Oduala Rinu

Rinu Oduala is a Human rights advocate, community organizer and influencer focused primarily on issues of equity, justice, humanity and community advancement. Spurred by police brutality in Nigeria and beyond, Rinu has become a key player in the work to confront the systems and structures that have led to mass incarceration and extrajudicial killings of young Nigerians.

She is known for her contribution as a community organizer and brand strategist. She continues to provide capacity to activists, organizers and influencers to make a lasting impact.

Early life and education
She was born on November 1, 1998, he was christened Bolatito Racheal Olorunrinu Oduala and raised in Lagos, Nigeria by her grandparents. She's the firstborn of three children and comes from a close-knit family. Two important pillars in her life are missing: her father, who died ten years ago when she was just a teenager and her maternal grandmother who died on the 17th of October last year during the protests while Rinu was away. She had her primary and secondary education in Lagos State. In 2014, she got admitted into Moshood Abiola Polytechnic, Ojere,  Abeokuta, where she obtained a National Diploma in Science Laboratory Technology and graduated in 2016.

In 2017, she enrolled in Lagos State University (LASU) to study chemistry. She is currently in 300 Level.

Career
Oduala Rinu is the founder of Connect Hub Ng, a community of young people, that aims at creating change by advocating against, defending and documenting police brutality and state sponsored violence. She is the Executive Director, The MariGold RO FDN. She is a UN SDG advocate, a Youth Leader for Global Change, a Mentor at Dweebs Global, a Digital Influencer at ICFJ knights Cohort.

Campaigns
"At 22, Oduala has come into womanhood with her self confessed ‘Coconut head’, ready to break stereotypes, demand accountability and start conversations important enough to spark change for the better- and I believe she can because she also walks the walk." - Latasha Ngwube, Editor, DOWNTOWN 2021.

Operation Sanitize
During the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown, she embarked on a project she called the operation sanitize, where she produced sanitizers with her friends and then distributed them to communities around her. She got the support of people all over Nigeria, people contributed massively and a total of about 100,000 sanitizers were produced and distributed.

Campaign Against Rape and Murder of Women.
In June 2020, she convened a campaign against the Rape and Murder of Miss Vera Uwa Omozuwa, An 100 level student who was gruesomely murdered in her church, and 16 year old, Nzekwe Tina who was a victim of the extrajudicial killings of the Nigerian police.

Speaking with Latasha Ngwube of The will Downtown, she puts it this way " I went out and took a stand physically, outside the Lagos State Police HQ in Ikeja against rape and police brutality............ Our reason? A young lady named Tina had been accidentally shot at Iyana Oworo by a policeman, and another named Uwa had been raped and murdered in Benin city. I could not just sit around and be silent when either of those women could have been me! We went with our placards to demand justice, really just another typical protest routine that had zero impact and the police just ignored us until we got tired and left."

Campaign Against Police Brutality.
On Wednesday, the 7th of October 2020, Rinu and her team started what later turned into a national movement called the #EndSars Protest. It all started when a video surfaced online some days earlier, showing the police killing a young man and driving away with his car, in delta state. the video sparked outrage online, and debates were made on whether or not to take it offline. on this Wednesday they marched to the office of the Commissioner of Police and insisted he addressed them. see End SARS. She became a strong voice and one of the women at the center of the action during this massive protest alongside Aisha Yesufu and others. She was described as A leading advocate in Nigeria's need for overdue change and applied reforms by Business Day. Her contribution led to her being recognized as an influential woman by several brands.

Youth Representation on the Lagos panel of Inquiry and Restitution for victims of the disbanded Police Special Anti-Robbery Squad.
On the 27th of October, 2020, she was sworn into the Lagos judiciary Panel, as a youth representative with Temitope Majekodunmi, and on February 12 2021, she stepped down from her role on the Panel. she was quoted saying

''“What I will not do is be part of a cover-up. I am proud that I took the invitation because some of the successes the panel has recorded so far have been incredibly powerful for the people. For the first time, SARS victims have had the opportunity to be truly seen and heard by the government, by the public, and by the system that allowed them to be victims in the first place.”''