If you ask Oluwasogo Gbarada what he does, “teacher” probably will not be the first answer you hear. He will tell you he is a filmmaker. A video director. Someone who spends his days behind cameras, directing shoots, editing videos, building creative businesses, and occasionally squeezing in a gym session between client work.
Teaching, in his own words, is “something I do passively.” And yet, over the course of our conversation, it became increasingly clear that teaching has quietly followed him through almost every stage of his life. He taught bead making while he was in university. He later volunteered with Slum2School, introducing young people to photography and graphic design. Along the way, he mentored beginners who have since turned creative skills into careers. Today, he teaches video editing on Lumilearn.
None of it was planned. But perhaps that is what makes his story interesting. Some people choose teaching. Others simply keep finding themselves in situations where someone needs to learn, and they happen to be the person standing closest to the answer.
Oluwasogo Gbarada – The Teacher Who Never Intended to Become One
Unlike many educators who describe teaching as a childhood dream, Oluwasogo Gbarada’s journey began almost by accident. His mother was a teacher before starting her own school, so education was always around him. He admired the profession but never imagined himself stepping into it. “I wouldn’t say I wanted to venture into teaching,” he says.
Instead, he was building a career in the creative industry. Entrepreneurship, filmmaking, and solving problems excited him. Teaching did not. At least, not intentionally. But every few years, an opportunity would appear. Someone needed guidance. Someone wanted to learn. Someone needed a mentor. And somehow, he always said yes.
Looking back, he realises those moments were not random. Over the years, people have extended bridges and hands to me. In some way, teaching is my little way of extending my hand to others.”
What Can a Student Actually Become?
His first formal teaching experience came through Slum2School, a non-profit that supports children from underserved communities. Before he began teaching photography and graphic design, he found himself thinking about something many instructors overlook. Could the students realistically succeed? Not because of talent. Because of circumstance. Photography is an expensive profession to enter. Cameras cost money. Laptops cost money. Software costs money. Passion alone is not always enough.
“I always ask myself what their environment looks like,” he says. “Will it actually allow them to succeed?” It is an unusual perspective. Many teachers focus on what happens inside the classroom. Oluwasogo Gbarada also thinks about everything waiting for students once they leave it. Still, he approached those classes the same way he approaches every teaching opportunity. Give everything.
“I try to give as much knowledge as I can,” he says. “You don’t really know what will happen afterwards.”
Years later, one former student proved exactly why that matters. She had been working as a house help when he taught her photography and graphic design. At the time, he was not even sure she would be able to continue. Creative work requires resources, and resources were not guaranteed. Then, years later, she reached out. She had stayed with it. She was still creating. She was building something from the skills she had learned.
Teachers rarely get to see the full impact of what they do. Sometimes it arrives years later, in a simple message that says, “I am still doing it.”
Teaching Is Not the Goal. Building People Is.
One of the more surprising moments during our conversation came when we asked whether he had ever considered becoming a full-time teacher. His answer was immediate. “No.” Not because he dislikes teaching. Because teaching was never the destination. Building people was.
Before anything else, he describes himself as an entrepreneur. For him, leadership is not about giving instructions. It is about creating capable people. “If you want to build a functioning team, eventually you have to teach them.”
That simple idea explains why teaching keeps showing up in his life. Not because he set out to educate. But because every meaningful project eventually requires someone to transfer knowledge. Teaching, for him, is simply what leadership looks like in practice.
Why Practical Learning Always Wins
If there is one thing Oluwasogo Gbarada believes Nigerian education needs more of, it is practical learning. His own teaching style reflects that belief. Whenever possible, he opens the software. He demonstrates. He builds alongside his students. He wants them to see exactly what he sees.
It is one reason he struggles with the way some practical subjects are still taught. Teaching coding on a whiteboard. Explaining video editing without opening editing software. Trying to teach creative work through theory alone. To him, that makes little sense. “Nobody should be teaching HTML on a whiteboard in a university lecture hall. Open Visual Studio. Show me. That’s the only way it actually sticks.”
His philosophy comes from an entrepreneurial leadership programme that changed the way he thinks about learning. For two weeks, participants barely wrote notes. Everything was experiential. Everything was practical. Everything was done. “When it ended, I realised I wasn’t the same person anymore.”
