A deeply unfortunate emergency prevented Mallam Y. Z Ya’u from attending the Memorial Lecture for Dr Yima Sen Wednesday, November 11^th, 2020. He was billed to speak for the pro-democracy community at the Memorial. Below is what he would have said. This must rank as the most succinct capture of the radical trajectory in the past three decades. But things must, indeed, be so bad in the country for a Mallam YZ to roll up his sleeves. Read on!

By Y. Z. Ya’u

Memorials like this are important because they allow us to reflect and think about the future. Memory itself is an important resource. But often we tend to miss its significance. While paradoxically, it is about the past being recalled in the present, its uses actually lie in the future. It is within this context that I want to situate our dear departed comrade, Yima Sen. In doing so, I would like to apologize to his family, both immediate and broader, for I will like to appropriate him for us. The ‘us’ here is a group of highly patriotic, detribalized Nigerians who dare to dream of an alternative, better Nigeria where justice would flourish. They dream of Nigeria as a peaceful country where exploitation of man by man would be history. And they see Nigeria as a country capable of harnessing its endowment, both natural and human, to meet the needs of every citizen, irrespective of sex, tongue, faith or territorial placement. Yima Sen not only embodied the best of these ideas but also lived all his life struggling to see to the actualization of this vision.

When I first met Yima, I did not know his religion or tribe. I did not even know from which part of the country he came. I was not interested in those because, in him, I a saw a trusted soul mate, someone whose ideas and mine matched and we had our eyes on the same direction. He was just Comrade Yima. My first knowing of Yima was on a platform for justice, to end apartheid in Southern Africa. He was not our age, having been born a little earlier than many of us who eventually became his friends but we were shaped by the same generation of ideas. We had graduated from the university and reflecting on our activism on campus as champions for the struggle against apartheid, we thought we should continue until it was completely dismantled. So, we formed the Nigeria-ANC Friendship and Cultural Association (NAFCA). At the time, Yima was working in Lagos and he became a key figure in the movement, arguing that injustice in any part of the world was injustice to Nigeria.

About the same time, a radical feminist movement had resulted from a conference organized at Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria on Women in Nigeria. Taking the name of the theme of the conference, that platform became known as Women in Nigeria, (WIN). WIN posed fundamental questions about oppression and liberation of women in the country. The obviousness of its central thesis was a Marxian credo of class oppression conterminous with gender oppression, resulting in the double oppression statement that women suffer, first as members of subordinate classes and second as members of subordinated gender. For WIN and its members, therefore, ending class oppression would not automatically end gender oppression. As such, a simultaneous struggle against both gender and class oppression was needed. It, therefore, thought to mobilize the collective agency of both women and men against patriarchy. This was why WIN was both unique and experimental: a feminist organization that had both male and female as members and both genders were eligible to play leadership role. Yima and Lona, his wife, were both members and played critical role in the movement which saw their house in Lagos as sort of secretariat for the organization. WIN was not an easy conversation, given that it carried along a tension between these who saw class agency as primary and those who saw gender as the most urgent task. In the end, the organization ran into a major ideological crisis from which it never recovered. But Yima remained faithful to the principles of the organization and continued to be an exemplary feminist to the very last.

The mid 1980s were heady years. They were defined by a collective search for direction and meaning for the country following the failure of the Second Republic accompanied by two military coups. The government of IBB had, against all popular opposition, imposed the Structural Adjustment Progrmmes (SAP) cooked by IMF and World Bank, which only served to destabilize the country. Millions of people lost their jobs, social services such as education and health suffered massive underfunding. The country’s currency was subjected to a free fall. The result was de-industrialization and contraction of the economy, increased impoverishment of the population and high unemployment. These generated protests, especially led by students across the country that came to be known as the anti-SAP protests. The authoritarian regime responded with crackdown and massive arrest and detention of student leaders and labor activists as well as other measures to destabilize unions. While the government was, to a large extent, successful in crushing traditional mass movements such as the student and the labour movements, there arose a new form of organization, first using the instrumentality and language of human rights but focused on democracy and national liberation, resulting in the formation of pro-democracy movements like the National Front and eventually the Campaign for Democracy (CD). The CD was like the absorption of all the energies in both NAFCA and WIN as well as the remnants of the student movement plus the left-wing constellation in the academia. Yima was a central figure in this history and the struggles that unfolded. The central demand of CD was to end military rule and therefore also campaigned against the military planned and controlled political transition programme which seemed to be interminable as IBB kept extending the handing over, internally subverting his own process. This very basic demand of CD could later return to haunt as it, imploding in a crisis, like WIN, from which it could not recover.

Consequently, the IBB had no option but to finally allow elections to hold but only to cancel the result of the election at the last moment, refusing to allow the winner of the Presidential election to assume his mandate. This led to pro-democracy protests, led initially by CD and trade unions to be joined later by NADECO, which was a coalition of politicians who felt shortchanged by the military. The insertion of the CD into a struggle to reclaim the mandate of an election for which it had called for its boycott and the complication of the struggle by its apparent regionalization led to a tension in the pro-democracy movement and subsequently to a split. While the split was largely fueled by ideological disagreements, the immediate cause was the decision by the Beko-led leadership of CD to get involved with the military coup of Abacha. Superficially, a coalition of activists from the South West favoured collaboration with the Abacha military regime that supplanted the contraction the fleeing IBB left while the other, largely of activists from outside the region, felt that any accommodation with the military would undermine the very foundational demand of the movement which was to end military rule. This split led to the formation of the Democratic Alternative (DA) for which Yima emerged as one of its leaders. The DA had a dual character, as a movement and a political party and therefore it needed a front to carry out the popular struggles while the party needed to concentrate on the principal question of getting power. This was how the United Action for Democracy (UAD) was formed. Again, Yima was part of this.

While IBB was able to destabilize traditional mass movements, Abacha was largely successful in destabilizing the radical pro-democracy movement. From the late 1990s, our tribe began to disorganize and break into ineffectual fractions. Confusion set in and stories of betrayals became the order of the day. Some opted to find a space in the corrupt system we all had committed to fight. Some went to align behind their ethnic and religious lords, becoming in the process, either cranky ethnic chauvinists or bigoted religious lunatics. When some of us became either confused or turned to their inner cocoons of ethnicity and religiosity, Yima Sen remained solid. He did not become demoralized by the constant tales of betray. Instead, he was spurred to continue to use his energy, intellect and commitment to a course that he believed was right.

