Enabling Young People To Define Their Future
Yiaga Africa
A non-profit hub of change makers committed to promoting democratic governance, human rights, and civic engagement.
Dear Reader,
August is a month for young people, as the world has set aside the 12th of August to celebrate them, recognise their roles in creating change, and raise awareness of their challenges and problems.
As we celebrated International Youth Day last month, Yiaga Africa also focused our interventions on enabling young people in Nigeria to define their future through political participation. We believe that our young people have to be actively involved in our democracy to create the future that they desire.
We also held trainings for various groups participating in the Edo State 2024 governorship elections to ensure electoral accountability. We released two reports from our ongoing pre-election observations of the elections, which are vital tools for election stakeholders as we approach the state governorship elections.
Read more about our work in the month of August in this newsletter.
Happy Reading.
Celebrating Young People Around the World
Last month, we joined the rest of the world to celebrate International Youth Day, a day set aside to specially celebrate the role that young women and men play as essential partners in change and also raise awareness of the challenges and problems facing the world's youth and how young people can be empowered to provide solutions to these challenges. The theme for this year's celebration, Youth Digital Pathways for Sustainable Development, provided an opportunity for us to call on governments across the continent and all stakeholders to recognise the potential of young people in applying their creativity, energy, and passion toward innovating digital solutions that would actualise the Sustainable Development Goals, and prioritise their development to better prepare them for it.
Defending the Rights of Protesters
Weeks after the #EndBadGovernance protests ended across Nigeria, some citizens are still detained for exercising their constitutional right to protest. The excessive use of force by security agencies, resulting in the tragic deaths of several protesters, is unacceptable, while the characterisation of the protests by the government as an attempt at "regime change" or a "coup" has further escalated tensions. We remind the government that the right to peaceful protest and assembly is a fundamental democratic principle enshrined in international human rights instruments, including the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights, and Nigeria's 1999 Constitution (as amended). We call on the government to unconditionally release these protesters and focus its energies on addressing the economic challenges in the country that have led to these protests.
We Have A New Debate Champion!
We held the finals of the My Nigeria - Our Nigeria Debate competition, organised in partnership with the All-Nigeria Universities Debating Council (ANUDC) and with the support of the Open Society Foundations . The finals were the climax of the competition, which started with 24 schools from across the country debating on topics about citizenship, national values, governance, and politics. It provided the students a platform to demonstrate their debating skills and articulate their visions for Nigeria's future. The winning team from Veritas University was awarded a cash prize of N1.5 million. Obafemi Awolowo University, Ife, and Imo State University won N1 million and N750,000 for coming second and third, respectively.
Equipping Political Party Agents, Media and CSO for Credible Elections
As we countdown to the Edo State 2024 governorship elections, Yiaga Africa's African Election Academy (AEA) held the following training series:
These trainings were held under the Watching the Vote (WTV) project on election observation. The training prepared the participants to help ensure electoral transparency and credibility in the elections. Thirty media houses and thirty civil society organisations were introduced to the Process and Results Verification for Transparency (PRVT) methodology WTV will use for election observation. Five political party agents benefited from the training, supported by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) as the master trainers trained their agents.
Engaging Election Stakeholders in Edo State
In Edo State, we engaged with different stakeholders before the September 21st governorship elections. We met with government agencies playing critical roles in the election, such as the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and the Nigeria Police Force. Finally, we met with some political parties participating in the elections and the Inter-Party Advisory Council (IPAC), the umbrella body of all political parties in the state.
Assessing the Pre-Election Environment in Edo State
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It is a few weeks until the Edo State 2024 governorship elections, and campaigns are approaching fever pitch with candidates selling themselves and their programmes to voters. As we countdown to the elections, what are the security and political factors shaping the elections? What is the enthusiasm level of voters? Is there likely going to be a high turnout? We seek to answer these questions in two pre-election observation (PREO) reports published under our Watching the Vote initiative.
Tracking the Disbursement of Student Loans
Our NotTooYoungToRunHubs in the six public tertiary institutions in Lagos State learnt how to monitor the implementation of the student loan scheme by the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND) in their schools as part of measures to ensure transparency and accessibility in student loan processes. We also trained the Hub leaders on how they can organise town hall meetings with state legislators to advocate for legislative initiatives related to employment and education. These initiatives aim to enhance the quality of governance and responsiveness of democratic institutions through direct public participation in the governance process & decision-making.
Have You Applied for the Student Loan?
As part of our tracking of the student loan scheme, we are surveying students in public tertiary institutions across the country to find out if they have applied for and received loans. This survey will track transparency and accessibility in implementing the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND). If you are a student of a public tertiary institution, please fill out the form below. You can also share it with students within your networks.
Now You, Too, Can Keep Tabs on Africa
Last month, we launched an exciting new video series called Africa In View, which brings you a quick roundup of the most important news on the continent regarding democracy, governance, and human rights. This weekly roundup will keep you up to date on happenings in African countries in three minutes or less. Now, you, too, can keep tabs on Africa. You can watch the videos on our social media platforms or using the hashtag #AfricaInView
Opinion: Local Government Elections: Strengthen SIECs Instead of Abolishing Them
There has been an increased focus on the local government system in Nigeria, as highlighted by the recent Supreme Court judgment that has granted them financial autonomy and how to improve the quality of local government elections in the country. One proposal has been to scrap the state independent electoral commissions (SIECs) currently responsible for organising these elections and transferring their functions to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) or another new federal body. Our Communications Officer, David mkpume , argues against this proposal and outlines steps to strengthen the SIECs for improved local government elections. Read More Here
Opinion: 2024: The Year of Elections and Lessons from the Beautiful Game
What does African football have in common with elections around the continent? How can we apply lessons from the beautiful game to improving electoral democracy in Africa? The Program Coordinator for our Africa Division, Ibrahim Faruk , writes wittily on the lessons from football that can be applied to African elections, especially in a year when half the world will be going to the polls.
Our Footprints in the Media Space
Yiaga Africa’s footprint in the media space in August was recorded with about 100 news stories across print, broadcast, and online mediums. Members of our team were also on various platforms as guests and contributed expert commentary on democratic issues in Nigeria and Africa:
You can receive updates on all our activities and events directly on your phone by joining our WhatsApp channel by clicking this link.
For any questions or comments about this newsletter, please contact us at feedback@yiaga.org.