SHE’S AN award-winning documentary filmmaker
who has interviewed some of the world’s top
leaders and just last month made history by
becoming the youngest person to be interviewed
by Forbes magazine.
But Zuriel Oduwale maintains she is a regular 11-
year-old girl who enjoys nothing more than to
play her Nintendo Wii and board games with her
family.
“I do all the usual things like go to the mall with
my mum and sisters and ride my bike with my
neighbours,” she says, although she is more than
aware her life differs slightly from most girls her
age.
“I am in a home school-based curriculum, so that
allows me to get ahead in my school work and
then I have some time to travel for my extra
curricular programmes like my Dream Up, Speak
Up, Stand Up programme, or interviewing leaders
for my documentaries.”
Touted as the next Oprah Winfrey, Zuriel is
committed to rebranding Africa by showing the
positive things about the continent, and
campaigning for education for girls.
Some of the high-profile names Zuriel has enjoyed
exclusive one-to-one time with include Nigerian
president Goodluck Jonathan and her personal
favourite, Prime Minister of Jamaica, Portia
Simpson.
“She held my hands and prayed for me and then
she put me on her lap to take official pictures
with her, which was very different from all the
other 13 presidents and prime ministers I have
interviewed.”
Zuriel, which is Hebrew for ‘God is my Rock’,
believes by leading by example, girls may be
inspired by her journey and do the same. That,
she believes, can show her peers and the world
the need to educate the continent’s often
forgotten girl child.
Zuriel’s vision for her Dream Up, Speak Up, Stand
Up programme is to inspire girls to “accomplish
their dreams like me” by using it as a platform to
push the influential work she is doing around the
globe.
When talk moves to the future of the 200 girls
kidnapped by Islamic extremists in Nigeria last
month, the 11-year-old said she was both “sad
but relieved at the same time.”
She explains: “Sad because I can’t imagine being
taken to some strange place by some strange
people, but relieved because the whole world is
talking about it so maybe something can now be
done.”
Keen to prove age is nothing but a number, Zuriel
wants to show parents – and the world – by
“using me as an example, what their children can
do”.
Zuriel began pursuing documentary-making and
journalism when she was nine after entering a
competition in the United States, where she
resides with her Mauritian mother and Nigerian
father and three siblings – two sisters and one
brother. The competition asked applicants to
produce a documentary “about a revolution or
reaction in history”.
“I knew right away what I wanted to do even
though I was only nine. It was my opportunity to
find a successful revolution and show the world
that Africa is not all bad.”
In a typical day, Zuriel and her nine-year-old sister
are made to watch an hour of news and asked to
write – and later discuss – what they have heard
with their parents.
“When I watch the news, I find that most of the
news about Africa was always negative, so I
thought I could show something that was positive
like a successful revolution.”
She then began research on the Ghana revolution,
the 1979 uprising which arose out of a
combination of corruption, bad governance, lack
of discipline in the army and frustrations among
the general public. Her research took her to the
African continent where she was able to interview
flight Lieutenant Jerry John Rawlings, who led a
coup and later became the country’s head of
state.
“I had to take my own camera to interview
President Rawlings, set it up, write my own
questions, shoot the clips and do the editing
because that was the rules of the competition,”
she says. “It was hard, but I did it. Sometimes I
was working late after doing my homework to
complete it.”
But her hard work has paid off. Last year, aged
10, Zuriel made history by becoming the youngest
person ever to be interviewed by the prestigious
Forbes magazine.
“[At the time] I didn’t understand why they
wanted to interview me,” she says coolly. “It
wasn’t until they said even though the work I was
doing for girls’ education in Africa was not about
wealth creation, it was too special to ignore. They
wanted it in their women’s future leader edition.
“I think it’s pretty cool now. I understand what it
means and more importantly, a few months
before, Mr Aliko Dangote, the richest black man in
the world, who I have interviewed, was featured
in the magazine. I feel really special.”
Though Zuriel hopes to explore her chances in
basketball and robotic engineering, her life-long
goal is to become president of the United States.
“People always ask why I don’t want to be the
president of an African country, but I feel if I am
president of an African country, I might be able to
affect one or two other countries, but if I am
president of the United States, not only would I
be able to affect the United States, but most
countries in the world including those in Africa
and the Caribbean region. That way, I can change
the way girls are educated around the world.”
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