By the time we transited to civil rule in 1999, we had a movement that was caught unprepared for electoral democracy. As a movement, we had many bruises all over us. Our main platform, the Socialist Congress (SCON) was in crisis by itself. The fronts had fractured. Above all, we had no consensus on how to relate to electoral politics. Some thought it was best to join the mainstream bourgeois parties and influence development from within them and eventually some did. Others sought joining the burgeoning civil society advocacy to get reforms and again a number did that. Some thought that we should monitor the transition and later election so that we can help to create better election environment. Still others thought solace in isolation. A minority remembered we had a political party in the DA which had been dually registered and available to contest elections. Their electoral experience was a dismal failure. In the end, we lost the party and almost lost the core organization in the confusion. Yima was part of these debates but his sighs remined fixed far into the horizon, never losing hope, believing that in the end we would be able to overcome.

One of the paradoxes that often get confusing to people is the juxtaposition of peace and revolution, which is seen as bloody and antithetical to peace. Yima was both a revolutionary and a peace maker. There is no contradiction in this: you cannot have peace without social justice and revolution is about establishing social justice without which there can be no peace. In this sense, peace and revolution are two different sides of one coin. You need a revolution in order to make a lasting peace. Since the return to civil rule in 1990 and the increasing spade of ethno-communal conflicts, Yima has been part of many platforms searching for peace in the country. I remember one of the collaborations we had toward the end of the last year. We brought youth from Benue, Plateau, Kano, Kaduna, and a few other places to Abuja for three days, working with them on understanding how fake news and hate speech have catalyzed many conflicts. Yima gave one of the most striking narratives that transformed the perceptions of many of the participants of the conflicts that they had thought they knew better.

Yima spoke to Nigerians about our collective vision. He showed us how we could struggle to attain the vision he has dreamt. He dared us to walk along the path he imagined in attaining this vision. Yima is thus a promise for Nigeria and Nigerians, a promise that is a resource for our struggle to build a better society and country. He is no longer with us but he has left behind a legacy that will shape the tomorrow of Nigeria and Nigerians, the future that we all wish for. We can only do justice to his memory if we keep this hope alive and continue to struggle for a better Nigeria.

We are happy to celebrate Yima (yes, we cannot but celebrate him because his journey on this earth was a gift to humanity!) because he struggled with us, spoke with us and lived an exemplary life that we are proud of. But we can only do justice to the memory of Yima and make that memory the resource of tomorrow if we interrogate our dwindling strength, lack of coherence and clarity of our ideas. What is it that has made many of us to lose faith in the change that we have spent decades working for? Is it that we have become impatient that the change is not fast coming? Is it that the passage of time has seen us lose clarity on our ideas? Is it that age has meant that we are incapable of sustaining our passion for change and deploying our human agency for change?

Whichever it is, we need to rethink how to get back to our trajectory. Things have moved from bad to worse in the country. We have harvested a civilian rule but we have harvested the worse of its most unaccountable form. More than ever before, the question that always defined Yima, that is justice, is even much more urgent now. We cannot get justice with an unaccountable government and we cannot get an accountable government in the context in which class interest is the determining factor in what a government does or does not.

I will like to conclude by acknowledging one resource that Yima Sen has bequeathed for us. This is his love and commitment to ideas as building blocks of society. Having ideas is potential power, power not in the sense of an institutional repository of control but in a much more transformative sense, since power itself, that ability to transform society, is constituted by ideas. We have ideas; therefore, we have power to transform Nigeria to the ideals we imagine. That requires the deliberate, tactical and strategic deployment of that power, which is the ideas we all have been articulating. Rest in peace Comrade Yima, Sleep well!

Mallam Ya’u works at CITAD, Kano

Two days ago, a team of staff of CITAD went to Shara in Sumaila local government area of Kano to conduct a COVID-19 sensitization programme for teachers and students as well as parents of Shara Primary School, a community school that CITAD and the community established about four years ago.

Although enrolment had increased but we found a number of the girls had dropped out. In response to the unvocalized question of our team members, the Community leader said that they had been married off.

They were still to be functionally literate and painfully they had reached the end of their education pursuit. It also in a way marked the end of the chance for them to get formal entrepreneurship and vocational education. And today we here talking about digital gender inclusion in a context that girls horizons are not even given the chance to see beyond the primary school. These Shara girls have been digitally excluded because digital inclusion requires functional literacy. Without being literate, they cannot interact with the various devices (or at least many of them) as to get the best from access to information technology.

But Shara is only one instance at which you are painfully exposed to the trajectory that tells you how far behind women are left digitally. The lookdown presented another question. CITAD undertook a research and found a dramatic increase in incidence of domestic violence during the period of the lockdown. While technology provides a mean for victims to communicate to the outside world, for assistance, support, remedy, many of these women suffered, locked in their homes because they could not access technology to come to their aid.

Three key issues were responsible for this. First, like the Shara girls, women in general have lesser opportunities to acquire education than men. And as the point made earlier, without education you cannot make effective use of the treasure that is online. The second is that women are generally socially, economically, educationally and politically marginalized and therefore on are generally poorer. They constitute the great majority of the people living below the poverty line in the country. This is why a number of researchers around poverty say that poverty has a feminine face in Nigeria. The effective use of technology is dependent upon affordability. With more women poorer, they are less able to afford technology and hence end up unable to access and it us.

The third point is about social norms in the society. Social norms as articulated round the vestiges of patriarchy condition and frame the way in which technology in inserted in society and used by both men and women. Women are generally discouraged from using internet at two levels. At one level, women, especially married ones, are not supposed to communicate outside circles of people with who their husbands may not be comfortable with. This patriarchal social expectation in the communication scope of women expect them not indulge in “frivolous” communication and should therefore not be seen to using the social media and even the internet as a whole. If they must use the internet, they should use it sparingly. Stories, some of which may be anecdotal, have it that many marriages have collapsed on account of the wives using social media.

Patriarchy society does not expect a married woman to have a male friend, talk less of hundreds, if not thousands Facebook friends, many of how she probably does not know offline. She would have many “followers’’ on twitter and belongs to several chat groups on whataspp. All these would be frown at. This aspect of patriarchy is about control of the woman’s communication sphere by man.

The second level at which patriarchy operates is a mirror image of the control level which is that women are seen as objects of pleasure, lacking subjectivity of their own. This is at the root of gender based violence in society. Gender based violence is not limited to the physical space or offline relationships. It is also reflected in online behavior, giving rise to the concept of gender based violence online.

