In the spirit of ideas worth spreading, TEDx is a program of local, self-organized events that bring people together to share a TED-like experience. At a TEDx event, TEDTalks video and live speakers combine to spark deep discussion and connection in a small group. These local, self-organized events are branded TEDx, where x = independently organized TED event. The TED Conference provides general guidance for the TEDx program, but individual TEDx events are self-organized (subject to certain rules and regulations).

Multipurpose Hall
2C44+7CR, Plot 686, Jabi Airport Road Bypass, Cadastral Zone
Abuja, Abuja Federal Capital Territory, 900108
Nigeria

Abdulbasit Abubakar

Writer. Poet

Abdulbasit Abubakar is a writer, storyteller and performer living in Kano, Nigeria. He is a graduate of Mass Communication from the prestigious Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria. His works have appeared on Rizal Journal, Guinevere Review, Praxis Magazine, Poets in Nigeria, Words Rhymes & Rhythms, and other publications worldwide. Abdulbasit is passionate about culture, love, and writing about the diversity of languages. He was a guest at ABUFest. As a Spoken Word Artist, he has performed across major cities in Nigeria, delivering pieces in Hausa and English with intricate delivery around love, culture, narratives, and relatable social issues. He has performed at major literary events like the first Hausa International Book and Arts Festival in Nigeria, Constellations, TEDxFCEZaria, and Kaduna Book and Art Festival. He has worked with organizations and brands in using poetry to address social issues and drive key societal change. He is the Art Lead at Kabara Initiative, Kano.

Ahmad Salihijo

Managing Director of Nigerian Rural Electrification Agency.

Ahmad Salihijo Ahmad is the Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian Rural Electrification Agency (REA). With several years of experience in the energy sector, Ahmad leads the agency of government facilitating energy access in unserved and underserved communities in Nigeria. He has professional experience in environmental sustainability, regulatory efficiency, strategy, and planning. Previously, Ahmad was at various times a Technical Adviser to the Minister of Environment, Coordinator of the secretariat for the first-ever Nigeria Sovereign Green Bond. Ahmad holds a Master of Development Studies from the Nigerian Defense Academy and a Bachelor of Electrical and Electronics Engineering from the University of Leeds.

Aisha Shuaibu

"Aisha Shuaibu is an entrepreneur with the experience and skill set for business management and brand development. She is the founder of restaurant business Waffle Way, the managing director of business solutions company, SWA Global, and the president of sports marketing agency, SWA Sports. Aisha is a creative with a gift for ideation and strategic growth, providing value to industries in Nigeria and across the African continent. Outside the business world, Aisha is passionate about youth and women empowerment and frequently lends her voice to activities aimed at driving youth initiatives forward, while also encouraging the participation of women on national issues. She is an editorial board member and columnist for Nigeria’s leading newspaper, Thisday, and contributes to important conversations in her weekly columns. Aisha is dedicated to using her experiences in business and social impact to inspire young people, especially other northern Nigerian women such as herself. She believes that inclusion is necessary for the creation of a progressive society that will create the stable and self-sufficient nation we need. "

Aisha Tahir

Aisha Tahir is a Writer, performance poet/ spoken word artist, and author of Beyond Constellation. She has performed at events and festivals like the Carnelian Art Festival, Worth Words, and ALS, to name a few. She is invested in volunteering her time and talents to organizations and individuals. She has used her platform and the ones that were given to her to inspire, encourage and coach young writers.

Amina Zakari

The quintessential public servant, Amina (Husaini) Zakari is an accomplished leader, professional, manager and executive. With a background in pharmacy and health services, her career has remarkably expanded to social services and most recently, election management. Through effectiveness and determination, she worked her way up from being a lead health consultant, to become the pioneer Executive Secretary of health, FCT, as special assistant to President Olusegun Obasanjo. In 2015, she became the first woman in Nigeria’s history to be appointed to lead INEC, the Independent National Electoral Commission, as the Acting Chairman. She is a fellow of the Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria, Nigeria Academy of Pharmacy, Institute of Chartered Mediators and Conciliators, Member, Institute of Management. She is passionate about creating effective policies for improving elections, political processes, women inclusion in politics and public service, and social development. She has been a global election observer. She also supports various NGOs focused on women and children.

Emerald Akhaumere

Tech enthusiast who believes that technology is vital for maximum optimization of human potential and is moved with passion to use technological skills to facilitate growth ,development and help to achieve the full potential of technology and mans relationship while using tech to help solve environmental issues surrounding us. I have skills in programing with python, java and c++ wile currently undergoing undergraduate training in machine language skills.

