Adewunmi Emoruwa

Adewunmi Emoruwa is a Nigerian political thought leader and media investor. He is a global opinion contributor on Africa for a number of international media platforms including BBC World and Al-Jazeera. He is known as an initiator and one of the leaders of the successful campaign to reduce the age eligibility requirement for elective political offices in Nigeria.
Education
Adewunmi is an alumnus of the Graduate Institute Geneva where he completed his master's degree in Advocacy in International Affairs and Policy Making. Prior to this, he obtained an executive certificate in Political Communications and Campaigning at King's College London. He was also part of the 2014 cohort of the Emerging Leaders Program.
Ventures
As the Chief Operating Officer at Gatefield, a Sub-Saharan Africa public strategy and media group, Adewunmi has led investments in media ventures including online television platform Gatefield TV. He also recently acquired minority stake in policy-focused news website TheScoopNG.
Social Impact
Journalism and Media
The Election Network
Adewunmi is a partner at The Election Network, a civic organisation focused on elections and elections integrity across the globe. The organisation became a go-to source for analysis on the situation with the Nigerian 2019 Elections with him as the key spokesperson.
Machaha
He initiated and funded Machaha.com (Make Change Happen), a social impact journalism project that supported journalists to create reports on pressing social and development challenges in underrepresented communities that are often ignored by mainstream media and made it available for free under the Creative Commons license. The project funded several respected and upcoming Nigerian journalists including Eromo Egbejule, Mercy Abang and Nelly Ating. One of the stories published and funded by this project was reused by CNN in 2017.
Freedoms and Democracy
Building democratic societies and freedoms appears to be of significance to Mr. Adewunmi. On several occasions Adewunmi has risen and lent his voice in defence of journalists, activists and institutions whose independence are threatened. In one of such instances, he spoke and mobilized against the politically motivated arrest of a Nigerian blogger by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission. On several occasions, he has supported Zimbabwean activists in their efforts to become a more democratic society. In 2017, he was one of the key speakers at the Shoko Festival. A Zimbabwean newspaper also reported him as condemning the recent internet shutdown by the President Mnangagwa administration. Ahead of the Nigerian general elections, Adewunmi warned in a widely circulated article for AlJazeera English, that the democracy in his country is "fading away."
Non Communicable Diseases
He is passionate about the control of NCDs with a special focus on Tobacco Control. His company, Gatefield leads digital advocacy activities on behalf the Washington DC based Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids in Nigeria including providing support for the passage of policies that help to protect young people and minors from its harmful consequences.

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