Sweet Sixteen - Background

Bolaji Abdullahi is a Nigerian journalist, politician and writer born in 1969. He obtained a B.Sc. in Mass Communication from the University of Lagos and graduated with a Second Class Upper Degree. In 2001, he won the British Council Chevening Scholarship to further his studies in the Institute of Development Studies (IDS), University of Sussex. There, he obtained his Masters Degree and graduated with a distinction in 2002.

 
In 1997, Abdullahi joined ThisDay Newspapers as a reporter. In 1998, he joined Africa Leadership Forum, a civil society organisation in Ota, Ogun State as a Publications Officer and later a Programme officer. In 2000, Abdullahi returned to ThisDay Newspaper and he became the Deputy Editor in 2001. In his first year as a journalist in ThisDay Newspaper, he won a nomination for the Nigerian Media Merit Award for the Best Newspaper Feature of the Year and he also did great exploits in his weekly column, Gains of Wit.

 
Bolaji Abdullahi was appointed the special Assistant, communications and strategy, to the Executive Governor of Kwara state in 2003 and was also the Special Adviser, Policy and strategy to the Executive Governor of the same state in 2005. In 2007, he became the Honourable Commissioner of Kwara state Ministry of Education, Science and Technology. He was also the Minister of Youth Development in 2011 and later the Minister of Sports under the Goodluck Jonathan presidency.

 
On 1st December, 2016 became the National Publicity Secretary of the All Progressive Congress (APC) but he resigned this post and defected from the party on 1st August, 2018.

 
Six Sixteen is his first novel.