#TFAASpotlight: 10 ways equal rights activist, Olumide Makanjuola, inspires us all

Talk human rights, talk equal rights, talk LGBT rights, and add Olumide Makanjuola to the equation. We all knew him with The Initiative for Equal Rights (TIERS), until he left in 2018. He is now the Director of Programs, Initiative Sankofa d’Afrique de l’Ouest (ISDAO) – a new West African Philanthropic fund working to ensure a just and inclusive West Africa free from violence and discrimination.

Now to the gist:

1. Olumide’s fight for women and LGBTI rights started in 2005 and has one goal - to change the mindset of Nigerians concerning sexual and human rights.
2. He is a sexual health and rights advocate with almost a decade of experience in human rights advocacy and programming,
3. He has extensive experience in organisation management, project design, fundraising, and advocacy.
4. Olumide is engaged in national, regional and international level conversation and advocacy on sexual health and right and its relation to broader human rights work.
5. He was nominated for The Future Awards Africa Best Use of Advocacy in 2012.
6. he was honoured in 2016 by Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II and has become an indispensable champion for minority rights in Nigeria.
7. He insists: “We have to project alternatives because we can’t all be one thing. So we can do this through plays, books, storytelling. We have to create diverse things that show how people can be and let them make an informed decision.“
8. Olumide is the Executive Vice Chairman, The Future Project.
9. He is on the board of The Equality Hub – A Non-profit Organisation with a vision to build a society where female sexual minorities have equal rights, live freely without discrimination and have equal access to socio- economic opportunities.
10. He once said, “the urge was to resist injustice, so it wasn’t injustice that was experienced by LGTBQ persons, but everyone. I would generally flip at anything that abuses children. But I took a particular interest in LGTBQ and minority rights because it was something that a lot of people did not want to discuss, something a lot of people didn’t see as part of human rights.”

Olumide Makanjuola is the future!