"WHO SHOULD YOU KNOW THIS WEEK?" MEET OJOGE TOMMY DANIELS.

Ojoge-Daniel Tommy is a multi-talented and versatile show of talents who has delved into different walks of life at a young and promising age. Having a shining jewel in a lost and unbecoming generation is a gift much desired and it suffices to say that the young entrepreneur is a physical manifestation of that. Ojoge Daniel is the ideal brain behind many enterprising projects and organization, significant of which is the fast rising charity organization, the Young Philanthropist Club of Abuad [YPC] which was founded in 2011.

He has also painstakingly established an organization for youths gifted in oratory and writing called Young Authors Organization [YAO] which is on the rise, recruiting bright minds and yearning for their nurture and growth with a potential guarantee of future success.

Ojoge-Daniel Tommy is however a 500 level Law student at the prestigious Afe Babalola University, with a vision of becoming an outstanding legal luminary in the nearest future.

His latest exciting project in the works is a monthly magazine known as SVELTE, a work designed to promote and showcase fashion, event coverage, showbiz; showcasing and profiling established innovators and entrepreneurs within Nigerian Universities. The work is, as expected, going to be equipped with seasoned writers, analysts and enamoured with photographic genius.

Hi Tommy, I've received a number of comments,mails.e.t.c all directed at getting to know you, it’s only right I conduct this long overdue interview..

see interview after the cut

1.      Are you ready?

**nods head**

2.     You are seen as many things, a motivational speaker, the founder of young philanthropist club, a cyclist, a donor, a friend and lots more, how do you manage to handle all these things alongside being a foremost law student?

‘uhmm, well I thank you very much, you know, combining so many things together, such as the activities you mentioned and  being a student seems difficult in its  entirety and energy sapping. But the fact remains that there is nothing difficult when the passion to excel is high. Mostly, it’s a matter of believing in what you wanna do, believing in possibilities and having the ability to manage your time effectively.  Some people will say 24 hours is not enough, the fact is, 24 hours is too much in a day. It’s enough to combine all these activities together, you just must structure your time rightly.

3.     How many hours do you sleep in a day?

‘well, I try to programme myself in a way that I don’t get to sleep just like that, I just sleep when my body is weak, I try as much as possible to use myself to achieve all I wanna achieve in a day, I don’t find joy in sleeping, I always try to get something worthy out of my 24 hours’

4.     How did you come about the YOUNG PHILANTHROPISTS' CLUB?

‘I have been privileged to have grown with my Dad when times were hard. I never liked the way things were, I always wished things were better and I told myself that one day, I'll be in a position to help people. I have come to realize that you don’t need to have much to help people, everything is not about money, so money should not be a clog to you helping people. Some years ago, I thought of what I could do to help people, and charity came to mind, so I went to a friend of mine, I spoke with him, we drafted out some ideas, came up with good thoughts, presented it to the school and it was approved;  being the first club in Afe Babalola University.  So it was as a matter of thought and concern for the people that prompted the establishment of the club.

5.     Rumour has it that you award law students who performed excellently in their studies, how true it that? What is the rationale?

‘as I said, I have this passion to assist not just the privileged but also the less privileged. The awards were awarded not by me, but by the Young Philanthropists' club, and that’s one of our achievements so far as a club..

6.     Many students see you as the right hand man to the Founder, Aare Afe Babalola, others see you as his son, and how would you classify your relationship with him?

‘One thing in life is this, we must all have a purpose, the moment you begin to have that purpose is the moment God will begin to uplift you to greater heights. When I came into this University, I immediately fell in love with everything, I decided to be serious from the beginning realizing that being in a university of this nature is an opportunity. I remember vividly that there was a programme where I delivered a speech, which was as a matter of spontaneous emotions of my love for the school and the Founder, Aare Afe Babalola. After the speech, there was a standing ovation, which I never prepared for, I never planned for, it just happened. From that day, Aare Afe Babalola picked interest in me, and since then, we started our relationship, and so far so good the lord has been dazing me with amazing blessings’..

7.     Now, you are almost through with your studies…How do you see yourself in the next five years after you’ve graduated?

‘I can’t comprehend, but I know it’s going to be beyond my own imagination. I believe so much in ideas, so I pray to God for knowledge and understanding  and also request to be bestowed with astronomical ideas, because one thing that makes the world go round is not money, but ideas. I like to engage myself in mental gymnastics, and I end up coming up with beautiful ideas. So, in the next five years, I’m going to be greater than what I can imagine’.

