We caught up with journalist, Adeola Fayehun, hosting her for a photoshoot and interview.

Adeola is the creator and presenter of a digital news show focused on the African continent. The show, Keeping It Real With Adeola, presents analysis on events and occurrences in Africa in a tongue-in-cheek and humorous manner.

We chose to interview her and highlight her work as she is among a rare group who are willing to speak truth to the injustices taking place across the African continent. She presents an unfiltered view of the continent- highlighting its good as well as its truly ugly. She does not shy away from calling out leaders who are not doing right by their people.

If you haven’t heard of her, open Youtube on your device and promptly search for “Adeola Fayehun”  or “Keeping It Real With Adeola.”

Adeola Fayehum is exactly what African journalism needs. She is a breath of fresh air and one of the voices still aiming to keep our leaders accountable for their actions so that we can build societies equitable for all.

Read the interview we did with her to better understand the person behind the personality we see online- and view images from our mini-shoot below.

Is what you are doing now what you had always planned on doing?  Did you think you would go into journalism or host a show such as the one you currently do?

When I was younger I wanted to be a lawyer. Just imagine me in the court room, I’ll probably be shouting, “Fadaaaa!!!” (Editor’s note: Father with an African accent. An exclamation Adeola uses regularly in her show.)

The whole time though, I would watch Femi Oke on CNN and mimic her. By the time I got to college, I knew I wanted to be a TV presenter.

However, moving to the US for college, made me feel like I was cheated all my life in Nigeria. Water was running nonstop, the roads were good, and for the first two weeks, I just stared at the lights in my room. They refused to flicker, I could no longer shout “Up NEPA!” (Editor’s note: When power is brought back after an outage in Nigeria, people usually scream “Up NEPA” to celebrate the restoration of electricity.) Plus there was no sound of power generators.

It’s so sad that we’ve gotten used to many things that are not right back home. I remember asking people in college, “where is the fence? What if robbers come?”

I wanted to call all Nigerian officials and ask them why we don’t always have these basic amenities consistently in my country. I guess that’s what led me to want to do African news and tell inspiring stories of Africans.

Lastly, it was very important for me to have fun and enjoy whatever I am doing.

I never thought this is what I would be doing per se, but when I combined all three – wanting to be a presenter, to tell African news, and to have fun- it makes sense that this is what am doing and I’m loving it!

Which of the stories that you’ve covered has touched you the most?

That’s like telling a mother to pick a favorite child!

I’ve done so many stories that touched me to the core. In fact, some have made me cry.

But besides sad stories, I’ve also been greatly touched by stories of success.

One of them is that of a former bus conductor who is now a professor in Australia. Like many of my viewers, I was greatly inspired by his story. He came from a poor family and had a dream of improving his lot.  I was especially impressed by how he held onto his dream for many years- committing to spend two hours daily on self-development. Even when he was homeless and sleeping on the floor of a church, he spent two hours daily either going to a cafe to apply for schools outside the country, reading inspirational books, or attending free success conferences. I like his story because it’s a reminder that success is not an accident. It’s something you work and prepare for. (A clip of the story is below.)

What gives you hope about the African continent?

Oh Africa will rise again. I don’t know when, but I’m sure she will. Forget about our leaders who continuously embarrass us, Africans are resilient, hard working, and creative.

Although Africans endure a lot because of the failure of our politicians, yet the African spirit is unbeatable! Even when we’re away from home, we thrive and standout. There’s a revolution going on already. It’s only a matter of time.

More images from our shoot are below

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Adeola’s Dress and Jumpsuit– @loveladybiba
Styling and Photography– @createwithIMO
Makeup– @queenhadassah_