While social control seeks to place restriction on the use of internet by women, gender based violence online creates fears that make women to not want use the internet. Like gender based violence offline, online violence against women tends to be less visible. In fact it is less visible than offline violence, because it takes place mostly at the private level. For this reason, there is little attention about it and in some cases the resistance to accept that in fact it is a major problem.

But there is also an addition dimension that is often overlooked which is about access to policy structures in the society. These structures shape the ways we live, including the way we access and use technology. These structures act in such a way as to exclude women and their input in the policy making process. This has two effects on the types of polices we get. First, men who are dominant players in the policy making environment do not experience gender digital marginalization and therefore do not understand as to make effective policies to address it. Secondly, women who experience digital marginalization do have knowledge and experience of technology that could make them provide sound policies to address their exclusion. Either way we end up with inadequate policies that do not solve the problem,

One specific aspects of gender marginalization that is upon lost to men is about gender harassment online. As it is directed at women, men hardly see and is therefore invisible. You do not address an invisible problem. And so to the majority policy makers, this problem hardly merits attention. Yet, it is core to addressing digital exclusion of women for it works two ways. One, women fear the internet because of the online harassment and withdraw as well as internalize this fear to the point that it becomes instrumental for their distancing from technology. On the other hand, men use it to point to the need to protect their wives, sisters and daughters from this danger by erecting a barrier against the use of the internet by women. The result is that the two reinforce each other and serve to widen the digital marginalization of women.

As we mark this Media Day of Action against Gender Digital Exclusion, I would like to invite us to a handshake across the table to understand the pains of digital exclusion not just on gender lines about for the whole society, resulting from leaving women digitally behind. To do that, we must accept certain realities. One of this is that the exclusion of women in the policy spaces and other digital space spaces is not accidental. It is the construction and imagining of these spaces as masculine by patriarchy.

Second, acquiring ICT in itself does not in itself effectively contribute to addressing the gender digital divide without addressing the negative representation and portrayal of women online.
We have to engage in a handshake that has to bring both men and women into a mutual dialogue on technology deconstruct the myths around the internet. Men and women work together to discuss how the internet is a tool that can help rather than subvert family structures. Ultimately, men and women have to work together to overcome the constraints that patriarchy has placed before women in the use of technology. The handshake is not an easy conversation. On the part of males it signals acceptance to give up on some privileges while for women, it requires rethinking of normalized ideas.

By Salisu K Ismail

Centre for Information Technology and Development (CITAD), in partnership with Association for Progressive Communication (APC) has concluded a ten-day training on digital inclusion for women via Zoom platform.

In a statement Thursday by Maryam Haruna, CITAD’s Programme Officer, the training, tagged Bauchi Feminist Internet School was aimed at bridging the gender digital divide in the country.

She explained that the programme, which was the second edition, offered intensive training on various topics regarding access to internet governance and policy making in the arena from the perspective.

According to Miss Haruna, part of the training objectives was also for the beneficiaries to stepdown what they had learned in the school to at least 10 other persons, whom 70% should be female gender.

” The participants will also take part in social media campaign to support the advocacy for a national inclusion agenda. They will also undertake advocacy visits to relevant stakeholders to solicit their support for the national digital inclusion agenda developed by CITAD,” the statement reads in part.

She added that the training, which started on August 3 and ended on August 3,drew at least 25 participants from different states in Nigeria including Bauchi, Gombe, Jigawa and Kano, adding that the participants were journalists, writers, gender advocates, as well active social media users.

She explained that the first edition of the school was conducted in April 2019 in Bauchi state, adding that the programme derived its name of Bauchi Feminist Internet School because it started in the state.

“Three main session were taught during the training, including African Declaration of Internet Rights and Freedom, Digital Right and Feminist internet.

By Yakubu Salisu, Kano

Centre for Information Technology (CITAD), a Kano based Nongovernmental body (NGO), with Support from Association for Progressive Communication (APC) on Thursday, concluded a ten days (10) training to produce digital inclusion champions who will join the campaign for bridging gender digital divide in the country.

The training which happens to be the second edition of its Bauchi Feminist Internet School held on Zoom App were about twenty five (25) participants drawn from Bauchi, Gombe, Jigawa and Kano were trained and cuts across different fields of endeavors such as journalists, writers, gender advocates, as well active social media users.

During the 10 days training, participants were intensively trained on various topics regarding access to internet, governance and policy making in the arena from the perspective with beneficiaries of the training expected to stepdown what they have learned in the school to at least 10 other persons, whom 70% should be of the female gender.

Furthermore, they are also to take part in social media campaign to support the advocacy for a national inclusion agenda as well as, undertake advocacy visits to relevant stakeholders to solicit their support for the national digital inclusion agenda developed by CITAD.

The training which made up of three (3) session discussed on; African Declaration of Internet Rights and Freedom, Digital Right Advocacy as well as well as Feminist Internet.

The first edition of the school was conducted in April 2019 in Bauchi state where it derived its name of Bauchi Feminist Internet School.

03^th-13^th August, 2020

Bauchi Feminist Internet School is a programme initiated by Centre for Information Technology and Development (CITAD) with support from Association for Progressive Communication (APC) with the main purpose of producing digital inclusion champions who will join the campaign for bridging gender digital divide in the country. It offered intensive training on various topics regarding access to internet governance and policy making in the arena from the perspective. The first edition of the school was conducted in April 2019 in Bauchi state where it derived it name of Bauchi Feminist Internet School. The August BaFIS is therefore the second edition of the programme.

It was part of the training objectives for the beneficiaries to:

1. Stepdown what they have learned in the school to at least 10 other persons, whom 70% should be of the female gender.
2. Take part in social media campaign to support the advocacy for a national inclusion agenda.
3. Undertake advocacy visits to relevant stakeholders to solicit their support for the national digital inclusion agenda developed by CITAD.

The School drew at least 25 participants from different states in Nigeria including Bauchi, Gombe, Jigawa and Kano. The participants were journalists, writers, gender advocates, as well active social media users.

