Sammie Ajoku is from Imo State Nigeria. He is a passionate footballer and athlete, who studied Chemical Engineering at Covenant University, Nigeria. He eventually discontinued that route and pursued his passion which led him to bag a degree in Sports Management at Coventry University in the UK. He graduated with a first class.
While studying, Ajoku was the Sports and Wellbeing Officer for the Coventry University Student Union. He coordinated all sports activities/programmes for the various university sports’ clubs and teams. He also managed the different leadership structures for the sports club committees.
He was responsible for maintaining/implementing the right safety standards for student sports at the university. During the pandemic, Sammie developed a passion for mental health awareness, and has continued to explore this within the sports context.
While working as the Sports and Wellbeing Officer at the university, Ajoku initiated and hosted the, “Talk Like A Man” men’s mental health podcast, where he facilitated various conversations around mental health.
Obviously, his passion for mental health extended into his academic research. Also, his degree dissertation explored mental health awareness among male black grassroot footballers in England.
Away from academics, Ajoku played qsemi-professional football with the Leamington Hibernians football team. He also played for the Coventry University football team. He is also an experienced athlete, who has won various awards in athletics right from secondary school till now.
As a result of his positive impact, he received the Coventry University Student Union Community Impact Award of Excellence. It was in recognition of his immense contribution to improving lives of students through his mental health programme.
Ajoku says he believes people have a right to inner peace and wellbeing, thus, everyone should be given a shot in life.
