Oladapo Omitogun's Blog

How well is your organization managing your clients' data? It is important to note that organizations do not only lose trust because of cyber attacks. If you fail to protect your clients’ data properly, your organization will lose trust. Today, if you can follow the commission’s site (NDPC), you will see why protecting your clients data is very important and not something you handle anyhow. Under the Nigeria Data Protection Act (NDPA) 2023, organizations are expected to make privacy part of their daily operations. They must take simple steps like:- - Collecting only necessary data. - Limiting access to sensitive information. - Training staff on confidentiality. - Handling data incidents properly. Each of these steps can greatly reduce risks. And also note Data protection is not just about compliance. It is about being accountable, ensuring responsible leadership at work, and building digital trust. As a Data Protection Officer, I believe Africa’s digital futu...

No Father or Uncle will help you o. If you have someone promising you a job, while waiting also take some proactive steps. If you are looking for a job apart from the soft skill aspect of networking finding a job is a job on its own.  If you are in Nigeria, your job search can be facilitated by using any of these digital tools and platforms. Here are four of them that's as being helpful for me: ~ LinkedIn : LinkedIn is a professional networking platform that allows you to create a profile, connect with professionals, follow companies, and search for job postings. If you are not there then you are completely missing out. A simple Google search of it can take you there. ~ Jobberman : I once joked with this one but I cannot lie when I finished updating my profile here, I have in the past received calls from some of their Hiring Managers (HRs) after tailoring my application to some of the jobs I applied for. Jobberman is one of Nigeria's leading job search websites you ...

Here they are: 1. Procrastination : This is a very common deadly practice even to me as a person. This is when you delay important tasks for the latter, this can hinder your progress. The most important thing is to DO IT NOW! 2. Lack of goals : It might be rusty and unclear sometimes but you have to write your goals down. One common practice for me is to write it on the go even with the use of my phone because not all the time I go along with my writing materials. Failing to set clear, achievable goals can lead to aimlessness. 3. Fear of failure : Not even in this economic state that you should avoid risk. You have to take a step and do what others might be scared of doing. Whether it works or not, the thing is that you have tried and you would have learned better ways to try next time. Avoiding risks can limit personal and professional growth. 4. Ignoring feedback : One practice I emulate at times is to allow other people to evaluate me in terms of my working relationship,...

Thankfully I have completed my one year fellowship of the Carrington Youth Fellowship Initiative program. I'm now officially inducted into the Carrington Fellowship Network as an Alumnus. I'm grateful for the journey so far and the great people I have met in the program. Looking forward having a continuous reflection and building long lasting partnerships and opportunities to scale my impact.

On August 3, 2023, I was celebrated for my two years of dedicated commitment to Teach for Nigeria to shaping the future of education, making a profound impact on many young minds in low-income communities, and helping them reach their full potential. The journey doesn't end here; I'm determined to continue driving positive change. Wishing myself all the best for the future ahead.

I teach in a low-income farming community called Joga Orile, a small village in the part of Yewa North Ogun state, Nigeria. When I got to this community, I realize that the community only has one public primary school among many private schools. But when checking the private schools here, the numbers of pupils are not many compare to my school but there is this challenge of limited resources to satisfy the large pool of pupils that most times can't afford to buy learning materials like notebooks, textbooks, rulers, etc. At some times in my fellowship here as a Teach For Nigeria fellow I am glad to have received support from friends and some civil society organizations to come to help curb this challenge. I know there is more work to be done and I will never stop until I drive for better innovation and policies to be designed and implemented to battle this problem. I'm almost getting to the end of my fellowship here in this community and I will like to share 5 things I lear...

The Teacher and Learner Paradox. At times the roles of teacher and learner are not always clearly defined or mutually exclusive. In many situations, the teacher is also a learner, and the learner is also a teacher. As a teacher is okay to feel pride in the subject matter we teach. But it is wrong to believe that our job is only to impart knowledge to our pupils. On one hand, a teacher is expected to have expertise in a particular subject area and to impart that knowledge to their pupils. However, in the process of teaching, the teacher often gains new insights and learns new things about the subject matter or from the learner He/She teaches.  At the start of my career as a Teach For Nigeria  fellow teaching in a public primary school. I was somehow drawn back to the opportunity of teaching in a primary class, as I wanted a secondary class, thinking the primary class will not be a challenging experience for me.  So far if I must say the experience has humbled m...