Three main session were taught during the training including:

1. African Declaration of Internet Rights and Freedom,
2. Digital Right Advocacy,
3. Feminist Internet.
4. Training Expectation:

One of the key expectations is learning how to use the internet more effectively, with a view of carrying women along, as they have been left behind in this part of the country. Thus, most of the participants stated that they expected to have increased capacity on use of internet and technology in their campaign for women and girls’ rights in Nigeria and even beyond.  Some of the participants also stated that they expected to develop a network of people with common goal of bridging gender gap.  Some said that they expected a lot to be taught concerning the use of internet especially from the feminist perspectives. Another expectation as stated by one respondent was to be heavily impacted on the various concept of feminism as regards to ICT and most especially internet. She wrote, “I want to know how to break this shackle of generational ignorance women have on internet and push them towards a better understanding and utilizing of internet. I want to learn how to become an independent woman. Learning the basis of feminism.”

1. What to Learn

The main skills the participants expected to learn more about was feminism, the application of feminism in internet advocacy and campaign, learn how to go about educating other male and female feminists on how to advocate for feminist internet. Also learn how to teach women to stand for their rights. They also stated their expectation to learn more on Digital rights, gender balance, concept of non-discrimination. Expect after the training to have a well-built capacity on the concept of feminist internet.

Participants Feedback:

1. “I want to say big thank you to this great opportunity. I really learned a lot from this programme. It was indeed an Eye opener to me. I also thanked Mark Nuhu for informing me about this opportunity. Above all, thank you to our able host Maryam, you have been great” – Doshima Priscilla Hemen.
2. “The programme is very satisfactory and I haver learned a lot. As an advocate, you need to learn these skills that were taught here, like understanding what the internet is meant for and know your right as an advocate as well as how to protect the right of others. Gender violence and other forms of cybercrime is so prevalent these days and if you don’t know your rights, how do you protect it? I have also become very clear with what exactly stakeholder is and how to identify key ones from the course and even the difference between legislation and policy. The class works were really helpful, it made me do a lot of researches on different areas. Thanks to CITAD for this opportunity.” – Safiyya Muhammad Daba.
3. “I’m so pleased with this opportunity because I have learned a lot about digital rights and freedom bill that was supposed to be passed by the National Assembly which has been not passed, I have also learned that it is our responsibility as advocates to keep pushing for it. I already knew that women are lacking behind in using the internet, but now I have an idea how to contribute in bridging gender digital gap in the country. I have also understood that girls and women can use the internet to equip and enhance themselves instead of just using it for entertainment. As a user now, I understand my rights better and I’m now better prepared.”- Zainab Musa Yahya.

1. “For me what, apart from the topics that were treated which I have learned a lot, what became outstanding to me also is the Zoom platform itself. This training took some time to teach us how to interact with the zoom platform and I have seen how it’s more efficient compare to other platforms we used in other forms of online training. A big thank you to CITAD for this.” – Sadiya Murtala.
2. “I have really learned a lot from CITAD. I look forward to more opportunities from CITAD. Thank you” – Mark Nuhu.
3. “This is training has really been impacting. One of the things I have learned is that one must become physical before he can contribute, you can use your social media to advocate for women digital inclusion. Another thing I learned is the digital rights and how to protect it, initially I don’t know them but as a result of this training, now I do. And the facilitators are all amazing, they really did their best in ensuring that we understood very well. Thank you to CITAD and the facilitators.” – Patience Danladi Pabang.

Facilitators

1. Yunusa Yau
2. Boye Adegoke
3. Remmy Nneke
4. Maryam Ado Haruna

Participants:

1. Abubakar Modu Yerima
2. Adam Auwal Dakata
3. Amina Mubarak Ahmad
4. Amina Musa Balteh
5. Amira Galadima Soba
6. Awwal Dahiru
7. Beeve Hua
8. Endurance Ed’james
9. Farida Haruna Bello
10. Fatima Kabir Umar
11. Halima Muktar Abubakar
12. Halima Suleiman Sani
13. Hemen Dooshima Priscilla
14. Linda Uchenna Ugwueze
15. Mark Nuhu Mabudi
16. Mary Ann Emmanuel
17. Maryam Abubakar
18. Pebang Danladi Wammar
19. Rukaiya Ahmed Ganga
20. Sadiya Murtala
21. Safiyya Muhammad Ali-Daba
22. Vihishima Sylvester Terlumun
23. Zainab Musa Yahaya
24. Zainab Nasir
25. Zainab Shafi’u Mustapha

The Centre for Information Technology and Development (CITAD) in collaboration with ActionAid Nigeria, Tuesday in Abuja, kick started a 3-day training of 44 persons within the FCT on social audit.

Speaking, the Country Director ActionAid Mrs. Ene Obi charged the trainees on the importance of participating in the program to help them know their right in their various communities as well as making their community leaders accountable to them.

“If you don’t leave a stage better than the way you met it, then consider yourself a failure, and one would be in a system of failure of leaders and a lot of insanity. You have to be insane when you see so much from other people and yet the investment in Nigeria youth is poor, then what kind of investment, training, and flagships do we have available for our youths? Leaders aren’t doing citizens a favour carrying out responsibilities to their Communities,” Obi stressed.

peaking, the Social Mobilization Manager ActionAid Mr. Adewale Adeduntan said the aim for the training is to apply social audit as an approach to engender good governance and relationship between the led and the leaders because.

“We realised public holder officers take people of the Community for granted like they are doing them a favour.

“It is another channel to create an approach of interaction between those in power and the Community in terms of project intervention and not dump it and to get community information for community to engage constructively,” Adeduntan stated.

Speaking to journalists, he said that confidence lies in the quality of participation. “It is one thing to be trained and another to be able to transfer knowledge and skills to others. But above all, it will be a collective engagement on a platform that would be formed at the end of the workshop. Governance is suffering at the community level and development should be demanded driven.”

Earlier in an interview, the Programme Manager CITAD Ms. Salmat Abdulwaheed disclosed the training to have covered participants from the four Area Council of the Federal Capital Territory, i.e. Kwali, Kuje, AMAC and Bwari Area Councils respectively.

According to her, that at the end of the workshop, the participants should be able to train others pulling a number of people to join in the advocacy of their community development and also engage their community leaders in the challenges faced by the people without taking bribe or sweep it under the carpets.

Also speaking, the Partnership and Local Right Advisor Action Aid Mrs Hajara Opaluwa-Adamu said the objective of the training was to teach each representatives of the Communities how to access government intervention projects to facilitate the youths on how to audit and hold their representatives accountable.

Speaking, two of the participants, Mallama Jamila Inusa of Guto Community under the Bwari Area Council and Mr. Ishaya Jonathan Gbashe of Kilankwa2 of Kwali Area Council respectively, collectively acknowledged the training to be an eye opener for them all to be patriotic in the demand for the rights of citizens.

