uriel Oduwole teaches children at Abuja IDP camp

THE Boko Haram chapter in Nigeria has many faces, many stories of hardships, and many tales of split families, hoping for a reunion someday. A new terminology in many Nigerians’ lexicon is the phrase Internally Displaced Persons (IDP), because they are displaced within the borders of Nigeria, instead of the term refugees.

Zuriel Oduwole, however, sees opportunities, where others see only challenges. The 13-year-old education advocate and documentary filmmaker, who is still travelling across the country, was in Abuja recently to speak at the launch of the book Those Who Inspire, which profiles 90 Nigerians from ages 12 to 81, who are inspirational to the country and youths.

In between her busy schedules of visiting schools and meeting with the Ambassadors of Cuba, Trinidad & Tobago, Tanzania and the US to explore the education subject afresh, she herself took up her very first job – as a kindergarten teaching assistant at one of the lesser known IDP camps, near Games Village in Abuja.

Zuriel taught alphabets to kindergarten aged children for the afternoon.

Later in the day, she spent time listening to the stories of the children, more importantly their dreams, including one child, who still wants to be a pilot. To further brighten up their day, she gave several of the children new “Angry Birds” toothbrush and toothpaste sets donated to her by a US company, something just to remind the camp’s youths that they are still children and have not been totally forgotten.