Fah'd Muhammad

Fah’d Muhammad is an Architectural/Industrial Engineer that serves as an Architect at Systems Property Development Consortium (SPDC) & the Managing/Creative Director of Cyberlogik Solutions (CLS). With a track record of excellence, innovation, and sustainable design. An alumnus of The Catholic University with degrees in Architecture & Engineering/Industrial Management. Experienced in Systems Architecture Design, Product Design & Modeling, and Architectural/Industrial Design and Management.

Harajana Ragada

Harajana Umar Ragada is an indigene of Mariga LGA of Niger State. She attended her primary school at Abu-Turab Islamic Nursery and Primary School Minna, Secondary School at GGC Bauchi, and proceeded to the College of Health Technology Jega, Kebbi State where she studied Health Information Management. She is presently pursuing her HND. Driven by passion, she is presently working as a journalist and newscaster at Ultimate FM COE Minna. Her love for books aroused her interest in writing. She loves traveling, reading, and writing. She is also a pad-a-girl child advocate. Her article 'when a father dies' is published on The Daily Reality and Golden News. Her short story 'Chained' was shortlisted among the top 20 for the Hafsat Abdulwaheed women short story prize. She was also shortlisted for the Umar Abubakar Sidi poetry prize.

Hauwa Saleh

Lawyer. Poet. Writer. Entrepreneur.

Hauwa Saleh Abubakar is a writer and a poet. Her work has appeared in the “The Muslim Women Times”, “The Weight of Years: An Afroanthology of Creative Nonfiction”, "Ake Review," "Agbowo Magazine" and more. Hauwa Saleh Abubakar is also the author of “How to Practice Forgetting”, a poetry collection that explores the world through the body on Okada Books. She considers herself an accidental lawyer and aims to make people feel ‘something’ with her works.

Ibrahim Yahaya

Ibrahim Yahaya, also known as khaleel__writes/Khaleel, is a writer, poet, and also spoken word artist. He was born in kano and is an indigene of Potiskum Local Government of Yobe State. He studies Mass communication at Nile University of Nigeria. To Khaleel, poetry was a part-time thing at first, but with time it became a passion mainly due to his crave for the revival of the northern culture and love stories. He has performed at TedxPompomari and was the spoken word artist of the year 2021 at the LPA.

Maryam Augie-Abdulmumin

Policy Advocate

Ms. Maryam Augie-Abdulmumin, the Executive Director/ Founder of ICF, is an inspiring woman with a passion for humanity. She has devoted her time to the thoughtful and careful planning of her education-tackling initiative, which provides a model to bridge the funding gap for the basic education of the millions of out-of-school children in Nigeria. Since its inception, ICF has provided access to basic education for about 40% of the children on its database. Its mobile and web app leverages technology and grassroots driven crowdfunding to reduce the number of Nigeria’s more than 10 million out-of-school children. Prior to founding Ayahay Foundation (which was the precursor to ICF), Maryam had gained extensive legislative and policy framework development experience at Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC). She also worked at the Merger and Acquisition division at the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Musa Sule Damagum

SDGs Coordinator, Yobe State

Musa Sule Damagum works with the Yobe State Government as the Sustainable Development Goals Coordinator. He holds a Bachelors degree in Architecture and Masters in Building Information Modeling from the University of Wolverhampton, UK. He coordinates mainstreaming and implementation of SDGs in government plans, budgets and expenditures. He also manages a 600 million Naira community development project joint fund between the federal and state government through which basic amenities such as clean water, school buildings, medical supplies and farm inputs are provided at community level. Damagum also coordinates and lead the Yobe State Government delegation to the United Nation General Assembly and the UN Climate Change Conference (COP) each year. He is passionate about innovating solutions to mitigate negative impacts of Climate Change.

Sabeeha Hussein

Motivational Speaker. Poet. Author

Sabeeha Hussain AKA “SoulUnraveled” is a medical doctor, motivational speaker, published author, vlogger, and entrepreneur. She is a wife and a boy mom. She has graced multiple stages as a spoken word artist and motivational speaker. She posts Monday motivational videos every week on her page in an attempt to uplift herself and everyone around her. Her work touches on many aspects of life ranging from mental illness, women empowerment, creating safe spaces, self-development, public health education and so much more. She is a member in a number of NGOs and enjoys doing community work in her free time. She started Chai with SoulUnraveled which is an educational meetup platform in 2019 in an attempt to create safe spaces for women to learn, unlearn and relearn. It has been a success from the start. She started Safe Haven in 2021 which is basically an online support group for moms.

