Hon. Dayo Israel was appointed by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu as Chairman of Federal Medical Center Abeokuta, Ogun State alongside 41 high profile personalities. Dayo who also doubles as the National Youth Leader of the ruling party, All Progressives Congress (APC) is one young man who wealth of experience and consistency continued to pave a way for him.
Dayo Israel was born on January 29, 1986, in Mushin, Lagos and grew up on Jebba Street, Oyingbo, Ebute-Metta, Lagos where at the age of nine, Dayo started the only child-led non-governmental organisation (NGO) in Nigeria at the time – General Action Against the Violation of Human and Children’s Rights, an organisation that spearheaded the campaign for the promotion of children’s rights after Nigeria’s transition from Military rule in 1999. As a result of this, he was elected to the Nigerian Children’s Parliament at the age of 14 and became the first deputy senate president of the Children’s Parliament for Nigeria. At the age of 15, he started attending meetings for the United Nations (UN) and also took his first trip to Europe under the Global Peace Walk. A year later, he travelled to London with the British Council as a speaker for Connecting Future’s Programme and also spoke at a UN General Assembly Special Session on Children. He continued to be involved in many other notable global activities which were committed to children’s rights.
Dayo strides in youth advocacy stamped his name in the corridors endearing enormous achievements including becoming an Alumnae of the Harvard Business School, Cambridge, Judge Business School, the Executive Development Program of the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, and the London Metropolitan University. He was named one of the 100 Most Influential People of African Descent (under 40) as part of the 2017 celebration of the UN Decade for people of Africa Descent at the One UN Plaza in New York. Dayo was dubbed a member of the British Council Global Change Makers Network, Connecting Futures Program, and Fellow of the US State Department International Visitors Leadership Program (IVLP) that has produced over 400 Heads of Government globally. He had twice been recognised in 2016 and 2017 as one of 50 UK’s brightest young leaders. He was also recognised as one of the top 25 Promising Nigerian Youths under 35 to Serve Nigeria in 2016 and as one of Africa’s top 30 most inspirational young people of 2013. He was specially invited by Queen Elizabeth II and the Duke of Edinburgh, to a private reception at Buckingham Palace, as a result of his contribution to Africa Diaspora Development, and remains the only ever recipient of the Young PEWA.
The 2023 general election was no mere test for Dayo to sway the largely disgruntled and embittered youths to not only vote for the All Progressives Congress (APC) but for the presidential ticket of Sen. Bola Ahmed Tinubu and Sen. Kashim Shettima which many had branded a Muslim Muslim ticket. It is no exaggeration to say Dayo transverse the length and breadth of the country engaging the children of state governors, ministers and party leaders to campaign in every nook and cranny with the message of Renewed Hope. The intensity of that campaign was not one that “Babariga” or “Kaftan” could grapple with, as Dayo adopted the military regalia and enjoined all his followers to brace up as soldiers in the fight for a Nigeria of Renewed Hope driven by Senator Bola Ahmed Tinubu to deliver on the aspirations of every Nigerian irrespective of religion, tribe or ethnicity.
Many will not forget Dayo in hurry for his passionate gusto in the general election that brandished the youth arm of the party in a way that had never been seen before.