>> Why I am interested in girl-child education – Zuriel

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ZJohn Chuks Azu uriel Oduwole, a girl child education advocate says she embarked on the campaign to ensure equal empowerment for female children in the society.

“I like to encourage young girls to go to school and to remain there to get an education to accomplish their dreams,” she said.

At 13, Zuriel is already living her dream as a film-maker and child ambassador. She has produced four documentaries on Africa, interviewed 14 heads of state, and spoken to 23,000 girls around the world.

Recently the Tanzanian High Commissioner to Nigeria, Daniel Ole Njoolay honoured Zuriel in Abuja by decorating her with a Masai bead and other gifts such as Tanzanian coffee and CDs of Tanzanian National Park.

“Zuriel is a wonderful Nigerian girl. She is already an ambassador for WAMMAwhich in Swahili is about Women in Development. And I think in the next 30 years she will be the UN Secretary General,” he said.

With her pet project: ‘Dream Up, Speak Up, and Stand Up’, she is resolved to reach out to more girls in Africa by visiting schools and local authorities.

For her efforts, she has been featured on Forbes, CNN, Business Insider and other international media platforms, and made speeches at several international fora.

Zuriel, who was home-schooled in a Californian online system, is already in high school.

Born in Carlifornia, United States to a Nigerian father and Mauritian motherwho have three other children, Zuriel styles herself as ‘a panAfrican child’.

Her father Ademola, a tourism worker who A helps in much of the work being done by Zuriel and her mother, Patricia, a computer engineer, are both supportive of their four children.