, “In 2020, COVID-19 lockdowns across the world hit brick-and-mortar businesses hard. Africa’s small shops and restaurants, very few of which have an online presence, were particularly vulnerable.
“Enter Flutterwave, a tech startup based in San Francisco and Lagos, Nigeria, that is known for helping companies process customers’ online transactions during checkout. Amid lockdown, Flutterwave expanded from specializing in digital cash registers to hosting digital storefronts, helping some 20,000 small businesses suddenly without foot traffic set up online shops, receive payments and arrange delivery options.
“The company processed more than 80 million transactions, worth $7.5 billion, in 2020, establishing it as Africa’s premier payment-solution provider. Now Flutterwave—which already has a presence in 17 African countries—is planning to leverage that momentum into greater expansion, so that a customer in South Africa, for example, can seamlessly use her Kenyan digital wallet to buy products in Senegal.”
The trio of Odufuwa, Eweniyi and Abudu were in the Advocates category of the Time100 Next list for their role in the #Endsars protest.
The magazine wrote about them, “When protests calling for an end to police brutality and the disbandment of Nigeria’s Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) erupted across the country in fall 2020, Damilola Odufuwa and Odunayo Eweniyi, founders of the Feminist Coalition, sprang into action.
“Drawing on their expertise in tech, they raised donations in Bitcoin to offer protesters medical assistance, legal aid and mental health support. Simultaneously, Feyikemi Abudu acted quickly, raising funds from both Nigeria and the diaspora to organize food and security arrangements for protesters on the ground.
“Abudu later joined forces with the Feminist Coalition, and the organization, comprising 13 founding members, raised more than $387,000 in two weeks. As their fight continued, the government pledged to implement police reform, but efforts to suppress dissent, including by arresting demonstrators, are ongoing—the coalition’s leaders hope their crucial role in the protests demonstrates the importance of having women in leadership.”
