While the majority pre-teen girls spend most of their leisure time going to movies, painting their nails and ogling posters of One Direction, one 12 year old girl has already begun making a name for herself as a documentary maker and presidential interviewer.
Zuriel Oduwole, a young American of Nigerian and Mauritian decent, recently landed in London to meet and interview Lambeth Mayor Councillor Aminu for her new documentary project.
Despite being just 12 years old, Zuriel carried herself with the humble grace and quiet intelligence that often eludes those far older and more experienced in her profession.
It all began for Zuriel, who has interviewed more than a dozen world presidents and Prime Ministers, when she entered a competition which required her to create a documentary about a successful revolution. Being proud of her African heritage, Zuriel decided to make a documentary on the Ghanaian revolution, and wrote several letters to Ghana’s former president Jerry Rawlings, who himself played a major part in the revolution.
“As you know, when doing a documentary you have to have primary sources,” Zuriel told TVC news after her interview with Councillor Aminu. “I sent letters to the presidential offices and in a few weeks he came back saying that Jerry Rawling would be glad for me to interview him in Ghana. I was able to interview both Jerry Rawling and President John Kufour.”
Since then, Zuriel has been keeping busy. She is the youngest person to be interviewed by the prestigious Forbes Magazine and is currently working on her third documentary, which is part of a series about various African countries, including Nigeria, Mauritius and South Africa. She has also started the ‘Dream Up, Speak Up, Stand Up’ campaign which aims to encourage African girls ‘to stay in school and accomplish their dreams’.
She hopes that her documentaries will play vital a role in combating the bombardment of negative images of Africa that we often see on our television screens.
“The reason I created these documentaries,” she said, “is because usually on the African continent, when they talk about news we mostly talk about all the negative things, like the wars, the famine, the corruption and disease. We don’t really talk about anything positive.”
During her interview with Councillor Aminu, Zuriel and the Mayor discussed various topics, including whether he feels more African or British (he feels equally both), and the challenges he has faced on the road to becoming Lambeth’s first Nigerian Mayor.
He attributes his success to hard work, determination and the belief that no matter what you want it life you can obtain it with these two things.
Like Zuriel, Councillor Aminu is proud advocate for education, being a lecturer himself.
On why she wanted interview Councillor Aminu, Zuriel said:
‘He’s the first Nigerian Mayor of Lambeth County. I wanted to show the story that had to tell through my documentaries.’
While in London, Zuriel, who describes herself as a ‘proud Nigerian’, also visited with the Nigerian High Commissioner.
The latest documentary, the third in a series entitled Promising Africa, features four people who she believes are making a positive impact on Nigeria as a nation.
Images by Michael Stringer
