The Year of Enioluwa: From Instagram to the European Union

Enioluwa Adeoluwa has a big announcement: today, he assumes a new position as European Union-Africa Ambassador. 

The beauty, fashion, and skincare influencer in this ope-ed on BellaNaija, shared the news big news. He also highlighted some of the young individuals who are “spurring (him) to greater heights” in the piece he titled “So Maybe We Can Change the World: A Gen Z Manifesto of Some Sorts.”

Read through:

I’m making a new announcement today. The news has completely changed my life, and until writing this, it didn’t feel real. Today, I’ll be resuming, officially, as European Union-Africa Ambassador.

Sometimes, I get anxious when I have to make a new announcement – is it the perfect day? Is this legit? Will people respond to it positively? Will I fail at it? As I’ve spent the last week prepping for this announcement, these questions have been lurking in my mind, waiting for answers. Those who have been my friends know that I’ve always been this way – before internet fame, before influencing, before Eni became the kind of name that it is today. I don’t even have answers to my ponderings; I’m just hopeful.

At the beginning of the year, I had hoped that the year would be a good one. I had prayed, made plans, and written down goals. Everything they tell people to do in line with their goals, I did. And then I watched every single thing fall in line for me, right from the first day.

I haven’t gotten here alone. I have been helped; friends have surrounded me with kindness, my family continues to show up for me, and I am loved. 

I’m hopeful about the outcome of this appointment and my life because I’m surrounded by people who are constantly spurring me to great heights. People like Korty with her out-of-this-world storytelling skills, Fave and Rema who are taking over the world with their music, Rodney whose Tiktoks are unmatched, Rachel Seidu whose photographs can’t be described with words, Logan February whose poetry tastes like honey, Vincent Desmond who has been published everywhere that matters, Emmanuel Njoku who is pioneering the next level of finance at Lazerpay, my friends at The Geng who are creating some of the most mind blowing content (and making it look so easy), and so many other people I couldn’t mention. All of these people, young Nigerians under 25, are doing/have done absolutely incredible things in Nigeria, and not without the usual challenges –  a crippling economy, a global pandemic, inadequate health structures, police brutality, erratic power supply, and little to no government support. 

It’s why I’m very impatient about online GenZ slander. We’re not lazy, we are not demanding to be cuddled. We, like you, just want better. We want a country that’s not after our lives. We want to get on with our lives, get on with our goals, create things that outlive us, and without the constraints that come with being Nigerian. Not sorry that we’re doing it a different way than you imagined. 

This reminds me, many of my colleagues in Nigerian public universities have been at home for almost a year now because the  Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) is on strike. The dollar-naira exchange rate is at an all-time high. The inflation rate keeps rising every month. Every week on Twitter, there’s at least 1 person who is putting out a call for a friend/relative who has been kidnapped. 

Right now, our fates are partially sealed. It’s just about 144 days to the Presidential and National Assembly elections; All political parties have conducted their primaries and have their flag-bearing candidates, and the electoral body, INEC, has closed voter registration for this election cycle. Those of us who have our Permanent Voters Cards now have the urgent responsibility of ensuring that things don’t get worse in the next 4 years – that we come out, all of us, to us; that we vote with our conscience; and that we vote for the right leader. There’s nothing I consider more urgent. And we have the power. We sent a message in 2020 with the global #EndSARS protests. Now is the time to make that concrete.

Talking about power, nothing is more humbling than the amount of influence that this position comes with, and that the institution is willing to bestow. I can’t promise that I won’t respond to emails with ‘purr’ or ‘and that’s that on period’, but I can promise that I’ll do everything within my power to ensure that I use this role for good. My commitment at the EU is to education and economic growth, but I’ll be advocating for all my causes – women’s empowerment, diversity, and anti-discrimination. I hope that somehow, I can do my bit in changing the world. And I hope you do so too.

It’s only befitting that I end this with words from my queen, Beyoncé. It’s a quote from her Commencement Speech to the class of 2020. In it, she says:

Lead with heart. There are so many different ways to be brilliant. Don’t let the world make you feel like you have to look a certain way to be brilliant. If you’re part of a group that’s called ‘other’, a group that does not get the chance to be center stage, build your own stage and let them see you. I hope you continue to go into the world and show them that you will never stop being yourself, that it’s your time now.

It’s my hope for myself, and it’s my hope for you too.

And that’s on period!