That experience convinced him that people do not simply remember what they hear. They remember what they do. And that is exactly how he now teaches.
Why Lumilearn Felt Like the Right Challenge
When a friend first reached out about teaching on Lumilearn, Oluwasogo Gbarada almost overlooked the opportunity. Then the conversation shifted. The platform needed someone experienced with software he already used professionally. More importantly, it offered something he had not seen much of in Nigeria. A place where professionals could teach what they knew without having to become traditional classroom teachers.
“I like difficult things,” he says. “If you put an easy task beside a difficult one, I’ll usually choose the difficult one. If I’m going to fail, at least I want to fail knowing I tried my hand at something difficult.” Teaching on Lumilearn felt like that kind of challenge.
It also aligned with something he had been thinking about for years. While working with an educational technology company that animated Mathematics and English lessons for children, he saw how technology could completely change learning. Now he imagines something similar happening across even more subjects. Animated lessons. Interactive learning. Real experts teaching practical skills. And opportunities for professionals to earn from knowledge they have spent years building.
For him, that is where education is heading.
Knowledge Is Not Supposed to Die With Us
Although teaching is not his primary career today, Oluwasogo Gbarada believes it may become one later. Not because he will stop creating. Because eventually every experienced professional reaches the same stage. Passing it on.
“I’ve always told myself I’m not going to carry a camera forever,” he says. One day, there will be younger creatives doing the physical work. His role will change. Not from creator to retiree. But from creator to teacher.
He remembers his father attending an international seminar where senior professionals deliberately stepped aside to create opportunities for younger people. That moment stayed with him. Knowledge, he believes, should not end with the people who acquired it. It should keep moving from one generation to the next.
Perhaps that is why teaching has kept finding him. Not because he planned for it. But because every meaningful career eventually reaches a point where success is no longer measured by what you have built. It is measured by who you have helped build after you.
And maybe that is what teaching has been all along. Not a profession. A responsibility.
The Interview: A Conversation with Oluwasogo Gbarada
Q: Outside the classroom, who are you?
Oluwasogo Gbarada: I am probably what people call a gym bro. Apart from that, I am a filmmaker and video director. Video editing is just one skill that comes with the work I do. I also enjoy photography, watching films, and every now and then I attend law conferences because, surprisingly, I am also a lawyer.
Q: How would your students describe you?
Mr Gbarada: From the feedback I have received, they usually say my classes are revealing. I think they would also describe me as a very chill person.
I remember what it felt like to be a beginner. There were questions I desperately wanted to ask that nobody answered for me. So when I teach, I try to answer those questions before my students even think to ask them. I do not want them to struggle through the same uncertainty I experienced.
Q: If you were not teaching, what would you be doing?
Mr Gbarada: Honestly, teaching has never been my full-time job. It is something I have always done alongside everything else. I have taught bead making, photography, graphic design, and now video editing. Whenever there is no formal teaching opportunity, I usually mentor one or two people. So I suppose I would still be doing what I do now, running my creative business. Teaching just naturally finds its way into my life every few years.
Q: What has been the hardest part of teaching for you?
Mr Gbarada: Time management. My schedule is already very busy with filmmaking and business, so fitting teaching into it takes deliberate planning. I even had to get an assistant to help me organise my calendar properly.
The other challenge is knowing whether students are actually following you. Some students ask questions immediately. Others stay quiet. As a teacher, you are constantly trying to figure out whether that silence means understanding or confusion.
Q: Was there anything about teaching that surprised you once you started?
Mr Gbarada: I grew up watching my mother teach, so I already knew teachers worked very hard. I used to help with lesson notes and saw what went into preparing classes. But marking assignments. That changed everything.
The first time I had to mark work for just nineteen students, I thought, “This is a lot.” Then I imagined teachers handling several classes every day, each with dozens of students, especially when the work involves long theory answers. I gained an entirely new level of respect for teachers after that.
Q: What is your teaching style?
Mr Gbarada: Practical. Very practical. That is how I learn, so that is how I teach. Whenever I am teaching video editing, I open the software immediately. I do not just describe what students should do. I show them.