“For me, it was difficult to differentiate between financial audit and social audit. But the class today has given me an edge to ascertain the implementation policy project in my Community and I have learnt that it is crucial to approach them for the project document politely and this would be done collectively as a community, making an enquiry to ensure a quality work is been done,” Gbashe stated.

Actionaid Nigeria in partnership with the Centre for Information and Communication Technology (CITAD), have organised  a 3-day training on Social Audit for 48 activists and facilitators from 18 hard-to-reach communities in Abuja, Nigeria’s Federal Capital Territory.

The training aimed at building capacity of participants to engage implementing agencies for transparency and accountability.

Actionaid is an international  non-profit governmental organization that works with communities to reduce poverty, promote human rights and justice worldwide.

The Centre for Information Technology and Development (CITAD) on the other hand, is committed to the use of information and communication technologies (ICTs) for development and promotion of good governance.

The Country Director of Actionaid Nigeria, Ene Obi said  the  Social Audit Training of Trainers held at Dutse-Alhaji in Bwari Area Council  was predicated on the believe in the power of one person standing right and doing the right thing- starting a change from an environment.

She said that Nigeria is at its present level  because many politicians managing the affairs of  the country have no sanity.

Obi who stated this  on Tuesday while declaring open the 3-day training  said our leaders take the centre stage at every point in time but at the end of their rule,  bequeath no positive change to the country.

Blaming the present predicaments of the country to the failure of our leaders,  she regretted that despite the volume of its  young which are great potential  for development, Nigeria is still at a standstill after many decades.

“Many of our politicians have no sanity. There is a lot of insanity in the environment. If  you don’t leave the stage better than you met it then you are a failure.

“So what we are having is a colossal failure of many leaders.  We have maternal mortality rate like no other time, violence  everywhere, violence against women and girls,  so many people are idle due to unemployment. But we will continue to work hard,” Obi said.

While congratulating the participants for being part of the training, she admonished them not  to give up but stand against bad when it is bad. “Lets work together,  network together, exchange ideas and stand for what is right at all times because that is what will change the future,” she said.

The Actionaid Nigeria Country Director also congratulated the Centre  for Information and Communication Technology( CITAD)for the training.

The training had 48 activists and facilitators from  18 communities in four area councils of the Federal Capital Territory where the organization with support from CITAD is offering interventions.

They include among others:Leleyi Gwari, Leleyi Bassa, Kilankwa,  Pai in  Kwali area counci, Tunga-Ashere, Jiwa, Dakwa, Tunga-Nasara,AMAC, Gaube, Kayache, Tukpechi, Bwari-Pasepa,  Guto, Igu, Kuchibuyi  in Bwari area council.

In an interview with journalists, the Social Mobilization  Manager for Actionaid Nigeria, Adewale Adeduntan said the training was to conscientize community members and facilitators on how to apply social audit as an approach to engender good governance, accountability and transparency in terms of the relationship between the lead and the leaders.

He said:”We realize that people in public offices take the citizens for granted a lot. They act arrogantly as if they are doing community people favour. Remembering that the resources they use is our common wealth, they should be used judiciously in such a way that the people can benefit.

“We are  therefore, trying to create an approach whereby we can interact with our leaders interms of the projects and intervention they bring to the communities.”

He said the organizations wanted to create a situation where the people could engage their leaders constructively, ask questions about the project cost, specification to ensure they don’t just dump projects  on the people but execute them according to specifications as this will bring about a new order and good governance in Nigeria.

“The engagement is not going to be an individual thing. The participants will be working on a platform which we call social audit committee which will be formed in the course of the training on Wednesday. They will be officially introduced to the government so that they can now begin to take their decision forward with the government from there,”he explained further.

Adeduntan noted that  at the community level,  local governance is suffering in Nigeria, adding that development should be demand-driven.

“It is the people  that should  demand what they need you to do for them. But   here in Nigeria, people just campaign and say when I  become chairman, I will do this for you. If this is reversed and we have a community assembly where people come together and  say what they need and submit their charter to the government and say this is what we want, the spate of abandoned projects will be reduced.
“It is a natural model that if you are doing things for the people, they should be aware. So confidently, people’s involvement or participation will  accelerate development in Nigeria,” said the Social Mobilization Manager.

Earlier while delivering a presentation  on “Understanding Social Audit and its Importance” Adeduntan explained that Social Audit is a process to establish accountability which empowers the community to ask questions and demand answers from the implementing agencies.

“It is done by the community or beneficiary group. It is an audit of the implementing agency that examines physical, financial and  process-related issues. Both quantitative and qualitative inputs are publicly verified,” he explained further.

Actionaid Nigeria’s  Local Rights Programme Advisor, Hajara Opaluwa-Adamu said also while responding to questions from journalists that the workshop is a social accountability  capacity building  aimed at  training the community people on how to access government intervention in their communities.
“We are trying to see how this facilitators will be able to audit any firm that comes to their communities and hold their representatives accountable to the community. Political office holders are supposed to serve us, so whatever they do is not a favour but their rights, so we are trying to build their rights consciousness so they don’t look at it like its a previlege but their right. What we want to achieve more or less is to have social auditors in the communities,” she explained.

Speaking in the same vein, CITAD Program Officer, Salma Abdulwaheed explained that the training aimed at educating   the community people about social audit- how to seek accountability and transparency in government project in their respective communities.

She said the training became necessary because “we noticed that much is not being done in communities in the FCT like basic infrastructure. There are budgets for constituency projects  but where are those constituency projects?. The  training will help the community activists to  track those project, the progress and where these projects are implemented.”

The programme officer said after the training,  participants  are expected to return to their respective communities to do a  step down training for others in their respective communities “so that we can begin to see changes in constituency projects in their communities.”

“Our expectation is that participants will do a step down training for others in their communities to get other members of their communities to join them in the advocasy. After this they will engage their community leaders to join in the campaign and with their supports, they will be able to engage any politician and demand for accountability and transparency,” Abdulwaheed said.

Participants who were also interviewed at the training by journaliats were greatly delighted to participate in the training.

One of them, Ishaya Gbashe from Kilankwa 11 Community, Kwali Area Council, says he feels so excited about the training because before now  he couldn’t differentiate between financial audit and social audit.
However, with the training, he says he now understand that he has a right to demand for  details of projects being executed by implementing agencies and the government in his community.

