Yemi Adamolekun is

executive director Executive director is commonly the title of the chief executive officer of a non-profit organization, government agency or international organization. The title is widely used in North American and European not-for-profit organizations, though ...

of Enough is Enough. She campaigns for better

governance Governance is the process of interactions through the laws, social norm, norms, power (social and political), power or language of an organized society over a social system (family, tribe, formal organization, formal or informal organization, a ...

in Nigeria and is also a senior associate in the

Center for Strategic and International Studies The Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) is an American think tank based in Washington, D.C. CSIS was founded as the Center for Strategic and International Studies of Georgetown University in 1962. The center conducts polic ...

. She participates in political discussions and was awarded a

Global Citizen Prize The Global Citizen Prize is an awards show organized by Global Citizen (formerly known as the Global Poverty Project), aimed at celebrating activists and leaders around the world. It began in September 2016 with the George Harrison Global Citizen A ...

in 2022.

Early life

Adamolekun grew up on the campus of

Obafemi Awolowo University Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU) is a federal government-owned university that is located in the ancient city of Ile-Ife, Osun State, Nigeria. The university was founded in 1961 and classes commenced in October 1962 as the University of Ife ...

Ifẹ Ifẹ̀ ( yo, Ifẹ̀, also ''Ilé-Ifẹ̀'') is an ancient Yoruba city in south-western Nigeria. The city is located in present-day Osun State. Ife is about 218 kilometers northeast of Lagos with a population of over 500,000 people, which is t ...

in Nigeria and started her education at the

University of Lagos The University of Lagos, popularly known as UNILAG, is a public research university located in Lagos, Nigeria and was founded in 1962. UNILAG is one of the first generation universities in Nigeria and is ranked among the top universities in th ...

. She then studied at the

University of Virginia The University of Virginia (UVA) is a Public university#United States, public research university in Charlottesville, Virginia. Founded in 1819 by Thomas Jefferson, the university is ranked among the top academic institutions in the United S ...

and pursued postgraduate qualifications at the

London School of Economics , mottoeng = To understand the causes of things , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £240.8 million (2021) , budget = £391.1 millio ...

and the

Saïd Business School Saïd Business School (Oxford Saïd or SBS) is the business school of the University of Oxford. The School is a provider of management education and is consistently ranked as one of the world's top business schools. Oxford School of Management ...

, at the

University of Oxford , mottoeng = The Lord is my light , established = , endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019) , budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20) , chancellor ...

Career

Adamolekun began her career working at

Navigant Consulting Navigant Consulting, Inc. was an American management consultancy firm. It had offices in Asia, Europe and North America; the head office was in Chicago, Illinois. The stock was a component of the S&P 600 index. Navigant was acquired by Guidehous ...

in the US, then returned to Nigeria to work at Alder Consulting. She became executive director of

Enough is Enough (Nigeria) Enough is Enough is a coalition of Nigerian youth advocacy groups to promote better governance and political accountability in the country. Based in Lagos and Abuja, it has organized concerts, petitions, protests and workshops to call attention to ...

, which

campaigns Campaign or The Campaign may refer to: Types of campaigns * Campaign, in agriculture, the period during which sugar beets are harvested and processed *Advertising campaign, a series of advertisement messages that share a single idea and theme *Bl ...

for better governance. The organisation co-ordinates different groups and broadcasts radio shows in 25 states. It supports local initiatives, for example working against violence in

Katsina Katsina, likely from "Tamashek" eaning son or bloodor mazza enwith "inna" otheris a Local Government Area and the capital city of Katsina State, in northern Nigeria.

, reopening a healthcare centre in

Osun State Osun State (; yo, Ìpínlẹ̀ Ọ̀ṣun), occasionally known as the State of Osun by the state government, is a state in southwestern Nigeria; bounded to the east by Ekiti and Ondo states, to the north by Kwara State, to the south by Ogun S ...

and helping to repair the roofs of schools in

Niger State Niger is a state in the North Central region of Nigeria and the largest state in the country. Niger state has three political zones, zone A,B and C. The state's capital is at Minna. Other major cities are Bida, Kontagora and Suleja. It was fo ...

. Adamolekun commented to ''

AllAfrica AllAfrica is a website that aggregates news produced primarily on the African continent about all areas of African life, politics, issues and culture. It is available in both English and French and produced by AllAfrica Global Media, which has of ...

'': "part of why Nigeria is unpeaceful is huge amounts of poverty: people fighting over scarce resources, insecurity, distrust – people desperate to survive". During the elections, Enough is Enough began its "RSVP" campaign, encouraging people to Register, Select, Vote and Protect. It also demanded more transparency in the

National Assembly In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the repre ...

and participated in the "BringBackOurGirls" movement following the

Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping On the night of 14–15 April 2014, 276 mostly Christianity, Christian female students aged from 16 to 18 were kidnapped by the Islamic terrorism, Islamic terrorist group Boko Haram from the Government Girls Secondary School at the town of Chi ...

. Adamolekun is also a senior associate in the

Other events

In 2018, Adamolekun's name appeared on the list of Most Influential People of African

Descent Descent may refer to: As a noun Genealogy and inheritance * Common descent, concept in evolutionary biology * Kinship, one of the major concepts of cultural anthropology **Pedigree chart or family tree **Ancestry **Lineal descendant **Heritage (d ...

(MIPAD). Also in 2018, she criticised President

Muhammadu Buhari Muhammadu Buhari (born 17 December 1942) is a Nigerian politician and current president of Nigeria since 2015. Buhari is a retired Nigerian Army major general who served as the country's military head of state from 31 December 1983 to 27 Au ...

for going abroad to seek medical treatment for him and his son, whilst healthcare professionals in Nigeria were on strike for better working conditions. Alongside Israel Aye, Ndidi and Yemi Osinaike, Adamolekun was on a panel which asked political candidates questions in the Lagos

Gubernatorial A governor is an politician, administrative leader and head of a polity or Region#Political_regions, political region, ranking under the Head of State, head of state and in some cases, such as governor-general, governors-general, as the head of ...

debate before the

2019 Nigerian general election General elections were held in Nigeria on 23 February 2019 to elect the President, Vice President, House of Representatives and the Senate. The elections had initially been scheduled for 16 February, but the Electoral Commission postponed the ...

. She then became a spokesperson for the Not in My Church movement, when Pastor Biodun Fatoyinbo returned to the Common Wealth of Zion Assembly church a month after leaving it in the wake of underage rape allegations. In November 2019, she attended a demonstration in support of

Omoyele Sowore Omoyele "Yele" Sowore (born 16 February 1971) is a Nigerian human rights activist and pro-democracy campaigner, known for founding the online news agency Sahara Reporters. In August 2018, he founded the African Action Congress party and ran as ...

Abuja Abuja () is the capital and eighth most populous city of Nigeria. Situated at the centre of the country within the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), it is a planned city built mainly in the 1980s based on a master plan by International Plann ...

and alleged that members of the State Security Service had attacked her and broken her mobile telephone whilst she was recording two journalists being beaten up. She had pledged to attend every court hearing of Sowore. In December 2019, Sowore was released and arrested again the next day, and Adamolekun was at another demonstration which was attacked by unknown people. In 2022, she was awarded a

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Adamolekun, Yemi Year of birth missing (living people) Alumni of Saïd Business School Alumni of the London School of Economics Nigerian women business executives Nigerian women activists University of Lagos alumni University of Virginia alumni Living people Yoruba women activists Yoruba activists Nigerian nonprofit businesspeople Yoruba women in business Yoruba businesspeople Nigerian human rights activists