TEDxOAU

Speakers

Speakers may not be confirmed. Check the event website for the latest lineup.

• Ajongolo Oluwafemi

  Public Speaking Expert

  Ajongolo Oluwafemi is a lawyer with diverse interests and an accomplished public speaker and orator. He has earned several laurels at national, continental, and global levels across various styles of debate competitions, corporate pitches, presentations, speech contests, and case study challenges. His expertise extends beyond performance, with notable adjudication experience at both secondary and tertiary levels, earning glowing commendations from observers. Oluwafemi has also played key roles in organizing debate competitions and training leading public speakers who continue to dominate major stages. He currently pursues this mission as Founder and Lead Coach at Acme Consultancy Co. Outside work, he enjoys reading, writing, photography, and introspective reflection.

• Chiaka Unegbu

  Educator

  Meet Chiaka, a passionate growth strategist who genuinely loves seeing people and ideas flourish. She believes that the secret to building any successful career or company isn't complicated; it's simply mastering how things grow, by using smart data and technology. She is profoundly passionate about education and sees every challenge as a chance to make a positive impact in the world. Chiaka is the co-founder of @oneadviceworld, a vibrant global platform dedicated to sharing inspiring advice from around the globe. Her leadership skills shine brightly: she recently served as the Program Manager for the Let There Be Teachers conference, which earned a Guinness World Record. When she's not empowering the next generation as a mentor with Teach For Nigeria, she finds joy in expressing her creativity by painting and cherishing time with her family.

• Datari Ladejo

  CEO of Fernhill Digital

  Datari Ladejo is a multi-jurisdictional lawyer and leading digital strategist with over 18 years of entrepreneurial experience. She is the CEO of Fernhill Digital, where she helps organisations, brands, and entrepreneurs articulate their vision, strengthen public image, and drive measurable impact. Known for merging strategic clarity with creativity, she has advised both established institutions and high-growth ventures across diverse industries. She is also the Founder of Digital Women Africa (DWA), a pan-African initiative dedicated to equipping African women with digital skills, resources, and community support to thrive in today’s economy. Through DWA and her broader advocacy, she champions inclusion, empowerment, and digital literacy as drivers of transformation. Her insights have been featured in Forbes, BusinessDay, and The Guardian. A Member and Leader of the Women Executives Group in the Forbes Agency Council, Datari brings expertise and global recognition to her work.

• Olalekan Temidayo

  Startup Advisor | Tech-Lawyer | Business Development Consultant

  Temidayo is a multidisciplinary professional at the intersection of law, technology, and business growth. With expertise in legal advisory, brand marketing, and startup strategy, he supports ambitious founders and regulated businesses across Africa and beyond to build scalable, compliant, investor-ready ventures. As CEO of Octo Dsgn, he leads a strategy-driven agency that has helped over 40 businesses in Nigeria, the UK, USA, and Qatar launch and scale through clarity-first branding and compelling go-to-market positioning. He is also a Legal Consultant at RegCompass, providing regulatory compliance and documentation strategies for digital and fintech startups. Temidayo’s rare blend of legal precision, technical fluency, and strategic creativity makes him a valuable partner to founders.

• Oluwatomiwa Oladimeji

  Global HR

  Oluwatomiwa Esther Oladimeji, fondly called “Global HR,” is a certified HR professional and career strategist passionate about early career development. She holds a degree in History and International Relations from the University of Ilorin, an MBA from Tekedia Institute, Boston, USA, and is currently pursuing an International MBA from Rome Business School. With experience managing diverse teams across multiple countries, she is known for redefining talent development in today’s evolving workplace. She oversees people management across five countries and co-founded HireNow, an HR tech startup. She also leads the HR Trailblazer Community and Global HR Consult. A UN Women UK Delegate at #CSW68, she advocates for workplace inclusion and gender equity.

• Otitonijesu David

  Music Licensing and Publishing Associate at Mavin Records

  Otitonijesu David “JT” works at the intersection of music, culture, and commerce, shaping how some of Africa’s most streamed records move through the world. As a Music Licensing and Publishing Associate at Mavin Records, she oversees the business behind the music—clearing records, structuring publishing, and crafting sync strategy for a roster defining contemporary Afrobeats. She negotiates rights, collaborates with international publishers, and ensures African creators sit at global tables. With a legal background that strengthens her deal-making, she turns creative output into long-term value. Across panels and creative summits, JT represents a new wave of African music executives fluent in both artistry and business.

• Praise Akinyemi

  Economics undergraduate

  Praise Akinyemi is an Economics undergraduate at Obafemi Awolowo University, where she discovered not only a fascination with numbers and systems but also a deeper awareness of the inequalities that shape lives. This path eventually led her to earn a BSc in Accounting from Oxford Brookes University, which she obtained in the course of her ongoing ACCA qualification, an achievement that reflects her belief in education as both a personal commitment to excellence and a tool for building better societies. Beyond the classroom and books, what drives Praise most is her love for God. This is what drives her commitment to humanity and her conviction that we owe one another compassion. She is passionate about Africa’s future and believes that overcoming poverty is not a matter of charity, but a shared responsibility, an act of justice that demands empathy, courage, and collective effort. At TEDxOAU, Praise hopes to remind her audience that we each hold a part of the solution in our hands.

• Shalom Ìbírónkẹ́

  Scholar| Writer | Activist

  Shalom Ìbírónkẹ́ is a Nigerian theatre scholar, writer, and activist whose work explores performance, cultural identity, and social justice. His PhD from Redeemer’s University examined how the creative industry can challenge exclusionary worldviews and reshape beliefs around disability in Nigeria. His advocacy extends to disability rights, religious freedom, anti-corruption, and inclusive citizenship, grounded in years of leadership from student union positions to serving as President of the Anti-Corruption Corps during NYSC. His plays, Eni Orisa and Disability Monologues, merge theatre with activism. Now lecturing at Bowen University, his proudest achievement is guiding an entire graduating class to a 100% success rate.

• Tim Ojo-Ibukun

  Graduate Intern, The Building Practice

  Tim Ojo-Ibukun is a postgraduate architecture student at Obafemi Awolowo University and a graduate intern at The Building Practice, Lagos. A socially conscious and detail-oriented designer, he earned 4th place at the 2025 AD 3030 Vision Design Competition. His research on architectural identity, heritage, and urbanism has been published in academic conference proceedings and in The Republic Journal. Passionate about SDG 4 and 11, he founded Initiate 4, promoting access to tertiary education for over 200 students, and led a book drive that benefited more than 250 students. He also founded Tim Talks, an initiative that reached thousands of young people during the pandemic.