The training has opened our eyes to understand that it is very crucial for us to approach our councillors and local
government chairman politely and demand for project documents, budget documents on constituency projects and make enquiries to ensure that intervention deployed is according to specifications.

He  said in due course, he will form a group to engage implementing agencies and government Representatives executing projects in his community.

A female participant, Jamila Inusa from Guto community in Bwari Area Council, said the training has made her knowledgeable about the subject, adding, she can confidently pass on the knowledge acquired to other members of her community.

“The training  has benefited me very much because I now  know what what I didn’t know before,  that I have the right to ask questions about projects in my community. I know how to face my local government chairman or councillor to question them about what they are doing and what they are not doing for our community,” said Inusa.

The training which  continues on Wednesday with other interesting activities, will be concluded on Thursday.

Actionaid Nigeria in partnership with the Centre for Information and Communication Technology (CITAD), has commenced a 3-day training on Social Audit for 48 activists and facilitators from 18 hard-to-reach communities in Abuja, Nigeria’s Federal Capital Territory.

The training aims at building capacity of participants to engage implementing agencies for transparency and accountability.

Actionaid is an international  non-profit governmental organization that works with communities to reduce poverty, promote human rights and justice worldwide.

The Centre for Information Technology and Development (CITAD) on the other hand, is committed to the use of information and communication technologies (ICTs) for development and promotion of good governance.

The Country Director of Actionaid Nigeria, Ene Obi said  the  Social Audit Training of Trainers held at Dutse-Alhaji in Bwari Area Council  was predicated on the believe in the power of one person standing right and doing the right thing- starting a change from an environment.

She said that Nigeria is at its present level  because many politicians managing the affairs of  the country have no sanity.

Obi who stated this  on Tuesday while declaring open the 3-day training  said our leaders take the centre stage at every point in time but at the end of their rule,  bequeath no positive change to the country.

Blaming the present predicaments of the country to the failure of our leaders,  she regretted that despite the volume of its  young which are great potential  for development, Nigeria is still at a standstill after many decades.

“Many of our politicians have no sanity. There is a lot of insanity in the environment. If  you don’t leave the stage better than you met it then you are a failure.

“So what we are having is a colossal failure of many leaders.  We have maternal mortality rate like no other time, violence  everywhere, violence against women and girls,  so many people are idle due to unemployment. But we will continue to work hard,” Obi said.

While congratulating the participants for being part of the training, she admonished them not  to give up but stand against bad when it is bad. “Lets work together,  network together, exchange ideas and stand for what is right at all times because that is what will change the future,” she said.

The Actionaid Nigeria Country Director also congratulated the Centre  for Information and Communication Technology( CITAD)for the training.

The training had 48 activists and facilitators from  18 communities in four area councils of the Federal Capital Territory where the organization with support from CITAD is offering interventions.

They include among others:Leleyi Gwari, Leleyi Bassa, Kilankwa,  Pai in  Kwali area counci, Tunga-Ashere, Jiwa, Dakwa, Tunga-Nasara,AMAC, Gaube, Kayache, Tukpechi, Bwari-Pasepa,  Guto, Igu, Kuchibuyi  in Bwari area council.

In an interview with journalists, the Social Mobilization  Manager for Actionaid Nigeria, Adewale Adeduntan said the training was to conscientize community members and facilitators on how to apply social audit as an approach to engender good governance, accountability and transparency in terms of the relationship between the lead and the leaders.

He said:”We realize that people in public offices take the citizens for granted a lot. They act arrogantly as if they are doing community people favour. Remembering that the resources they use is our common wealth, they should be used judiciously in such a way that the people can benefit.

“We are  therefore, trying to create an approach whereby we can interact with our leaders interms of the projects and intervention they bring to the communities.”

He said the organizations wanted to create a situation where the people could engage their leaders constructively, ask questions about the project cost, specification to ensure they don’t just dump projects  on the people but execute them according to specifications as this will bring about a new order and good governance in Nigeria.

“The engagement is not going to be an individual thing. The participants will be working on a platform which we call social audit committee which will be formed in the course of the training on Wednesday. They will be officially introduced to the government so that they can now begin to take their decision forward with the government from there,”he explained further.

Adeduntan noted that  at the community level,  local governance is suffering in Nigeria, adding that development should be demand-driven.

“It is the people  that should  demand what they need you to do for them. But   here in Nigeria, people just campaign and say when I  become chairman, I will do this for you. If this is reversed and we have a community assembly where people come together and  say what they need and submit their charter to the government and say this is what we want, the spate of abandoned projects will be reduced.
“It is a natural model that if you are doing things for the people, they should be aware. So confidently, people’s involvement or participation will  accelerate development in Nigeria,” said the Social Mobilization Manager.

Earlier while delivering a presentation  on “Understanding Social Audit and its Importance” Adeduntan explained that Social Audit is a process to establish accountability which empowers the community to ask questions and demand answers from the implementing agencies.

“It is done by the community or beneficiary group. It is an audit of the implementing agency that examines physical, financial and  process-related issues. Both quantitative and qualitative inputs are publicly verified,” he explained further.

Actionaid Nigeria’s  Local Rights Programme Advisor, Hajara Opaluwa-Adamu said also while responding to questions from journalists that the workshop is a social accountability  capacity building  aimed at  training the community people on how to access government intervention in their communities.
“We are trying to see how this facilitators will be able to audit any firm that comes to their communities and hold their representatives accountable to the community. Political office holders are supposed to serve us, so whatever they do is not a favour but their rights, so we are trying to build their rights consciousness so they don’t look at it like its a previlege but their right. What we want to achieve more or less is to have social auditors in the communities,” she explained.

Speaking in the same vein, CITAD Program Officer, Salma Abdulwaheed explained that the training aimed at educating   the community people about social audit- how to seek accountability and transparency in government project in their respective communities.

She said the training became necessary because “we noticed that much is not being done in communities in the FCT like basic infrastructure. There are budgets for constituency projects  but where are those constituency projects?. The  training will help the community activists to  track those project, the progress and where these projects are implemented.”

The programme officer said after the training,  participants  are expected to return to their respective communities to do a  step down training for others in their respective communities “so that we can begin to see changes in constituency projects in their communities.”

“Our expectation is that participants will do a step down training for others in their communities to get other members of their communities to join them in the advocasy. After this they will engage their community leaders to join in the campaign and with their supports, they will be able to engage any politician and demand for accountability and transparency,” Abdulwaheed said.

