Oluchi Chibuzor| On Saturday, 4 July 2026, in the heart of Victoria Island, Lagos, Oge Elumelu inaugurated the first edition of her Africa and Everywhere Festival, a gathering born of her fast-growing podcast and built to turn a large online following into something more concrete. Conceived as a working recruitment pipeline for young Africans, the festival opened with an internship drive that had already drawn more than 7,000 applications for its first cohort, and it set out to move a chosen few of them into real roles before the day was over. Its timing speaks directly to one of Nigeria’s most persistent economic challenges. Although official figures place headline unemployment below five percent, those numbers mask the true state of the labour market, where most jobs are informal, insecure, and low-paying. At the same time, an estimated 1.7 million graduates leave Nigeria’s universities and polytechnics each year to enter an economy that has consistently struggled to create enough quality jobs to absorb them. The initiative grew out of Africa and Everywhere: Conversations with Oge, a podcast Elumelu launched in September 2024 to demystify how industries such as finance, technology, fashion, beauty, and entertainment actually work. As the podcast’s audience grew, she realised that listeners needed practical routes into those industries rather than a clearer view of them from the outside or as bystanders. To construct those routes, her team approached companies willing to host interns, invited applications, drew on external consultants to screen the entries, coached shortlisted candidates on their CVs and matched them against the roles that employers had specified. “We started to think, let us take a chance on ourselves,” Elumelu said of the decision to carry the project beyond conversation, noting that the response had far outstripped the places her team had been able to secure. From a pool of more than 7,000 applications, about 170 candidates survived a rigorous screening, and roughly 150 attended the event, where 15 organisations participated in the career fair, and 37 successful applicants secured placements lasting between three and six weeks. Several participating companies signalled that the strongest interns could be offered permanent roles upon the programme’s conclusion. Elumelu, however, stressed that the internships were only one measure of the festival’s impact, as employers that were not recruiting also participated, offering career advice, mentorship, and networking opportunities that could open doors for attendees, even if they left without a formal placement. Conversations were just as central to the festival as recruitment, with four panel sessions bringing its promise of being “where opportunity meets talent” to life through practical advice and real-world insights. The discussion on entrepreneurship and knowing when to work for oneself brought together Reni Abina, the doctor and health communicator Chinonso Egemba, who is better known to a large online audience as Aproko Doctor, and Yanmo Omorogbe. Financial literacy took centre stage in another session, where Oghogho Osula, Onyinye Osunwoke, and Ibi Ibru shared practical guidance on managing money and building long-term financial security. Tomilayo Esan, Faith Nelson-Ojeaga and Yetunde Ayeni addressed the practicalities of breaking into corporate jobs, and Toni Sanni, Obong Idiong and Sam Nwanze turned to the longer question of how to climb the corporate ladder once a foot is already in the door. Delivering the keynote, Chairman, Heirs Holdings and United Bank for Africa, Tony Elumelu, framed the gathering as a case for ambition and for the kind of financial self-education that he argued too few young people receive. “Knowledge is power. Learn how organisations make money, but also learn how you can make money yourself.” Tony Elumelu drew on his own beginnings to make the argument land, recalling how, as a young man who had fallen short of the academic requirement advertised for a banking role, he had written directly to the institution’s chief executive to request a chance to prove himself, and how the job that followed became the foundation of a career that helped to reshape African banking. “Dream dreams, be ambitious, work hard, stay disciplined and don’t give up,” he said. “Luck comes when preparation meets opportunity.” Chairperson, Avon Healthcare Limited, and the convener’s mother, Awele Elumelu, praised the initiative as a bridge between talent and opportunity, arguing that Nigeria possesses ability in abundance, while the access needed to convert it is too often lacking. “Even when it appears that you’re not doing anything, there is always something productive you can do,” she said, pointing to professional courses, mentorship and volunteering, and caut
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