In life I believe we should be having a self-reflection and introspection on our personal growth and development. However, some questions may be challenging or uncomfortable to ask, and it's up to us as individual to decide whether or not we want to confront them. Here are some potentially difficult questions that we may want to ask ourselves: What are my biggest fears, and how are they holding me back? What are the negative patterns or habits that I need to break to achieve my goals? Am I living up to my potential, or am I settling for less than I deserve? What is my purpose in life, and how can I align my actions with my values and beliefs? What mistakes have I made in the past, and what lessons can I learn from them? Am I taking care of my physical, emotional, and mental health, or am I neglecting myself? What impact am I having on the people around me, and how can I improve my relationships? How can I challenge myself to step outside of my comfort zone and ...

One aspect of life that I never get tired of preaching about is the concept of self-love . Self-love is an essential component of a fulfilling life, and it's crucial to learn to love yourself even when others may not. When you love yourself, you're more likely to have positive relationships, make better decisions, and enjoy a sense of inner peace and contentment. It's important to remember that not everyone will appreciate or accept you for whom you are, and that's okay. People have their own beliefs, preferences, and biases that can influence how they view others. However, it's essential to focus on your own self-worth and not let the opinions of others define your sense of self. Learning to love yourself takes time and practice. It’s an everyday struggle that I myself have to deal with, especially at the start of my career and involvement with friends and strangers. It involves acknowledging your strengths and weaknesses, embracing your imperfections, and trea...

At every point in time in your career growth, there's always a need to identify or discover someone or a group of people I consider to be midfielder(s).  These people I called the midfielder(s) mostly have the influencing power to help you finish a goal you have set in motion to achieve.  They are an important element to help you in your pursuit of achieving success, sometimes they are powerful to make your career, life or purpose pursuit an easy one.  They can be found at every point of our life and work progress.  They know you and you can find them in the environment where you reside, workplace, schools and even fun places.  They can have a negative or positive impact on your personal or career progress.  Midfielders travel the greatest distance to help you achieve a goal and even support you both morally and financially. Not only do you have to set a goal but you must play it in motion because only when you start something from somewhere that the midfie...

Why I Joined Fight Against Education Inequity In Nigeria —Oladapo Omitogun, Teach For Nigeria Fellow MY INTERVIEW WITH KINGSLEY ALUMONA OF THE NIGERIAN TRIBUNE on Oct 8, 2022 Oladapo Omitogun is a digital skill professional, youth/children development specialist, Teach for Nigeria Fellow, and founder of Next Digital Talent Initiative. In this interview by KINGSLEY ALUMONA, he speaks about his passion to develop young people and to fight education inequity in the country. HOW would you describe the kind of person you are and the things you are passionate about? I am a digital skills professional with over five years of experience in developing youth and children with lifelong and digital literacy skills. I’m passionate about developing the education sector by creating 21st-century tech skills and opportunities for young people to thrive and to contribute to their immediate communities. You studied Economics and Education, How is the skills/experience of economics and educati...

I made the list for the 2021 Opportunities Hub 100 Most Influential Young People. © Opportunities Hub This is a testament to my work at Next Digital Talent and the drive to always do more! It's an honour to be listed among other great change makers touching lives positively. © Opportunities Hub I was nominated, after months of consideration, in the end, the selection came out approved.  I dedicate this award to every young people driving change in the world, for not looking at the status quo, and still upholding their values and driving resilience. You can find the announcement here: https://opportunitieshub.org/2022/09/14/100-most-influential-young-africans-2020-list-announced/

On the 16th of August, 2022, It was official, as I was inducted into Carrington Fellowship . Source: Carrington fellowship  Carrington Fellowship (CYFI) is a dynamic youth-based initiative launched in 2011 by the U.S Consulate Lagos and named after former Ambassador to Nigeria, Walter Carrington . CYFI brings together Nigerian youth of exceptional vision and experience to design and implement projects that will have a positive impact in Nigeria.  I first got to know about CYFI during the year 2019. Made some research about it and I discovered the incredible programs and opportunities the fellowship provides with stories from amazing past fellows like Hammed Kayode Alabi, Oluwatosin Taiwo, Obasanjo Fajemirokun and I got to learn the story of Project Enable Africa a CYFI incubated idea that's is doing very well, a project that's initiated by the team fellows of Olusola Owonikoko who is now the president of the Carrington Fellowship Alumni Network. I applied for the...

