Abayomi Rotimi Mighty

Abayomi Rotimi Mighty (born 29 March, 1985), also known as ARMA, is a development expert, Social Worker, Advocate for Grassroots, Public Speaker, Strategist, Poet, Writer, Personal Development trainer, and a Content Writer (which includes song composing).

He is the Executive Director of Women Trafficking and Child Labour Eradication Foundation (WOTCLEF) founded by (Mrs.) Amina Titi Atiku Abubakar, the wife of the former Vice President of Nigeria (1999-2007), Atiku Abubakar.
He is regarded a legend in the youth development work in Africa because of the historic speech he made at the tender age of 16 when he led the African Youth Delegation and spoke at the African Leaders Summit on HIV/AIDS, TB and other Infectious Related Diseases held in April 2001 in Abuja.
Early Life
Abayomi was born on March 29, 1985 in Ijebu Ode to the family of Lance Corporal Rotimi Audu and Ms. Janet Ubi. His mother is from Ugep of Cross Rivers (South South Nigeria) and his father is from Ijebu Ode of Ogun State (South West Nigeria). He had his early childhood in the Army Barrack in Keffi which was in Plateau State at the time. He started his Primary education at Army Children School Keffi. In 1989, when he was just four years old, his father and mother separated.
From a broken home, Abayomi Mighty and his only older brother (from same parents) grew with his paternal grandmother in Ijebu Ode when his father was sent to Sierra Leone for the ECOMOG peace keeping mission as his father was a soldier in the Nigerian Army.
Education and Social Work at 11
In 1996, at the age of 11, while in Junior Secondary School (JSS 2), he started social work by advocating for Equality Amongst Secondary School Students No Matter The Uniforms.
He was among the youngsters who started speaking in public to promote human rights and equality. He was described as a bold and fierce teenager who speaks like an elder and had the burden of liberating marginalized people in Africa. By 1997 at the age of 12, he was discovered and trained by Youth Action Project (YAP) as a Peer Health Educator which enhanced his knowledge base of social work and this fueled his passion for social work. In the same year, 1997, he started writing for a community News Magazine.
In 1998 at 13, he was as well trained as a Child Rights Activist by Justice Development and Peace Commission owned by the Catholic Mission.
His Advocacy, Activism and Rise to Global Fame
At 14 in 1999, Abayomi led a serious campaign against excess beating of students by teachers within his school (Moslem Comprehensive High School, Imepe, Ijebu Ode). Through a CONVINCING SPEECH that won the heart of his principal, beating was reduced to just two strokes of cane for an offence and six for a serious offence.
In April 26, 2001 at the tender age of 16, Abayomi Rotimi Mighty made global headlines as a great speaker and activist when he led the African Youths Delegation to the historic African Summit on HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Other Infectious Diseases in 2001 that produced the Abuja Declaration as the United Nations Youths Spokesperson (Ambassador) for African Youths and children. He was nominated by UNICEF.
His very powerful presentation stimulated African Leaders to start taking strategic actions against HIV/AIDS by involving Young People in the process like never before. He boldly called for Youth-Adult Partnership to combat HIV/AIDS in Africa. This call to action has gone down memory lane as a call that opened doors for massive youth inclusion in decision making process across Africa..
"You are the people who tell us to go to fight when there is war; you are the people that ask us to join rallies in election campaigns. Now we need you to fight with us against HIV/AIDS" .
Career in Development Work
He was the Leader of the African Youth Delegation to the African Leaders Summit on HIV/AIDS, TB and other Infectious Related Diseases. His speech as the UN Chosen African Youth Spokesperson became globally recognised as one of the best youth speeches ever made by an African youth to the point that www.un.org talked about the power of his speech in a global press release.
After joining other global young leaders at the historic World Youth Forum in Dakar in August 2001, he was employed as the Director of Youth Programmes in Women’s Health Organisation of Nigeria WHON, the mother organization of Youth Action Project that discovered and trained him as a Peer Educator.
At the age of 16, he founded Caution and Moral Filled Adolescent Group (CAMOFAG) through which he has inspired several people. By 2002 at the age of 17, he changed the name of CAMOFAG to AMEN meaning Adolescent Moral Encouragers in Nigeria.
Over the years, he helped to establish so many Youth led initiatives across the nation. To him, young people must start to take full responsibility of the development of their communities. He inspired many young people to become responsible and proactive leaders in their communities.
In May 2011, due to his deep experience in community development work which at the time had spanned over thirteen years, Abayomi Mighty was employed as the Project Manager of AdeGrange Child Foundation; an NGO founded by Nigeria’s Former Minister of Health Prof. Adenike Grange who incidentally happens to be the Head of the NGO that discovered Abayomi Mighty in 1997. Within a short period, due to his performance, he was promoted to the position of Executive Director of Adegrange Child Foundation which he effectively utilised before he resigned to start (NovoHub), a Development Consulting Firm that focuses on Social Entrepreneurship development, Policy Analysis and development, Ideas generation and Strategy with a passion to help NGOs achieve their missions effectively.
In January 2012, Abayomi Mighty founded the online platform of Group Of Advanced Leaders (GOAL) to be a social media advocacy group that will discuss qualitatively on issues that has to do with the development around the world with strong interest in Nigeria and Africa.
In 2017, Abayomi was appointed as the Executive Director of Women Trafficking and Child Labour Foundation(WOTCLEF), a leading nonprofit organization that combat human trafficking and rehabilitate victims.
International Recognition Of His Speech
Though young, Abayomi Mighty got a global cheer for his bravery in speech making at the Summit.
His speech was described by an article on Harvard University's website as the speech with fire in it.
Impacts Of His Speech
The OAU Summit held in Nigeria from April 24 to 27, 2001 was a major factor in the fight against HIV/AIDS and Youth Development in Africa because of the significance of the Abuja Declaration and the The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria.
On Thursday, April 26 at the International Conference Centre, Abuja; Abayomi Mighty addressed world leaders in the conference.
Notable people who spoke also that day includes Kofi Annan, Bill Clinton,Jeffery Sachs and the then Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo.
Like the famous "I have a dream" Speech of Martin Luther King, Jr., Abayomi Mighty's speech played a major role in the establishment and success of Youth Involvements in decision making process in Africa which is contained in the document made by the African Union. He made a bold call for Youth-adult partnership in Africa.
In his speech, he said,
"You, the leaders of our nations, must make a commitment today to work with us. You are the people who tell us to go to fight when there is war; you are the people that ask us to join rallies in election campaigns. Now we need you to fight with us against HIV/AIDS. We are the ones dying and wasting."
(16 Years Old Abayomi Mighty speaking at the African Leaders Summit on the 26th of April, 2001 in Abuja).
Over the years, several young leaders have emerged all over Africa leading massive change in Policy and other areas of human endeavours. Some have even metamorphosed into political leaders while young but Abayomi Mighty's call for Youth-adult partnership in Africa remains a bold step that paid off.
Awards and Global Recognition
Abayomi Mighty was recommended for the prestigious Global New Leader for Tomorrow Award by Crans Montana Forum, Monaco and he was short-listed amongst the 2012 promotion and was eventually decorated with the award at the Crans Montana Forum held in Baku Azerbaijan.

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