Babajide Akeredolu serves as President of the Nigeria American Football Association (NAFA), a Not-for-Profit Organization that primarily focuses on the promotion and development of American Football in Nigeria. It is currently the only grassroots focused endeavor which has to date introduced over 450,000 people to the game of American football in 11 states.
He holds two master’s degrees in chemical engineering from the Colorado School of Mines and in Mining Engineering from Queen’s University, Canada respectively. A former technical consultant at Worley Nigeria Limited, a public policy enthusiast & strategic communications expert, Babajide served as a producer and host on Nigeria’s pioneer internet radio, Gidilounge Radio early in his career.
Over the past decade, Babajide has held various roles, culminating in his appointment as Special Adviser and Director General of the Ondo State Performance and Project Implementation Monitoring Unit, the first subnational delivery unit to be recognized by the African Development Bank (AFDB) centre for Excellence .During his tenure as Director General, bringing his strategic communication expertise he created a podcast and christened it Project Checkpoint with the aim of continuing in his effort to consistently drive effective and simplified government messaging for the grassroots. He was also a key player in the evolved partnerships the Ondo State Government entered into with BudgIT and the UNDP.
He is the President of the Pentagon Movement Group (PMG) a nonpartisan support group dedicated to grassroot political education and development, and a member of the All-Progressives Congress National Youth Lobby committee whose efforts has led to an increase in youth participation in the Party in Ondo State from a paltry 6% to over 30% representation in party positions. Babajide is a lover of arts and culture and not just as collector but as someone who is creating a platform through his art foundation to drive the development and promotion of young African Contemporary art by providing new artists opportunities for growth, development and global recognition.
Babajide has employed the use of innovative technologies to train over 1500 people on applications of robotics and drone technology for social good and advancement through the Nigeria Flylabs, an outfit he helped cofound. He also cofounded Emerging Communities Africa (ECA), an NGO that has partnered with the European Union on creating opportunities between innovation hubs in underserved communities in Nigeria and the EU.
