The Woman Crush Sunday (WCS): Funmi Iyanda!

This is Oluwafunmilola Aduke Iyanda, popularly known as Funmi Iyanda. Funmi is a Nigerian entrepreneur, writer, film and TV producer, TV host and Philanthropist. She is the Executive Director of Oya Media, a London-based media production studio and brand advisory. Oya media develops, produces and facilitates films and TV shows for Cinema, television and the web. Funmi was the co-founder and the executive director at Creation Television UK and is best known for independently producing and hosting Nigeria’s most popular talk show, New Dawn.

Funmi Iyanda was born on the 27th of July, 1971 in Lagos to late Gabriel and Yetunde Iyanda. She hails from Ogbomosho, Oyo State. Even though her mother died when she was just 7 year old, she still made something out of her life. She attended African Church Princess Primary School, Akoka, Herbert Macaulay School in Lagos for her primary education and International School Ibadan for her secondary education. She has a daughter, Morenike Odegbami.

Funmi Iyanda has a Bachelor’s degree in Geography from University of Ibadan and also holds a certificate in Global Leadership and Public Policy from the Harvard Kennedy School. She is an honorary fellow of the University of Cumbria UK.

Funmi gathered experience from her previous works and sought a bigger platform to showcase her talent and this gave birth to New Dawn. New Dawn was a daily show on NTA 10 Lagos in 2000. The highly rated program was aired nationally for eight years making it the longest show on NTA. With her irreverent interview style, Funmi Iyanda became one of Nigeria’s most watched and respected TV personalities.

Even though she studied geography, her love for journalism drove her into producing and presenting ‘Good Morning Nigeria’. Good Morning Nigeria” became a hit with its ‘Heros’ and ‘Street Life’ segments which told the stories of people who are maligned in the society. It was a breakfast television show that focused on the injustices suffered by Nigerians.

Funmi also explored her deep passion for sports journalism. She anchored a sports show on MITV LIVE and later covered the 1999 female Football World Cup, the All Africa Games in Zimbabwe, 2000 and 2004 Olympic Games in Sydney and Athens respectively. She also worked on a documentary for the 2006 Africa Cup of Nations. 

In 2010, she started Talk with Funmi (TWF) which was directed by Chris Dada. TWF was an intersting show which captured the lives of celebrities and everyday Nigerians. To ensure the contents were unadulterated, she moved from state to state with her crew capturing thought provoking conversations of Nigerians.

In 2010 Funmi Iyanda completed production on My Country: Nigeria, a three-part documentary celebrating the 50th anniversary of the country’s independence, which was aired on the BBC World Service. Lagos Stories, one of the episodes of the documentary was subsequently nominated in the category for “Best News Documentary” at the 2011 Monte Carlo Television Festival in Monaco.

 In 2012 Funmi Iyanda and her creative partner Chris Dada released Chopcassava.com,an web series documenting the January 2012 fuel subsidy protests that took place in Lagos,Nigeria. It could not be aired on Nigerian TV, the web series presents an insider view of the Lagos protests, in which people of all classes took to the streets demanding a reversal of the 117% hike in petrol prices. It was nominated in the non-fiction web series category at the 2012 BANFF World Media Festival, in Alberta, Canada

She also started a show in 2017, Ask Funmi which is produced by Oya Media.  Ask Funmi’, is a web series that uncovers the truth in the thought and views of her guests. Her shows have been syndicated across Nigeria.

Over the years, Funmi Iyanda has successfully started four media companies and has produced many TV documentaries, shows, events and special communication project for media organisations. She is an avid writer and has written on a regular for Tempo Magazine. Funmi Iyanda has also written for PM News, Daily Trust, The Punch and Vanguard. She has also occasionally served as a guest columnist for Farafina Magazine.

Funmi Iyanda is the founder of Change-A-Live (CAL) Foundation, a social intervention program birthed on one of her show, New Dawn in 2002. Change-A-Live Foundation was created to support families who have experienced trauma as a result of Nigeria’s government failure, ethnic and religious conflict and crime.

In 2009, the social intervention program evolved into non-profit organisation with over 150 beneficiaries under its care. CAL connects the less privilege with academic, entrepreneurial and leadership potential with individuals, agencies and organisation that has the capacity to meet their needs. This is done through educational scholarships, vocational trainings, business grants and women empowerment. The foundation has affected the lives of many indigent, families and children through its scholarship, healthcare, counseling and Microfinance schemes.

She is a board member of the Tutu Africa Leadership Institute, Change-A-Life Foundation and Aspen Institutes Global Leaders Network. Funmi also serves on the board of Farafina Trust and Positive Impact Youth Network.Funmi Iyanda was an active member of the Nigerian Football Association between 1995 and 2003. She was also appointed as UN woman global equality champion in 2015. 

She won the 2011 Forbes’ 20 Youngest Powerful African Women. In 2012, she received the Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum. In 2012, she was honoured by the Lagos State Governor, Babatunde Raji Fashola, for her commitment to gender advocacy as she returned from a five-day UN advocacy trek up Mount Kilimanjaro. The climb was organised by the UN to raise global awareness on its campaign to End Violence against Women and Girls and brought together climbers from more than 32 African countries in a historic advocacy journey up Mount Kilimanjaro.

 In 2014, she made the Nigeria’s 100 Most Influential Women and BBC 100 Women to watch lists and in 2015, she received an Honorary fellowship from University of Cumbria.     

The Nigeria broadcast history cannot be complete without Funmi Iyanda who has won tremendous recognition for her work in the media and for her humanitarian and philanthropic interventions. Funmi is quoted to have said that "Sometimes a leader needs to get into a position where he or she sees something, knows that the thing needs to be done and does it"

What is that passion of yours? Add some fire to it today. The future is female!