John Obidi in 2018

John Obidi is a Nigerian born Entrepreneur, Social Media strategist, award winning business coach and international public speaker based in the UAE.

His reputation for unconventional wisdom has not only paved way for him as a figure of influence for over 190,000 individuals, but has made him highly sought after in the business sphere.

Early Life and Education

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Born to Nigerian parents in Rivers State, but originally from Ibusa in Delta State, Nigeria, John Obidi, the first son of a pastor was born on the 9th of September 1986.

Not much is known about his early education except that he schooled in Delta state, partly in Lagos State when they resided in Surulere. He also Federal Government College, Ogbomosho and also in Rivers State where he finished his Secondary Education. The exact respective order of his schooling isn’t clear yet, but he did change schools growing up.

At first he attended the University of Port Harcourt before switching to the prestigious Benson Idahosa University, a private University founded by Bishop Benson Idahosa, located in Edo state, Nigeria. John graduated and holds a bachelor’s degree in computer science from the university.[1]

Family Life

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John Obidi is currently unmarried, though recently, a ruckus began to spread that he might have married secretly, but he has since debunked the rumor with a pictorial evidence.

Career

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Leaving University, John who was from a middle class family with no connections and knowledge of how the world is run joined the millions of graduates looking for a job. Eventually, he found one in Delta State, a job whose role demanded that he becomes an IT instructor to young people willing to learn web development and programming.

Working on that job wasn’t what the young john Obidi wanted, but he had to manage it, while building his influence on social media, with Facebook being his most active platform. This, he did in his spare time and soon, his community grew largely due to the influence of his weekly video webinars which he currently hosts live on YouTube now, on Saturdays.

In 2013 came when he had to travel to Lagos for the first time to attend a seminar convened by Steve Harris. That journey left an indelible mark in him, that afterwards, he moved to Lagos as a resident.  As a means of survival, he took up volunteering roles utilizing his IT skills, landing paid gigs once in a while.

Despite all these, he kept building his influence online, teaching people what he knows about business, with time, brands like MTN, a south Africa owned telecom operating in Nigeria partnered with him

As his reputation grew, he founded an online community of Intentional Youths in 2014, called SmartBcamp, which was later renamed Headstart Africa and currently has over 170,000 members on Facebook.

As a highly sought after public speaker, he has been invited to various countries to lecture on topic areas like entrepreneurship, personal development and future technology strategy.

Awards and Recognitions

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John Obidi has been featured in various media publications, both in Nigeria and in the international space, among them is the likes of Business Day, Channels TV. Etc.[2]

In 2013, he got nominated for the Future Africa Awards, though he didn’t get the laurel the first time, but in 2018, he was re-nominated and won the award.

He has also been selected among Avance’s 100 most influential young Nigerians, among many other awards.

He currently is a lecturer at the Lagos Business School, a prestigious business learning institution that empowers entrepreneurs with the requisites for building a sustaining working business.

One of the most notable thing about him is his rare wit, something that has made him a distant mentor and role model to thousands of people, majority being Nigerian youths.

He is often referred to as: King John, King JO, Daddy JO, Emperor John among others

References

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Kadigest

The Guardian Newspaper

LBS

www.johnobidi.com

References

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  1. ^ "John Obidi: Giving Young People in Africa a HeadStart". KA Digest - Motivation | Quotes | Africans (Formerly KonnectAfrica.Net). 2019-02-26. Retrieved 2024-09-24.
  2. ^ "John Obidi Archives". The Guardian Nigeria News - Nigeria and World News. Retrieved 2024-09-24.