The Provost of Kogi State College of Education, Ankpa, Dr. Paul Femi Fashagba, has described Comrade Oladele John Nihi, Special Adviser on Youth and Students Matters to Governor Ahmed Usman Ododo, as a distinguished young Nigerian of global relevance, as the youth leader marks his birthday.
Fashagba, in a statement made available to Newsmen in Lokoja on Wednesday, said Nihi’s journey from grassroots youth activism to continental leadership stands as a testimony to what young Nigerians can achieve when given opportunity and space.
He noted that Nihi’s trajectory — from his chairmanship of the National Youth Council of Nigeria, Kogi State Chapter, through his appointment as Chief Press Secretary to the Governor, to his current role as Special Adviser on Youth and Students Matters and Vice President (West Africa) of the Pan-African Youth Union — reflects a rare consistency of service and rising influence.
The don also described Nihi’s founding of the Oladele John Nihi Foundation as a platform for social re-engineering, saying it is a clear mark of a leader who is “not merely rising, but lifting others as he rises.”
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Fashagba recalled commendations from notable figures, including a former Governor of Kogi State, who once described Nihi as someone you could “delegate an assignment to and go to sleep,” and the Czech Republic’s Ambassador to Nigeria, who called him “a product Nigeria should be proud of.”
The Provost’s remarks came against the backdrop of the recent launch of a biography chronicling Nihi’s life and public service journey, titled *The Voice of a Generation: The Still Rising Story of Oladele John Nihi*, an event that drew government officials, traditional rulers, and youth leaders from across Kogi State.
He added that Nihi remains a pride to the youths and Ijumu Kingdom and wished him well.
