By Makutu Manneh
Hailed from Ogun State in the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Bukonla Adebakin recollected that her love for media work at an early age made her become a successful woman.
Currently serving as the Project Head of the Future Project, Adebakin manages several programs and initiatives for their organization. The business executive said she was inspired by her love for media work which propelled her to the current position.
From the outset, Adebakin was certain of her being a media personality despite her oblivion about the profession then. But while going to school, interest in voluntary services started to entice her.
Unlike her peers, Adebakin looked for opportunities that could help her obtain experience before accomplishing her secondary school certificate.
“I was consistently paying attention to the trends and I also did a few internships to gain experience so that when I am out of school, I would have got some form of experience,” she said.
The radio became Adebakin’s most reliable source of getting information, as she remembered devoting much of her leisure time listening to different segments of radio programs. In her young and energetic mind, she began narrowing down what her interests were and how she wanted to achieve them.
“One of the things that stood out for me was social impacting apart from the media. I was interested in young people,” she said.
These ideas evolved in her and boosted her attention to engage in youth activities. She began with research on issues affecting youth development, especially social problems affecting youth progression. She recalled working in some youth groups including The Future Project Company.
Adebakin felt that she was progressing in the right direction because she was young and did not want to be involved in anything dubious. Her connection with The Future Project enabled her to see other young people turning their dreams into reality.
She expressed that this gave her a new dimension in life; being fulfilled, creating suitability solutions, and ensuring that work was key for her.
Adebakin, a resident of Lagos and a graduate of Science and Technology from the University of Lagos, said she did not just stop at improving herself but she instead used the media to share her work through storytelling and emotionally connecting people through persuasive means, especially supporting young people in various ways.
“The Future Project has a simple mandate which is to empower citizens through enterprise and acting citizenship and the future project has been doing this through building networks to empower citizens and transform the system and societies through leadership and enterprise. One of the things we believe strongly is, when a young person is empowered first, they can be anything,” she said in an interview.
When the coronavirus pandemic struck the world, affecting a whole lot of businesses, she created a technology platform aimed at connecting people in dire need of help with those who are willing to give help to defeat the deadly virus.
“We help small business enterprises to push their products and we also reach out to our networks to continue building strong confidence despite the COVID-19 impact,” She said.
