Amazing throwback: 11 Most Influential Nigerians Under 20

10. Mervis Ifeoma Emelife – 19

She is not just sexy, she is calm and reserved. A writer, poet and motivational speaker, she deserves to be known. She founded Young Visionaries Initiative of Nigeria (which is a youth based organization that focuses on changing the negative mindset that most young people have about their purpose in life, education, success and corruption). Sounds didactic, yes? Well, in 2008, a documentary of her life as a Nigerian teenager was aired by ChannelOne News in New York to about six million students in the US via 24/17 TV. Currently a student of Mass Communication at the Nnamdi Azikiwe University, she is the editor of a magazine in Lagos. Earlier this year, she travelled to the ancient city of Addis Ababa to present a paper on ‘Young People and Stigmatization of People Living with HIV/AIDS’ at the 4th African Conference on Sexual Health and Rights.

Mervis Ifeoma Emelife co-founded Change Link Initiative, a non-profit campaign in Lagos Nigeria that teaches young people how to be responsible citizens.

11. Aboyeji E. Iyinoluwa – 19

Those who know him very well, find it difficult to believe he got so polished and became this articulate so early. He is politically engaged, maybe thoughtfully and comment-wise. But he’s just 19 and is currently studying at University of Waterloo in Canada, where he heads a publishing firm. He has written articles on the fates of international students in Canada, highlighting their plight. He is very charismatic and persistent, which is why he made the list anyway, but he should set his mind on accomplishing goals that will engage the young Nigerian.

Iyin is one of the brightest people in the Nigerian technology scene. Over the last seven years he has been a youth activist at the United Nations, President of a student owned media company and a serial entrepreneur who has started, grown and sold angel and venture backed companies in the impact entrepreneurship space. He co-founded Andela, and is currently co-founder and MD of Flutterwave, a provider of technology and infrastructure solutions for digital payments across Africa.

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Original list was written by Onyeka Nwelue, a controversial cultural entrepreneur, filmmaker, and author who is best known for his novel The Abyssinian Boy, which was published when he was 21, won the TM Aluko Prize for Fiction, and came second at the Ibrahim Tahir Prize for First Book. He has been nominated thrice for The Future Awards Africa and was a recipient of the Prince Claus Ticket Grant in 2013.