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| Benjamin Kambai Dankaka |
Benjamin
Kambai Dankaka was born in Kaduna, Northern Nigeria. He attended Command Children (Primary) School and Command
Secondary School, in Kaduna before transferring to the
Federal Government College in Kaduna where he completed his high school
education in 1998. Benjamin intended to study law because there was no attorney
in the family and his parents really wished for one, but he did not secure the
scores on the senior school certificate examinations organized by the West
African Examination Council, to do so.
Compelled
to wait for another year while some of his school peers gained admission to university,
Benjamin found himself reflecting on his life. He realized that he needed to
follow his own dreams, not those set for him by others, and determined to discover
his unique talents. He read books on self-development, including Dale
Carnegie’s How to Win Friends and
Influence Others and The Art of
Public Speaking and began to follow their advice. In April 2000, although
he lacked experience in the media, Mr. Dankaka walked into the government-owned
Kaduna State Media Corporation and requested to see the Director for
Radio Programs, who, after several unsuccessful attempts, he was able to
convince to give him an opportunity to co-present on an existing youth-focused radio
program for no pay.
In
September 2000, Mr. Dankaka gained admission to a
Bachelor’s of Arts degree program to study English Literature at Ahmadu
Bello University (ABU) in Zaria.
AT ABU, Mr. Dankaka participated in campus literary events, won an award for
play writing, and became the Editor-In-Chief of his Department’s literary
association. Inspired by his writing successes and having some extra time due
to constant strikes by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), in
2004, Mr. Dankaka established Fly magazine
with some friends. Their aim was to celebrate the achievements of the youth of
Northern Nigeria.
Even
though Fly magazine crumbled soon
after its first issue, it was viewed as an important initiative and Mr. Dankaka
subsequently was invited to participate in Debate to Action a British
Council and World Bank
Initiative aimed at
building capacity in Nigerian youth organizations. He graduated from ABU in
2005, but found himself thinking a lot about the demise of his undergraduate
initiative, Fly magazine. Mr. Dankaka
came to the conclusion that due to most young people not being raised
surrounded by books and people passionate about them, but only reading to pass
examinations and acquire academic titles or certificates, they did not develop
a culture of reading.Wanting
to “be the change” and promote a culture of reading, Mr. Dankaka determined to
gain some additional skills. He completed a proficiency certificate in
Management from the Nigerian Institute of Management (NIM) in November 2007 and was made a Full
Member of the Chartered Institute of Public
Management, Nigeria.
New
skills in hand, Mr. Dankaka took a position as an Executive Editor at Rise
Communications for a year and, in January 2008, founded the non-governmental
organization Global Leaders & Readers Club
(GLRC). With the
assistance of some associates, he began to host six months of reading workshops
in local high schools. His “Readers and Leaders Campaign” was a great success, reached
over 200 students, and was publicized in newspapers and on television and
radio. Kaduna State Media Corporation even granted Mr. Dankaka 15 minutes of
free airtime to convey his campaign’s messages to radio listeners.
In
November 2008, Mr. Dankaka’s reading campaign initiative was chosen from among
more than 70 youth projects for recognition in the TOP12 Nigeria Youth Works Competition, an initiative of Youngstars
Foundation, with
support from the British Council
and the Nigerian
Federal Ministry of Youth Development and Mr. Dankaka was honored with an
award for promoting literacy development.
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| 2015 Mandela Washington Fellows at VCU, Richmond, USA |
In
an effort to reach an even wider audience than through GLRC alone, Mr. Dankaka
wrote two books, the Reader's Manual on reading
and learning strategies, and the Leader's Manual on career strategies and leadership skills, which were both
published in early 2010. The books were very successful and their sales have
helped to fund and support GLRC initiatives.
Mr.
Dankaka’s success with promoting a culture of reading among Nigeria’s youth led
to a request by the Senator representing his constituency to join her team of
legislative aides for a four year term (2011 -2015). Mr. Dankaka gained and valuable
experience processing legislative instruments through his service as
legislative assistant in the Nigerian National Assembly, Abuja.
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| 2015 Mandela Washington Fellows from Nigeria |
In
September 2012, Mr. Dankaka took on an additional, major position, one for
which he volunteered for no pay. At the invitation of the organization’s
founder, he became the Secretary on the Board of Trustees of the
non-governmental organization, Water for Rural Dwellers Development Initiative.
Mr. Dankaka accepted the invitation because
he was inspired by the Abuja-based group’s efforts to provide adequate and
potable water to rural communities in Nigeria. While engaged with the two major
initiatives described, Mr. Dankaka also completed a post-graduate diploma in
Journalism from International Institute of Journalism, Abuja in 2014.
Mr.
Dankaka’s ongoing efforts to support Nigerian communities were recognized with
two major international honors in 2015. One was an invitation to reduce the world’s
number of out-of-school children by serving as one of 500 “A World at School” Global Youth
Ambassadors. The other was a prestigious Mandela Washington Fellowship through the US Department of State. The
Fellowship supported Mr. Dankaka for six weeks of study in Public Management at
Virginia Commonwealth University, in
Richmond, in the USA. At the Fellowship’s conclusion Mr. Dankaka attended a
Presidential Summit in Washington where he was honored by Barak Obama for his
leadership.
In
late 2015, Mr. Dankaka secured a grant from the US Embassy in Nigeria to
introduce his Readers and Leaders Campaign to 600 students in 10 rural schools
near Abuja, helping him to further expand the work of GLRC, which has already
trained over 2,000 students. His latest GLRC campaign, “Take the Lead,” is
based on his newest writing project, the PCS Leadership Manual, and the ideology that anyone can take the
lead through People-leadership, Career-leadership and Self-leadership.
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| Readers & Leaders Workshop in Govt. Sec. Sch. Dutsen Alhaji -Bwari, FCT. |
Dankaka
is of the opinion that the concern of
the world shouldn’t be the presence of bad leaders but rather the absence of
good leaders. Hence, Benjamin is committed to spending his entire life
showing young people how to become great leaders in their various fields of
interest.
His hobbies include reading and traveling.
His hobbies include reading and traveling.
Social Media Handles
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Facebook: Ben Dankaka