Participants who were also interviewed at the training by journaliats were greatly delighted to participate in the training.

One of them, Ishaya Gbashe from Kilankwa 11 Community, Kwali Area Council, says he feels so excited about the training because before now  he couldn’t differentiate between financial audit and social audit.
However, with the training, he says he now understand that he has a right to demand for  details of projects being executed by implementing agencies and the government in his community.

The training has opened our eyes to understand that it is very crucial for us to approach our councillors and local
government chairman politely and demand for project documents, budget documents on constituency projects and make enquiries to ensure that intervention deployed is according to specifications.

He  said in due course, he will form a group to engage implementing agencies and government Representatives executing projects in his community.

A female participant, Jamila Inusa from Guto community in Bwari Area Council, said the training has made her knowledgeable about the subject, adding, she can confidently pass on the knowledge acquired to other members of her community.

“The training  has benefited me very much because I now  know what what I didn’t know before,  that I have the right to ask questions about projects in my community. I know how to face my local government chairman or councillor to question them about what they are doing and what they are not doing for our community,” said Inusa.

The training which  continues on Wednesday with other interesting activities, will be concluded on Thursday.

DATE: 10^TH TO 15^TH AUGUST, 2020

VENUE: ZOOM

The challenge to livelihood and food security in FCT communities disrupts and threatens the sustainability of agricultural and pastoral production and invariably the sustainability of livelihoods of rural communities. Land grabbing have a direct impact on the lives and livelihood of the people by disrupting and threatening the sustainability of pastoral production and agriculture.

This issue reinforces circles of extreme poverty, hunger and destroys social status; food insecurity affects the most marginalized groups that include women and children. The livelihood structure, food security and wellbeing of farmers are threatened and compromised which contribute to poverty, food and nutrition insecurity and poor health of farming communities, and further escalation of conflicts.

Due to the marginalization and the land grabbing issue in FCT, Centre for Information, Technology and Development (CITAD) organized a five days virtual workshop which took place via zoom platform. The five ICT Centres (Dakwa, Tungan Ashere, Leleyi Gwari, Pasepa and Gaube) in FCT participated in the workshop with 25 community activists in attendance: 5 participants from each centre.

The 5 Day training became necessary due to frequent land grabbing that has become a major issue affecting the FCT natives; the aim is at designing campaign strategies to mitigate the menace of land grabbing.

Majority of the FCT natives are predominantly farmers and the issue with land grabbing had lead to some of them lost their lands and their means of livelihood.

Speaking at the virtual meeting, Mr. Thomas Edor discussed on the concept of Land Grabbing and FCT development plan.       According to him, all land in the FCT belongs to the government and land grabbing can be legal and illegal. He said land issues in Abuja is quite different from land in other states, land grabbing not does exist in Abuja according to some school of thought he said, but it should be noted that for you to go about the issue of land you need to consider and study the land use acts, land tenure laws, the pre-colonial, colonial and the post colonial land laws. He cited some examples of land grabbing issues in Rivers State and Borno States.

AbdulAziz Nasiru, he is a Building technology expert. He discussed on agencies responsible for land related issues in FCT and proper ways to acquire land in the FCT. Abdulaziz said for an individual to acquire land there is need to follow all the stages stipulated by law and land layout.

At the moment there is issue of double allocations of land in the FCT.

It was a rewarding and educative moment as representatives of youths from these communities and resource persons discussed on various topics, the activity ended with question and answers.

Centre for Information Technology and Development (CITAD) in partnership with Actionaid Nigeria commemorated the 2020 International Youth Day with a call on youths, especially those in local communities to fully engage them for global change.

The International Youths Day marked every year around the world on 12th August was observed with youths from the five ICT centres which was setup by Actionaid and CITAD in FCT: Dakwa, Tunga Ashere, Pasepa,  Leleyi Gwari and Gaube communities.

The youth engagement for global action highlighted the ways in
which the engagement of young people at the local, national and global levels is enriching national and multilateral institutions and processes.

The day draw lessons on how youth representation and engagement in formal institutional politics can be significantly enhanced.

The commemoration took place via Zoom platform. The session was moderated by Salma who discussed on the significance on celebrating the International Youth Day.

It was followed by a presentation with  Hassan Sarkin Noma who is a Program Officer for Economy and Empowerment Network for Community Advancement, he discussed on Youth Exploring Opportunities a the Grassroot, he urged the youths to tap the resources within their localities and to take advantage of opportunities at their doorstep as well as explore other available opportunities.

Kehinde Obafemi who is a Youth Corps Member and Volunteer with SDG Mobile Library, she discussed on Youth Volunteerism, as a key to creating lifelong change. She task the youth to be open to learn, relearn and unlearn.

Joseph Augustine of Actionaid Nigeria discussed on 2020 theme: Youth Engagement for Global Actionaid. He urged the youth to raise awareness of their participation in the communities and also mainstream their voices, actions and initiatives.

It was quite a rewarding and educative moment as representatives of youths from these communities and resource persons discussed on various topics in line with the theme of this year’s celebration, tagged: “Youth Engagement for Global Action”

By Sarauniya Usman, Abuja

Centre for Information Technology and Development (CITAD),
commenced a 5day training on implication of land grabbing in respective communities in the FCT, for people in the participating communities.

The 5-Day training which is expected to be concluded on Friday, aims at designing campaign strategies to mitigate the menace of land grabbing.

CITAD, said the training became necessary due to frequent land grabbing that has become a major issue affecting the FCT natives.

Majority of the FCT natives are predominantly farmers, and the issue with land grabbing had lead to
some of them lost their lands and their means of livelihood.

Speaking at the virtual meeting,
Program Officer, CITAD, Salma Abdulwaheed, said the International Youth Day is a significant event that offers the opportunity to celebrate and mainstream young people’s voices, action and initiatives

She explained that youth engagement for global action seek to highlight the way at which the engagement of young people at the local, national and global levels.

Salma,urged the youths to fully engaged in the civic space and political activities.

She said, youth representation and engagement in formal institutional politics can be significantly enhanced.

According to her working with the poor and excluded Communities to erradicate poverty, ensure development and good governance, will not only increase the fairness of political processes but reducing democratic deficits, contribute to better and more sustainable policies, but also contribute to restore trust in public institutions, especially among youth.