Salim Yunusa

"Salim Yunusa is a freelance journalist, bilingual writer, and translator. He’s the founder of Poetic Wednesdays Initiative, an organization that promotes literary activities in Northern Nigeria. He is the event coordinator for the annual Hausa International Book and Arts Festival. He is a development advocate who's interested in Northern arts and culture. He graduated from Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria with a Bachelor's degree in Urban and Regional Planning and currently pursuing a Master's degree in Disaster Risk Management Studies from the same institution. He was awarded The Outstanding Literary Promoter in Northern Nigeria by the Yobe Literary Society in 2021. He's a guest at many Books and Arts festivals and also performed his poems on different stages and platforms. He's an Equal Access International Peace Promotion Fellow and a Global Youth Ambassador for Theirworld. He is a program associate with PeacePanel Centre. He is also an iVolunteer Writing Fellow and a Fellow with Journalism for Liberty Fellowship. He was a speaker at TEDXPOMPOMARI in Yobe state. He has been published in many print and online magazines. He was a finalist for Michael Afenfia and TVO Tribe competitions. He was shortlisted for the 2020 Aminiya Trust Hausa Short Story Competition. He was a judge for the Hamza Elrufai Short Story Prize of Yasmin El-rufai Foundation in 2021. He was also the judge for the Intellectual Essay Competition, Students Intellectual Club, Yobe State University. He was a judge at the 2022 HIASFEST in Minna and judged the Afrikindness competition in May, 2022. He facilitated a creative writing workshop for the Andrew Nok Poetry Prize 2022. He was recently awarded the 30 under 30 Arewa Stars for social activism in literature."

Tekena Williams

Tekena Williams is a Film Director specializing in the Cinematography of products, food, and other subjects. Tekena is currently the Director at Red Dish Studios, a Studio focused on creating high-quality content tailored to meeting brand specifications for and not limited to the fields of Hospitality. Tekena is an Honours Communications and Multimedia Design graduate specializing in TV & Film, in the department of Science and Arts of the American University of Nigeria. Through his years in school, he has gathered many awards including the Best Cinematographer award of the ASCA 2019 and the Award for Academic Excellence presented by Guarantee Trust Bank 2019. Tekena has focused on building brands by taking them out to the public with finely detailed and well-conceptualized images and Motion pictures (Media). He has worked with brands such as GTBank, Mandarin Oriental, Pernod Ricard, Red Dish Chronicles, and Nigerian Breweries, and is still crossing many milestones. He aspires to create compelling stories for the public that tally with the SDGs through international bodies and Nonprofits. He is a music lover, a foodie, and enthusiastic about technology."

Tony Ekwoaba

His Worship, Tony Ekwoaba is a Nigerian jurist, author and youth influencer. Over the years, Mr Tony with support of other youths, had through their NGO, the Breath of Freedom Foundation, impacted heavily on Nigerias criminal justice system by their provision of pro Bono legal services to hundreds of indigent Nigerians, prison medical outreaches and ex inmate rehab. This was prior to his appointment into the lower bench. As a magistrate on the however bench, today he continuous to make great impact, dispensing justice by his landmark decisions. His Worship, is an author of two celebrated books, “Shadows” and “The Testator” co authored with veteran actor, Kanayo O. Kanayo. He is happily Married to Helen Tony Ekwoaba.

Zainab Bello

Bello Zainab Isah, a 19-year-old medical student hailing from Bauchi state in the North Eastern part of Nigeria, has always held a deep appreciation for art in all its forms. However, it is painting that truly captures her heart, as she believes it has the power to express emotions and convey messages that words alone cannot. Recognizing that the beauty of art is often overlooked, Zainab aspires to challenge this perception and bring about a transformative change in the way art is valued and understood, especially by medical students.

Zainab Kuyizhi

Zainab Muhammad Kuyizhi is a mental health advocate, and is interested in influencing personal development and growth. She founded Tea & Reflection Initiative. A community for people age 15-above, working on reducing the stigma around mental ill health in Nigeria, especially in the northern parts of Nigeria, by bringing people together, to connect, interact and reflect on shared experiences in contemporary issues in mental health, over tea. Zainab also is makeup artist during the day, a poet/spoken word artist and a wannabe therapist at night. Her poetry explores the dynamics of life—especially love, pain and anger. She is a member of Minna Literary Society, the co-founder, Minna Paint & Sip. She hails from Niger state.