8.     Can you share a secret of your success with the Abuad students?

‘I believe success is not a matter of opportunities, success is a combination of preparation, opportunities and time. All these must be combined to achieve success. You must know your purpose, you must set goals and work towards them. There was an article I wrote when I was 14 years old, which I ended by saying, "success isn’t all about determination, determination devoid of action is like a dog that wants to eat bone without teeth".  How on earth is that possible?  Majorly, my advice for them is that, when you think of achieving something in life, just run after it, and avoid as much as possible all forms of distractions’

9.     Plenty people see you in different ways, but mostly hard working, having no time to spare, we need to know that food you like, that keeps you going?

‘**chuckles**uhmm, I don’t eat, you know, they say breakfast is good, but I hate breakfast. You know why? It prevents my body system to work at its peak.

10. So you are telling the Abuad students that…(interrupts)

‘NO,NO,I’m not saying that they should be like me, I know what works for me, I don’t take breakfast, but in Abuad I try to make best use of what’s around, I take fufu with egusi soup and beef, which does not cost me more than N350 and sometimes N250; with N10 pure water.

11.   Recent activities, is there any you would like to publicize to the Abuad students?

‘uhmm , Yes. I have few months to spend in school, and I have a lot to tell. One of my recent achievement is the first student magazine, in Afe Babalola University, called "Svelte magazine", it’s going to be amazing and it’s going to daze a lot of people.

12.  Will this magazine be sold only in Abuad?

‘our target is to get involved with all the private universities in Nigeria, and of recent, we are working with Convenant university and of course Afe Babalola University. I thank God for the magazine crew, they are wonderful individuals with aesthetic mentality. The likes of Divine okeke, he has been doing wonderfully well, Emmanuel Idim, he is amazing, Fiora, Jeff, Kolapo, Leonard; Ojone and the rest of them; all wonderful people. I am so happy to have worked with them. I was very very careful with my selection, and I thank God that so far I have no regrets. The magazine is going to be a blast, it’s going to be mental! it’s going to be awesome and it’s going to be really crazy.

13.  This magazine has brought a different dimension to this interview, what will the magazine contain?

‘Not just academics, it’s going to be something more of lifestyle and something funny. Something (the Abuad student interrupts; hopefully no boko haram?) **laughs** no,no,no, it’s not a newspaper, it’s something that will have the most stylish Abuad student, something that will keep you involved, mostly pictures display.. We also featured the last convocation.

Has this magazine been actually produced?

‘we did a prototype last session,200 copies just to inform people of the edition that will be coming, and now it’s been completely compiled. The production will be done in a few days, and series will be out soon’

14. How much will this magazine be sold?

‘looking at the cost of production, it’s quite high, its direct imaging, which is over a thousand naira, but what we are concerned about is not money, we are concerned with doing something different, so it will be sold for N1000.’

15.  Finally, your success has earned you many fans, admirers, you are a role model too many, what do you have to say to them?

‘I thank my fans, I thank the critics, I thank everyone, it’s been a wonderful time spent with every one of them, and I thank God that so far so good I have been able to influence a lot of people positively.

 I roll with everybody and  I don’t shy away from people. I want to encourage all my fans to be consistent in whatever they do, because consistency is one very vital element of success. I am privileged to have met great people who have in one way, or the other, influenced my life unconsciously, but during my later life I started realising that these things helped me, and I read a lot. I believe there is power in reading, it throws you above your contemporaries and it makes you a force to be reckoned with. So I encourage you to read deeply, read outside your field of study, be unique, focused and above all, disciplined.

 Just before I close this session, for the male readers, what football club do you support?

‘**smiles**I support all clubs, the winners specifically’

16. And I’m sure our female readers would like to know your favourite fashion combination?

‘I don’t really have any specific fashion combination,’

17.  So on a typical Saturday, what would you wear?

‘I go simple, t-shirt, trousers and palm slippers, I also like quality, I buy expensive uniforms, trousers, shirts because it gives me confidence.

Well, thank you Tommy, its been lovely having this interview with you..

‘Thank you, it’s been a wonderful moment with you too. I appreciate this opportunity, and I hope those reading this interview will be influenced in one way or the other ’