An Interview with Arinze Obiezue, a Young Pan-African Leader From Nigeria on the Advantages of Education.
Isachamp team recently interviewed Arinze Obiezue, a young African leader from Nigeria who continues to impact young people across his country and the continent through the various initiatives he has created and co-founded. In this interview, Arinze shares with us where he’s at in his career journey, how education has influenced his current position career-wise and what education means for the future of Africa.
Please introduce yourself. What are your passions and long term interests?
I am a Product Content Strategist at Facebook and an incoming MBA candidate at Stanford Graduate School of Business. I recently graduated as valedictorian of my class at the African Leadership University (ALU) with a first-class honours degree in Business Management. During my time at ALU, I interned across five industries in Africa, Europe, and North America which shaped my global perspective and sharpened my multidisciplinary competencies. I am deeply interested in technology and its impact on business, society, and the global economy. I am also passionate about creating spaces for the African LGBTQ+ community to thrive.
That’s great! Could you please tell us about the impact you’ve made within your community. What ventures have you started and why?
As I’ve said earlier on, I currently work at Facebook London. I also co-founded EarlyAdmit to help students from underrepresented minority backgrounds gain admission to some of the most elite MBA programmes in the world. In addition, co-founded Designish to create a community of Africans in the digital product design ecosystem.
Awesome! Sounds like you’ve got so much on your plate at this time. Please tell us if your educational experience had an impact on you getting the role you currently have at Facebook? How?
The education I got at ALU prepared me for my current role by inculcating in me effective ways of learning and thinking. My current role at Facebook is a design role and is in stark antithesis to my major at ALU ie. business. However, by learning how to learn at ALU, I’ve been able to apply that to my current role by quickly learning new skills and adapting effectively to new ways of working in unfamiliar industries.
Interesting. On Education, what would you say has been the impact of education in your entrepreneurial/career journey so far? (E.g., connection, skills acquisition, job, partnerships, funding for your venture, etc).
My education has been pivotal in shaping my perspectives and how I experience and interpret the world. The pan-African experience I had at my school expanded my thinking and broadened my understanding of global affairs. Bringing this perspective into my career, I’m able to think more systematically about companies, industries, and markets than most of my peers. The people I connected with while in school have also become part of the circle of people who encourage and coach me throughout my career. These connections have been instrumental in shaping my career to what it is now.
In a more general sense, what role does education play in achieving economic progress for the African continent? How can we create more access to education for people that are economically marginalized?
Education is the key to turning around the current state of the economy on the continent. Considering the population growth estimates for the Continent within the next few decades, an educated population will allow for greater net productivity while an uneducated population will be a dire liability to our collective economies. Education allows us to create a pool of employable people who, by getting or creating jobs, will be able to lift themselves and their families out of poverty. However, the purpose of education is not just for the purpose of finding employment. It’s also for the purpose of elevating the mind. Hence, education will allow us to further develop a thinking population that will be less susceptible to manipulations by corrupt institutions. This thinking population will also allow for a boost in creative and scientific exploits. Collectively, these exploits will help push the continent forward socially, culturally, technologically, and economically.
The easiest way to provide education to people who are economically marginalised is to design creative ways to deliver education to such people for free. Education, up until the end of secondary school, should be free for every citizen. This will allow people to have the basic education they need to be able to navigate an increasingly modern society.
To find out more about Arinze and his work, you can follow him on Twitter and Instagram @heyarinze on both platforms.
