About
I get curious about what other people walk past.
Right now that curiosity has a few shapes. Staple Africa, which puts brands in front of farm owners and agri-businesses across East and Southern Africa, in the channels they already trust rather than the ones marketers default to. LocateFund, a directory of verified, equity-free funding for African founders and social impact organisations, which reached 2,000 subscribers and over 10,000 monthly visitors in its first two months. And a fair amount of research and writing, mostly about people whose stories don't get told very often.
I'm a youth researcher at Adelaide University, spending time with African-Australian young people and turning what they tell me into something schools and policymakers actually read. That research led to a segment on BBC World Service and a piece I co-wrote for The Conversation. Before any of that, I interned in music communications at ALT Music. In 2025 I had a poem published in Ritual, Sweatshop's Muslim Australian anthology.
Before any of that, I was a swimmer. Born in Ikorodu, Lagos, raised in Canberra from age four, and by 2021 representing Nigeria at the Tokyo Olympics. That chapter closed the way most sporting careers do. I moved on.
Outside of work, I read more than is probably useful, bake and cook, and travel.
In public
A few things that are out in the world.
Commentator, BBC World ServiceHow a social media ban would have changed my teensOn What in the World, talking about Australia's under-16 social media ban and what it would mean for young people, including culturally diverse and African diaspora communities.Listen
Contributing poet, SweatshopRitualA poem in Ritual, Sweatshop's collection of Muslim Australian poetry. Identity, experience and expression, in print.Purchase the book
Co-authorThe mis/non-representation of African cultures in Australian schoolsCo-authored research on how African cultures go missing in Australian classrooms, and what that does to African-Australian young people.Read
Co-author, The ConversationThe main thing you've got is TikTokCo-authored analysis of how Australia's under-16 social media ban may disproportionately isolate and harm African diaspora youth.Read
There is more on Wikipedia, under Abiola Ogunbanwo. I go by Habibat.