The Social Entrepreneur Who Promotes Nigeria through Music, Comic Books and Festivals
To comprehend Oriteme Banigo’s philosophy towards life and work, it helps to contextualize where he comes from. Banigo had a light-bulb moment in Dennis Shaughnessy’s class on social entrepreneurship at Northeastern 12 years ago, where things changed for him. Banigo recalls saying that they were taught that in whatever venture they do, there is a social impact; therefore, there needs to be a positive impact.
This philosophy has led to everything that he does, and there are no limits of projects vying for his time and attention. Banigo runs a publishing company that develops, produces, and distributes comic books teaching the history and culture of Nigeria. He also runs an entertainment company which outs on an annual beach music festival in Lagos. Banigo is also involved in advocacy work in his community in Lagos.
Shaughnessy’s class not only led to the beginning of these entrepreneurial pursuits for him but also left him with invaluable lessons that hardened back to a sage piece of advice he keeps. He says that his father always taught him that whatever he does, he needs to bring value to people, value to his family, value to his friend, and value to his workplace.
Banigo graduated from Northeastern with a degree in economics at the height of the Great Recession, then later moved back home to Lagos and started working at a bank for some years to fulfill a Nigerian mandate which requires citizens to work a minimum wage job in corporate, education or health for at least a year.
According to Banigo, who was raised by a Harvard-educated father together with his siblings, it was always his plans to move back. He said that he thought it would have been a waste to live somewhere else and not utilize his resources in Nigeria to achieve what he wanted in terms of impact.
Reference
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