The Vice President has received a delegation of Pearls Africa Foundation led by Abisoye Ajayi-Akinfolarin, who was named among the Top 10 CNN Heroes of 2018.

“It is incredible to see these young leaders who are so sharp and so creative,” noting that “it is very innovative that the girls are the lead players in their various fields,” Prof Osinbajo stated.

He also commended Ajayi-Akinfolarin for her work and pledged his support for her CNN Heroes nomination. He further stated that he was greatly inspired by the young girls and the work they were doing

The delegation was made up of Sharon Okpoe who created a website, Makoko Fresh, to help connect fishermen in Makoko with buyers; Matti Mariam developed a website called Hope Basket, enabling people to make donations to beggars and Break The Blade, a website created by Nosirat Alade, campaigning against female genital mutilation.

Ajayi-Akinfolarin, in her own remarks, said the good things about the various projects the girls were involved with was the fact that they identified the problems themselves and proffer the solutions. They use computer-programming language to build the various websites.  She further stated that Makoko Fresh website has made over N200,000 worth of sales in less than two months, connecting suppliers of fish with those who demand it.

In his remarks, Softcom representative, Seindemi Olobayo, who was also present at the meeting, stated that their company would provide mentoring platforms for the girls, internship opportunities during holidays and experience tours within the company. He added that the company could also help with funding in helping the girls scale up their projects as well as providing support through their own network of relationships.