Nigerian born media and entertainment practitioner, Dare Gbadebo is a 2021 recipient of the Leadership Minds Ambassadors (LMA) award. A young dude with leadership attributes, the Ogun State born Dare was among the 17 personalities across the world who were honoured at the 6th edition of the awards event for their exceptional worth, profound initiatives and consistent achievements. Sharing the accounts of his journey to recognition, Dare revealed to AKIN SOKOYA, that his belief in leadership as a simple call to serve took him this far, yet, he says, he is just starting with the push to attain global leadership. Excerpts…
There is something about you and appointments; was promoting the Maranatha Christfest three years ago your first appointment or when did you start getting the appointment to promote events and how many times have you been appointed so far?
Yeah, I will say it’s all by grace as I do not see myself as the most qualified for any appointment. I got my first appointment in June 2019 as an Official Blogger for Maranatha Christfest, an annual international gospel concert and was functioning in that capacity, till around August 2021 when the Onipokia of Ipokia land, HRM Oba (Dr.) Yisa Olusola Adeniyi Olaniyan appointed me as his media consultant, don’t forget that I am not an indigene of Ipokia but definitely it’s sure that Kabieesi Onipokia considered my level of experience and exposure in media relations, to have considered me for such a high honour. Then in December 2021, I also got honoured as an Ambassador for Leadership Mind Ambassadors(LMA) Leadership and lifestyle magazine.
You were trained at the Wale Adenuga Productions company, did that experience prepare you for entertainment promotion and blogging later in life?
Yes, I think I will concur with that, I got trained as a photographer at PEFTI in 2013 and of course the way we were trained at the Film school, you will have knowledge of almost everything, but then stick to your field at the end of the day. I have been a writer and journalist before that.
What is it that you love about being you?
I love my little corner, I am a very private and quiet personality. I am humble with quite a lot of understanding and I know I am very hardworking.
You had a brief stint in Nollywood as an actor and cameraman, why and when did you decide to leave?
I was never an actor professionally, even though I did a couple of acting while in school and at church, but yes I did stand-up comedy professionally and I have had the opportunity to perform on the same stage with Ali Baba and shared some private conversation with the humour merchant later afterwards. I have also had to stay in the gap for “Koffi Tha Guru” at an event in Unilag based on his recommendation. I was also a still photographer on location for a couple of Nollywood short-films but at the end I discovered that I have more strength in writing and journalism, so I had to stick to that.
You rarely tell us about your growing up. Tell us about your family and educational background and what you dreamt to become when you were a teen.
Well like I said earlier I have come to the conclusion that I am a really private person, hence I do not usually say too much about myself. I am a blue blood from the Bepo ruling house in Ilesa, Osun State. I have to thank my late father because of the self-discipline he imbibed in me while he was alive, he was really extraordinary and lived a good life in terms of attitude, character, behaviour and leadership qualities. He was a great man, my mum is still very much around and both of them did a great job working together as a team to bring us the children up in the right way as I have three other siblings. I was born in Abeokuta, Ogun State, Nigeria and lived the first 10 years of my life in Abeokuta attending Trinity Nursery and primary school at Ijaiye, Abeokuta. Then proceeded to Molusi College, Ijebu-Igbo and completed my senior secondary school education at Isonyin Grammar School, Isonyin in Ogun Sstate, Nigeria. My mum is from Ago-Iwoye in Ijebu and to be honest I am much closer to Ogun State somehow than I am to Osun State. I attended University of Lagos and studied Business Administration after which I did a couple of professional courses in the United Kingdom, which were in journalism, photography and private security. I hold a Diploma in Journalism from Alpha Academy in England and a certificate in Digital Journalism from Reuters. While growing up the first thought in me was to become a medical doctor, I wanted to save lives but I later found out the reading culture there would be enormous for me so I took to Arts and I have since found it fulfilling.
Would you say life has treated you fairly well at your age; have you met a half of your life desires?
Well, I will say God has been a lot faithful to me. I may not be rich but I am happy I can afford to take care of myself and family. It was never rosy, there were times I prayed and cried, there were times I needed answers to situations around me but all the same I have learnt to stay on God even if you are yet to understand where he is leading you. I will say I am still hopeful to God for many things which I think he would do at his time. I am not there yet but I am still very hopeful.
Does representing brands and organizations provide you daily bread or there are other things you do that earn you a living?
Well representing brands and organisations has been putting food on my table for years and paying off my bills but other times I take advantage of legitimate causes to source for a living to take care of my needs.
You have a tie with international sports and athletes, tell us your experience.
Well, I am a member of Team Nigeria International’s media and publicity team, a grassroots sports organisation in the UK aimed at giving back to the community and it’s been a very awesome experience. We want to meet so many needs in the society.. We can’t do everything but we have been able to do as much as we can distributing gift items to the innermost which include Ajegunle in Lagos and the IDPs in Abuja. We have reached out to schools across Nigeria and in some other African countries. It’s really a great privilege to give back to the community and there is a project we are working on now SportEdu+ which I believe the CEO, David Doherty will be able to discuss better.
You have a passion for writing; tell us the books and authors that motivate you.
You will be very right if you say I have a flair for writing, I have noticed that since I was an adolescent and I got a lot of support from both my parents who noticed that early enough. Various literature books including religious books motivated me and I really have so much respect for authors like Professor Wole Soyinka and Dr. Morris Cerullo.
As an aspiring youth, do you think the Nigerian youth possess the right quality to take leadership responsibility and how would you advise them to comport for this task?
Nigerian youths need to take education very seriously, then there is a lot to learn from the elders who have too much experience to nurture the young ones with, we can’t and should not disregard them but we should rather work with them to be able to reach our full potentials.
What are your success ideas for the youths in an economy where it is extremely hard to get paid jobs?
I will implore the youths to be more creative in all their endeavours. Creativity opens doors beyond imagination, I wrote an article on youth empowerment in a magazine recently where I talked about the government helping the youths to transform from unemployed to self-employed but to be honest, the government will not do everything for us, the youths should as well learn to shun crime, violence and other fraudulent activities and learn to be able to identify a legitimate opportunity when they see one. It may not be coloured in gold, it may be disguised in hardwork but it will definitely yield fruitful result at the end of the day.
What are your likes and dislikes?
I like honesty, decency and loyalty. Truthfulness and trustworthiness. I dislike arrogance, pride and such acts.
Tell us about your new role as an Ambassador and what is expected of you playing the role.
I was a few days ago appointed as an Ambassador for LMA leadership and lifestyle magazine 2022. LMA is all about leadership, they seek out young leaders globally making an impact in their society, through activism and community service. I guess they have been following me for a long time and noticed some of the works I do in community service and to mankind, especially in writing and publishing. I am expected to comport myself as a role model to young and aspiring leaders within my reach and also the magazine’s network as only one with a positive track record can ever be selected for the honour. I am also aware there are many plans the organisation is hoping to implement with me in 2022 in regards to leadership and youth empowerment. I will definitely keep you informed as time goes.
