With each year, it becomes clearer to the editorial board at YNaija, the premium our annual New Establishment list places on the work of young emerging players in diverse field within Nigeria.

Providing that first wave of recognition for the work that the men and women of our annual lists do in the communities is important for their growth and for our commitment to support innovation, courage and personal excellence.

Many of the alumni of our lists have gone on to do fantastic things, proving yet again, that our lists sieve through the morass of activity and nepotism that clog our creative industries and highlights the hidden gems within.

This year’s list is no different; from multi-disciplinary artists securing prestigious placements, self-taught developers founding some of the web’s most celebrated platforms, entrepreneurs breaking barriers on social entrepreneurship and activists galvanising the globe into action, the New Establishment class 2019 has proven they have the mettle to take on the world.

Entertainment, Culture, Technology, Advocacy, Media, Politics, Enterprise, Fashion

MEDIA

Lolo Cynthia Ihesie (Founder, Lolo Talks)

If you’re an active social media user, the odds are you have come across one of Cynthia Ihesie’s viral interviews. A controversial figure in online spaces for her refusal to be cowed about her values or the causes she is partial to, Lolo Cynthia as she is known on the internet uses ‘Lolo Talks’, her television show to tackle pressing societal issues, often with controversial guests and viewpoints that excite, alarm and force uncomfortable conversations. Ihesie has spent the last four years building her portfolio as a public health specialist and sexuality educator, creating awareness on sexual health and destigmatizing sexually transmitted illnesses like HIV and Herpes.

Asides from Lolo Talks, Ihesie also created one of the country’s most comprehensive sexual education curriculums, circumventing the cultural and religious biases which often renders traditional sex education classes in Nigeria useless to the young adults who need it. She has taught ‘My Body Is Mine’.to over 700 students across the country and continues to reach more young people. With half a million views on her Youtube channel, millions of impressions on her social media pages and near constant buzz around the causes she champions, Lolo Cynthia is changing how we approach activism.

Dimma Umeh (new media)

Youtube Influencers, especially in emerging markets like Africa walk the tightrope of maintaining an affect that is pleasing to their audiences and convincing international and local brands to pay them to access this influence. While the industry here is growing in viewership, a commensurate growth in revenue has not quite happened, stifled as it is by a disconnect between Youtube influencers and the advertising and PR brands that are supposed to connect them. This is where Dimma Umeh shines.

As one of Nigeria’s first Youtubers to cross the elusive 100,000 subscriber milestone, Ms. Umeh has used her platform as a beauty and lifestyle influencer to promote made in Nigeria beauty and lifestyle brands.

After a hiatus in 2017, Ms. Umeh returned to Youtube with a new mantra. She came to speak her truth as serve as a spokesperson for Nigerian Youtubers who have struggled with several challenges and have been afraid to speak up for fear of financial or social ostracization by partner brands. Since she returned Ms. Umeh has spoken against the marginalization of content creators by Nigerian PR brands, spoken about piracy and plagiarism within the industry and used her platform to promote other Youtubers. Recently Ms. Umeh was invited to participate in the 2019 Nigerian presidential debate in recognition of her position as a thought leader in the digital media space.

Who says speaking your mind doesn’t come with its own benefits?

Awazi Angbalaga (Soundcity Fm)

Awazi Angblaga always wanted to do radio. As a person not from one of Nigeria’s three major tribes, there was a constant erasure of her identity as a person from a minority ethnic, erasure of her identity as a woman and erasure of her voice as a person who understands mental illness. Radio provided her a platform where she could reassert all these aspects of her identity while encouraging others to do the same. When she was presented with an opportunity to get into presenting in 2016, she embraced it, taking on the mononym ‘Awazi’ and throwing herself into her gig, ‘The Home Run’ on the newly minted Soundcity Radio’s Drive Time Show. Harnessing the internet, Awazi is able to extend her reach far beyond Lagos, connecting with fans on social media and sharing her story to her audience online and offline.

Awazi’s activism has come to define her brand and set her apart from presenters currently working on radio today. She is not hesitant to speak on women’s issues for fear of being disliked. She shares relevant information about resources for disadvantaged women and people who struggle with mental illness and is a strong advocate for body positivity no matter your gender. Awazi’s show is well listened to, and thanks to her work, Soundcity’s drivetime show ranks 6^th on a list of 30 active stations working in the city today.

Victor Ekwealor (technology/media)

It is paradoxical that Nigeria, a country with a rapidly growing tech industry has a severe dearth of trusted publications who cover this expansion. Even rarer is a publication with enough integrity that their reporting on events related to Nigerian tech is respected and referenced in necessary conversations. Victor Ekwealor is determined to make Techpoint.NG one of the few Nigerian tech magazines regarded in this way.

As the managing editor of Techpoint, Ekwealor helped take techpoint out of the editorial room and into the heart of the growing tech revolution, organizing offline events like the Techpoint Build events, the Techpoint Innovation Tours. In recognition of his work covering the financial industries markets, he was nominated for the PricewaterCooper (PwC) Media Excellence Awards for his reporting on Capital Markets and was awarded the PwC Media Excellence Awards for Business Reporting. Ekwealor’s dedication to properly covering the tech space and providing an unbiased perspective into the often obscured inner-workings of the country’s growing tech industry has made him an industry leader and certainly one to watch in the coming years.

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