Include Media Marketing, Content Creation as Full-time Courses, Entrepreneur Urges Nigerian Tertiary Institutions 

The founder of The Creative Ally, Iseunife Ajayi, has urged tertiary institutions in the country to include creative social media marketing, as well as content creation, as full time courses of study to equip more Nigerians in digital entrepreneurship.

Ajayi, who is also an analyst, fear that with Nigeria’s current educational system, Nigerian youths are missing out on an untapped goldmine. 

“Most Nigerian schools teach Digital Marketing from the ambit of mass communication or marketing. There is so much more to explore, like AI and Data-driven content creation, cinematography and video editing for social media, UI and UX design, among others. 

“We find people graduating from Nigerian schools and having to still go and apply to other online schools to learn these things. With a rising population of unemployed Nigerians, it is clear that we have to go back to the drawing board,” Ajayi said in a chat with THISDAY. 

The creative communications and marketing strategist also explained how he was able to leverage his passions for social media to build his businesses.

“I was still in my late teens when I became a founding member of the Digital Media Practitioners of Nigeria, when it was formed. Making me the youngest founding member. 

“Before my full switch to the corporate side, I was actively involved in the music scene, putting out constant content dissecting the space and industry in general. In 2015, I had the tweet with the most retweets by a Nigerian then (40,000 retweets). It propelled me to take on bigger projects. 

“Today, I have led and been involved in hundreds of Digital Marketing campaigns and projects for multinational and global, as well as local brands across different industries. These have been for brands like Nescafe, Google, Bolt, Coca Cola, Lloyd’s Insurance UK, Silverbird, Quickteller, Access Bank, Premier Cool, Unilever, AMAA awards, KrispyKreme, Airtel, Silverbird UBA, YouTube, Abuja Chamber of Commerce and Industry Nigeria (ACCiNigeria), Sigma Pensions, Spotify, to mention a few.” 

The media mogul also advised Nigerian students currently affected by the lingering closure of universities due to the strike by their teachers to utilise their time by signing up for online courses on digital entrepreneurship.