I always find it funny when practical subjects are taught entirely through theory. It is like teaching someone HTML on a whiteboard instead of opening a code editor. People understand better when they can actually see what you are doing.
Q: Has there been a student you will never forget?
Mr Gbarada: There was a girl I taught through Slum2School. I believe she worked as a house help at the time. I taught her photography and graphic design, but honestly, I was not sure whether she would be able to continue because those fields require expensive equipment.
Then, about two years later, she reached out to me. She was still doing photography. That really stayed with me because you never truly know what students will do with what you have taught them. Sometimes they quietly go away and build something remarkable.
Q: Why did you decide to join Lumilearn?
Mr Gbarada: A friend I highly respect in the industry reached out and mentioned that Lumilearn was looking for a tutor who specialised in a specific software. Beyond that, I just love a challenge. If you put an easy task and a hard task in front of me, I will always choose the hard one. Teaching on Lumilearn felt like something new to explore, so I decided to give it a try.
Q: What would you like to see Lumilearn become?
Mr Gbarada: I would love to see even more practical learning happen on the platform. I previously worked with an edtech company that animated Mathematics and English lessons using cartoons, and I saw how engaging that could be for students.
I also think Nigeria needs more opportunities for professionals to teach what they know outside the traditional classroom. There are so many people with valuable knowledge who should be able to share it and earn from it. Platforms like Lumilearn make that possible.
Q: Has teaching opened opportunities for you?
Mr Gbarada: (Laughs.) You know what people say. The reward of teachers is in heaven. So I do not really go into teaching expecting immediate rewards or opportunities. If they come, that is great. If they do not, I am still happy that someone learned something useful.
Q: Do you see yourself teaching long-term?
Mr Gbarada: Definitely. I have always told myself I will not be carrying a camera forever. Eventually, there comes a point where you have gained enough experience that your biggest contribution is no longer creating the work yourself. It is helping younger people create theirs.
I think that is the final stage for anyone who has achieved something meaningful. You should not die with all the knowledge you have acquired. You pass it on.
Q: What would you say to someone who wants to start teaching but feels unsure?
Mr Gbarada: Don’t wait until you feel like you know everything. Teach what you know today. As you keep learning, you will naturally become a better teacher. You do not have to be the smartest person in the room. You just need to be ahead of the people you are helping. And remember, someone else is probably waiting for the knowledge you are holding onto.
Q: What is one mistake new teachers should avoid?
Oluwasogo Gbarada: Trying to impress students instead of helping them understand. Sometimes we focus too much on sounding intelligent. I would rather simplify something completely than have students leave confused because I wanted to sound like an expert.
Teaching is about clarity, not performance.
If His Journey Were a Movie
Q: What would the title be?
Mr Gbarada: “What If?” I like the Marvel series because every episode explores an alternate reality. I think my teaching journey feels like that. What if I had become a full-time teacher? What if I had taught a different subject? What if I had never entered filmmaking? There are so many different versions of my life that could have existed, and teaching somehow appears in almost all of them.
Q: What is something your students would be surprised to learn about you?
Oluwasogo Gbarada: That I am a lawyer. Most people know me through filmmaking and video editing, so they never expect that. Whenever they find out, they are usually shocked. They wonder why a lawyer would be deep in the digital media space, but it is all part of who I am.
Final Note
Oluwasogo Gbarada never set out to become a teacher. He became a filmmaker, lawyer, entrepreneur and a creative. And somewhere along the way, teaching quietly followed him through each chapter.
Perhaps that is because teaching is not always about standing in front of a classroom. Sometimes it is mentoring two beginners until they build careers. Sometimes it is introducing photography to children who never imagined themselves behind a camera. Sometimes it is opening editing software and showing someone that a creative career is possible.
For Oluwasogo Gbarada, teaching is not an identity he deliberately chose. It is simply what happens whenever experience meets generosity. And perhaps that is why the people who never planned to teach sometimes become the ones with the most valuable lessons to share.
Oluwasogo Gbarada is a filmmaker, video director, lawyer, entrepreneur, and video editing instructor on Lumilearn. He is passionate about practical learning, creative education, and helping the next generation of creatives build meaningful careers through knowledge sharing.
