My Millennium Fellowship Intro Story

This is me. Officially, I am simply Emmanuel Opatola. However, I was blessed with 13 names at birth; the commonest being Emmanuel, Promise or Anuoluwapo. Some people refer to me as Anu or Opa, and I’m okay with either. I am a student of Materials and Metallurgical engineering with interest and knowledge in several fields ranging from STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics), History, International Relations, Politics, Tourism, Geography, Sports, Business and Finance to Social Impact. I also love thrilling and exciting genres of music and movies, traveling, researching, competitions, personal, professional and community development. Hey, don’t think of me as a master or superman here, I am just this young lad who is an enthusiastic learner of life and development with the aim of becoming the best always.

I am one of the sons of two primary school teachers who work in a local community in Kwara State. Thus, I can boldly tell you what poor education system is all about in my country. Even though I schooled at one of the best primary and secondary schools back then, I had limited access to the relevant skills and knowledge. The local community’s situation gets worse by the day due to unequal access to education, deprivation and negligence of students, lack of educational resources and so on. Some of the students over there cannot even proceed to the next level of education without engaging in malpractices. You should not even expect the schooling system that could not equip the students with proper educational literacy to equip them with relevant skills and knowledge for development. People are just out there in the market to sell without products and services.

An event that happened on the frazzled night of March 6, 2019 left a great impact on me. The night sky was aglow with bright city lights, the loud sounds of the commentator translated the whole showroom into a moment of tranquillity. It all happened when Marcus Rashford collected the UCL ball from Romelu, placed it on the penalty spot and took a few steps backward, ready to shoot the ball against one of the goalkeeping G.O.A.T at Parc des Princes in Paris. Time seemed to slow down as all of us waited to see if Marcus would carry out the responsibility of advancing his team to the next round of the UEFA champions league by scoring that goal. At that very moment, I froze like a fish in the deep freezer. My eyes were glued to the screen waiting to see a miracle that will change history. The ref blew the whistle and he knuckled the ball straight into the net.

Recovering from that experience, I realized that I have to take the ball (responsibility) like Marcus, set it on the penalty spot (plan and ideate), take few steps backward (learn, volunteer and prepare) to contribute to the positive recreation of a narrative for the educational system in Nigeria. From that very moment, I began to design a path for actualization. I studied the system, interacted with it and set out my path. My zeal for development in becoming a good advocate for United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 4: Quality Education, drove me into a series of activities. I researched a lot about education, attended related conferences and webinars organized locally and internationally, followed and engaged with local and international educational organizations. I volunteered for several organizations pursuing my interests and passion for education in order to enhance my audacity, tenacity, pro-activeness, knowledge bank and insights in advancing the goal.

Mark F. LaMoure once said, “aim to be the blue ribbon best. Develop yourself from practice, to become exceptional. Raise your standards and be the best”. This quote triggered me to raise my standards last year as regards the dedication to my personal development. In a bid to do this, I became an opportunity hunter. Daily, I hunted for relevant and opened opportunities. In November 2019, I came across the sensational Millennium Fellowship application for the class of 2020 at HeySuccess.com. I scanned through the eligibility and requirements and I was like oh nice, this is beautiful! Maybe I should just try it out since it fits in into my career specifications.

Oh well, I bookmarked it and forgot about it until January 2020 when Grace Abikoye invited me for a particular programme. I decided to check her online status and I found out that she an alumnus of the fellowship. I accepted her request and asked her about the fellowship to which she didn’t only answer, but explained the whole fellowship process to me in details. Sighs! I left the application; shied away from it simply because I forgot what I can do and what God has in store for me.

On April 27, a day after my birthday, the Millennium Fellowship had a cameo appearance on my WhatsApp via a group broadcast message. I then had a heavy burden to give it a shot because it’s a rightful position for me this session. I finally applied after seeking the face of God in prayers. I submitted the first round application just 3 hours to the deadline. I told someone about it and he said, “sorry bro, I don’t think it’s gonna happen“. Few hours later, I received a mail stating that the deadline had been extended by 10 days. The mail was followed by another mail propelling me to the second and final round. Omg! The second round application questions freaked me out! At a time, I thought I was applying for a scholarship or grant (lol). I started answering the questions as early as possible because I wanted to submit early this time.

Unfortunately, I submitted on the final day again, because my phone developed some funny problems. I had even thought I wouldn’t get to submit the application. During that period, I was simultaneously drafting my essays and sending them out for reviews. Thank God for my support system (Solomon, Bowale, Ifeoluwa, Morenike, Daniel, Patricia and Engr. James, my level adviser) and their unlimited reviews and support. When I spotted the space for campus director during the application, I thought to myself, why can’t I apply? After all, the captain or penalty taker of any team is not necessarily the best player in the team. That night, I realized that the Marcus effect on March 6, 2019 had transferred something to me. It had transferred a sense of responsibility to me that night as my eyes were locked on the screen.

I had mixed feelings after my second round submission on the deadline because of the time, responsibilities, and fear of rejection. My support group kept encouraging me and giving me assurance of hope and optimism. Someone even said, “your application isn’t your best, it is the best”. I felt the energies all around me until I didn’t get a mail of acceptance or rejection from MCN, 1-5 days after the supposed day of announcement. I found several news on the internet about the announcement but I didn’t receive anything. On the fifth day, I messaged some members of my support system, appreciated them and decided to walk away for a better and stronger application in 2021.

Well, the acceptance mail popped up about 18 hours later! My admission into the fellowship ignited my desire to do more. It birthed hope for me and many young people around me about the possibilities of attaining greater heights locally and internationally. Getting into the Millennium Fellowship is a dream come true for me because it has given me the opportunity to fulfill one of my career goals for 2020. I am just so excited that this fellowship will give me the right knowledge and trainings for my purpose. The joy of meeting innovative and brilliant people across the globe also spiked my happiness.

My fellowship project- iFuture is aimed at promoting quality education by giving opportunities to students in secondary schools and tertiary institutions to gain access to relevant skills that will enhance their full participation in the society. iFuture will expose them to the lifestyle needed in the corporate world and give them access to tools that will help them develop their leadership experience and make them active citizens. Students will be equipped with skills for empowerment, maximum learning, employability, future of work, technology, global citizenship and sustainability. As a milked lad from one of the disconnected parts of the world, I understand what it means to lack access to the right knowledge and skills. This motivated me to embark on this project. Let’s change the narrative and set out a glorious path for all.

In conclusion, I have these words for you from Chadwick Boseman: “Sometimes you need to feel the pain and sting of defeat to activate the real passion and purpose that God predestined inside of you”. God says in Jeremiah, “I know the plans I have for you, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future”. When God has something for you, it doesn’t matter who stands against it; God will move someone that’s holding you back away from the door and put someone there who will open it for you, if it’s meant for you. I don’t know what your future is, but if you are willing to take the harder way, the more complicated one, the one with more failures at first than successes, the one that has ultimately proven to have more meaning, more victory, more glory, then you will not regret it. Now, this is your time”.