Meet Ngozi Odita
One thing that is sure about Ngozi Odita is she is a “Connector” whether it is for something as trivial as throwing parties in college or for activism like organizing community events or more serious like tech events – whatever it is, her goal is to bring people together to connect, explore and appreciate art, culture and tech as it relates to Africa in a fun way that is purposeful.
As a young child born to immigrant parents growing up in New York City, Ngozi who hails from Onitsha Anambra, was always confronted with people’s ignorant views and opinions of Africa. Even though she grew up abroad, she was deeply connected to her roots and her many visits to the motherland made her fall deeply in love with her home country. She was determined to change the negative narrative about her country and the continent and show the world that there was more to Nigeria and Africa than Jungles and barbaric behavior. She spent her days as an undergraduate in Emory University Atlanta, Georgia organizing parties and exploring her project management and creative entrepreneurial side. This she continued even after school, this time with the intent to show Africa in a positive light.
It was around this time, back in 2010 that the Internet started to blow up. More and more people were becoming interested in what was going on in other parts of the world and the rise of the internet availed people the opportunity to see what was going on globally. As the curiosity about Africa piqued and people on the west coast and in Europe started wanting to know more, Ngozi Odita saw this as an opportunity to bring Africa to the world. using social media as a tool, she started sharing Insider tips and information about things happening in the creative scene back at home, she also took it upon herself t0 organize talks and programmes for creatives and tech heads. This made her known in the creative tech space.
In 2011, she was called upon by the original organizers of Social Media Week New York; they offered her an opportunity to produce an event for that year’s programme, focusing on social media and music in Africa. The event aimed to show the interconnection between tech, culture and people and how it all intersects while giving participants a full African experience. She made sure to feature afro beat music at the event even going as far as having local cuisine made by Nigerian caterers. The event was a big success, people could not stop raving about the experience. This was the beginning of her journey to planning events for social media week. She was contracted again the second year to plan another social media week event. In 2013, she decided to bring social media week to the motherland. She pitched this idea to the organizers and after about five months of deliberating what city to bring the franchise to, she was able to convince them eventually and got the license and social media week Lagos was born.
For Ngozi, this was a huge dream come true. Through the trajectory of her career journey, she’s worked odd and random jobs. She started off working as a social worker, working with children at risk. She later opened a combined clothing shop and art gallery with a friend which was some sort of community space for African artists. After the store closed, she started doing pop up events for different institutions like museums. The idea was to use space to gather large amounts of people. This was the common thread with all the jobs she worked at.
It is this same vibe that she brings to social media week Lagos, as seen each year, the event is way more than a tech conference, the goal of each session, is to inspire collaborations across various tiers of the tech world. As it gets bigger each year, more and more people are getting involved in the conversation about m0ving Africa forward using innovation and technology. Now in its seventh year, social media week Lagos has opened doors for other African countries, the event is celebrated in major African cities like Nairobi, Accra and soon to be in Durban.
Ngozi who describes herself as hopelessly optimistic and slightly delusional believes that anything is possible in this world. Her dream is to see Nigeria and Africa on the same level playing field as other continents, this she hopes to achieve through social media week. The goal remains the same; build a community and a platform for African Creatives home and abroad to get together in a sort of Homecoming event to discuss ways to move their business and Africa Forward using social media
