Two Nigerians, Chief Executive Officer, Teach For Nigeria, Folawe Omikunle, and Founder, Comic Republic, Jide Martin, have been named as the top 10 finalists for the new Africa Education Medal.
Africa Education Medal was launched this year by T4 Education in collaboration with HP and Intel.
Omikunle and Martin joined eight other outstanding individuals from across Africa including former President of Tanzania and Chair of the Board of Directors of the Global Partnership for Education, Jakaya Kikwete.
The Africa Education Medal was founded to recognise the tireless work of those who are transforming education across the continent.
The statement described Omikunle as one of the most prominent and influential educators in Nigeria.
It said, ‘‘Her non-profit organisation works to tackle educational inequities by recruiting university graduates and working professionals from diverse backgrounds to serve as full-time teacher leaders in Nigeria’s most under-served schools.’’
‘‘Martin is the Founder and CEO of Comic Republic, Africa’s largest publisher of independent comic books and the continent’s first digital comic book company. He is an illustrator, designer, producer, and entrepreneur with a passion for shaping Africa’s narrative through art and he utilises the power of comics to tell compelling African stories to Africans and to the rest of the world.’’
Managing Director at HP Africa, Brad Pulford, said, “Congratulations to Folawe Omikunle and Jide Martin on being named top 10 finalists for the Africa Education Medal. In honouring their tireless work to improve education, I hope many others will be inspired to follow their outstanding examples as leaders in the field.
“HP has been committed to enabling better learning outcomes for 100 million people by 2025. Achieving this bold goal wouldn’t be possible without empowered education leaders and trailblazers who are at the forefront of the rapidly changing education environment.’’