There's nothing like a poor school but a mediocre mind. I will like to share a story here to depict what I am saying... Before attending my first degree. I was a novice knowing the tertiary institution that are available and choosing the one that was best for me. When I got to fill out my first and my final JAMB form, the school being selected was filled in for me by a family friend. I have already gotten admitted before I realised most students that got admitted into my school didn't like the school, some were there either because they have stayed at home for so long and they can't wait any longer than to get ahead in their academic pursuit. © Oladapo Omitogun  It was after finishing school that I came to realise that there is nothing like a poor or better school. It is left to you to figure out yourself and no school will promise you the assurance of success. If we research vividly no school doesn't have any past students that are not doing amazingly well ...

How I wish we could digitalize the whole of Africa within the twinkle of an eye... In the year 2015 as a fresh graduate, all I could think of is seeing myself getting into a white-collar job, earning money and in no time getting married. I was energized and couldn't wait to finish my national service and start reaping the benefit of going to school.  It came to dawn on me before I realised I was just looking at the future instead of being conscious of the present.  On April 14th, 2016 I concluded my compulsory national youth service program, it was even 3 weeks before the end of my service year I got a test invitation at KPMG Nigeria one of the Big 4 accounting firms. I had a sad encounter since I was new in the job market space thinking it would be easy. Just that first job test I failed I was unhappy and frustrated. I thought I would never get a job again.  Two months after my passing out parade, I had the opportunity to be digitally aware and I noticed the ...

Being a self-starter can sometimes be a prerequisite to obtaining the unexpected. Hello great people, do you still remember my recent post about the just concluded "Project Evolve" I did for the final pupils in my school... The project has now given birth to a PROJECTOR o.  With this I believe will ensure a comfortable viewing experience, for the students to learn and take better notes.  Now I can get more entertaining ways to teach and get my lesson objectives and facts across to the learners. Kudos to the school management for acknowledging my efforts and for making this happen.

Being Digitally Literate Helped My Life And Those Around Me... I graduated from the premier university of education in Nigeria, gained double honours (Bachelor of Science degree and Bachelor of Education Degree in Economics).  I thought it was going be a smooth ride getting a job immediately after my National Service.  Oh well! it was not as easy as I think.  Though during the early days of my career journey, I have not been having problems getting job invites and interviews, but the headache is that I failed at most of the job aptitude test invitation I received.  I hated practicing those GMAT, GRE, SHL that was needed to secure my entry to the next stage of the job interview. When I was getting tired of my failures I took another direction to set my path to secure my first job.  It was during the 2015s, The need for Digital Skills started booming around in Lagos, Nigeria.  I was opportune to attend my first digital skill awareness session dur...

To me, I only see two possibilities in life. Either you allow life to knock you down and sleep at it or Life knocks you down and you get back up and try new ways and face life heads on, no matter the number of times you fall back down. I have made some silly mistakes in the past, YES 'silly' and to tell you the mistakes haven't stopped, but I have learnt from some and made some changes, but before you know it another mistake will erupt and sometimes I feel stupid not just I love making mistakes but we should know that as human we are never bound from making mistakes.  We must build up the strength to face our challenges and accept the repercussions that come after any decision we make. So in essence we build up the capacity to move up and on and we do proper contemplation or self-awareness to do what's right for us, in respect of what other people, friend, family or co-worker is doing or might say. At some point in my life, I have felt down seeing other peop...

My perspective about life is not about doing everything by myself but there are times I cultivate the habit of thinking independently instead of hiding behind what I have learnt from society. Staying true to myself and still stay strong even when I'm faced with disappointments or any immoral situation. I choose to embrace my individuality and strive bravely toward my goals. Even when family, friends and society disappoint, I choose to fight and face every challenge life throws at me. I always keep in mind that not all will understand how I feel, where I'm going and why I do what I do. I choose to be self-reliant because they will be times when there's no help available. I learn to live independently and be happy by myself, in myself, and about myself without needing to rely on others. I chose to be self-reliant!