Actionaid Nigeria Representative, Joseph Augustine said the theme was apt to sensitise and guide youths who are the potential future leaders to be prepared to take their rightful place in their respective societies in the nearest future.

He encouragement the youth to participate in the civic space and political arena, stressing, “their participation is very key.”

Program Officer for Economy and Empowerment Network for Community Advancement, Hassan Sarikin- Noma harped on the need for youths to tap the resources within their localities as he spoke on Youth Eploring Opportunities at the Grassroot.

He urged youths to take advantage of opportunities at their doorstep as well as explore other available opportunities.

Sponsorship Officer,Mubarak Ekute, emphasised on advocacy as key for communities advancement.

He therefore, charged the youths in the communities to see advocacy as the key to global change.

The International Youths Day is marked August every year around the world.

The theme for this year’s celebration, tagged: “Youth Engagement for Global Action”.

From Dakwa, Tunga Ashere, Pasepa in Bwari Area Council, Leleyi Gwari in Kwali Area Council and Gaube in Kuje Area Council of the FCT, youths were engaged via Zoom Platform.

It was quite a rewarding and educative moment as representatives of youths from these communities and resource persons discussed on various topics

Actionaid Nigeria and Centre for Information Technology and Development (CITAD) have commemorated the 2020 International Youth Day with a call on youths, especially those in local communities within Abuja, Nigeria’s Federal Capital Territory(FCT), to be fully engaged in the civic space and political activities.

The organizations respectively, working with the poor and excluded to ensure justice, erradicate poverty, ensure development and good governance, believe that this will not only increase the fairness of political processes by reducing democratic deficits and contributes to better and more sustainable policies, but also contribute to restore trust in public institutions, especially among youth.

The International Youths Day marked every year around the world, was observed with youths from five local communities-Dakwa, Tunga Ashere, Pasepa in Bwari Area Council, Leleyi Gwari in Kwali Area Council and Gaube in Kuje Area Council of the FCT, where  CITAD with support from Actionaid Nigeria, is offering interventions, via a Zoom platform, on Wednesday.

It was quite a rewarding and educative moment as representatives of  youths from these communities and resource persons discussed on various topics in line with the theme of this year’s celebration, tagged: “Youth Engagement for Global Action”.

Speaking on the theme during the Zoom meeting, Actionaid Nigeria Representative, Joseph Augustine said the theme is apt, to sensitize and guide youths who are the potential  future leaders to be prepared to take their rightful place in their respective societies in the nearest future.

He said youths  needed to be encouraged to participate in the civic space and political arena, stressing, “their participation is very important.”

Program Officer for Economy and Empowerment Network for Community Advancement, Hassan Sarikin- Noma harped on the need for youths to tap the resources within their localities as he spoke on Youth Eploring Opportunities at the Grassroot.

He urged youths to take advantage of opportunities at their doorstep as well as explore other available opportunities.

On her part, Youth Corps Member and Volunteer with SDG Mobile Library, Kehinde Obafemi discussing on Youth Volunteerism, said it is the key to creating life-long change.

Earlier, CITAD Program Officer, Salma Abdulwaheed said the International Youth Day is a significant event that offers the opportunity to celebrate and mainstream young people’s voices, action and initiatives.

Emphasizing the significance of the theme, she explained that youth engagement for global action seek to highlight the way in
which the engagement of young people at the local, national and global levels is enriching national and multilateral institutions and processes.

Furthermore, it draw lessons on how their representation and engagement in formal institutional politics can be significantly enhanced, she noted.

Also CITAD Sponsorship Officer, Mubarak Ekute who discussed on The Way Forward and Advocacy, emphasized on advocacy as key for communities to achieve their goals.

He therefore, tasked the youths in the communities to see advocacy as  the key to global change.

As part of activities to mark the celebration, the non governmental organizations had also, since Monday, commenced a training on implication of  land grabbing in respective communities in the FCT, for people in the participating communities.

The 5-Day training which is expected to be concluded on Friday, aims at designing  campaign strategies to mitigate the menace of land grabbing.

Abdulwaheed said the training became necessary because land grabbing has become a serious issue affecting the FCT people, some of whom have lost their lands, thereby, losing their livelihood as majority of them are into farming.

Actionaid Nigeria and Centre for Information Technology and Development (CITAD) have taken the International Youth Day celebration to local communities in Abuja, Nigeria’s Federal Capital Territory(FCT).

The non-governmental organizations which marked the Day with youths from five local communities-Dakwa, Tunga Ashere, Pasepa in Bwari Area Council, Leleyi Gwari in Kwali Area Council and Gaube in Kuje Area Council of the FCT, via Zoom platform, on Wednesday, urged the youths to fully engaged in the civic space and political activities.

This, according to the NGOs working with the poor and excluded to erradicate poverty, ensure development and good governance, will not only increase the fairness of political processes by reducing democratic deficits, contribute to better and more sustainable policies, but also contribute to restore trust in public institutions, especially among youth.

The International Youths Day is marked August every year around the world.

It was quite a rewarding and educative moment as representatives of  youths from these communities and resource persons discussed on various topics in line with the theme of this year’s celebration, tagged: “Youth Engagement for Global Action”.

Speaking on the theme during the Zoom meeting, Actionaid Nigeria Representative, Joseph Augustine said the theme is apt, to sensitize and guide youths who are the potential  future leaders to be prepared to take their rightful place in their respective societies in the nearest future.

He said youths  needed to be encouraged to participate in the civic space and political arena, stressing, “their participation is very important.”

Program Officer for Economy and Empowerment Network for Community Advancement, Hassan Sarikin- Noma harped on the need for youths to tap the resources within their localities as he spoke on Youth Eploring Opportunities at the Grassroot.

He urged youths to take advantage of opportunities at their doorstep as well as explore other available opportunities.

On her part, Youth Corps Member and Volunteer with SDG Mobile Library, Kehinde Obafemi discussing on Youth Volunteerism, said it is the key to creating life-long change.

Earlier, CITAD Program Officer, Salma Abdulwaheed said the International Youth Day is a significant event that offers the opportunity to celebrate and mainstream young people’s voices, action and initiatives.

Emphasizing the significance of the theme, she explained that youth engagement for global action seek to highlight the way in
which the engagement of young people at the local, national and global levels is enriching national and multilateral institutions and processes.

Furthermore, it draw lessons on how their representation and engagement in formal institutional politics can be significantly enhanced, she noted.

Also CITAD Sponsorship Officer, Mubarak Ekute who discussed on The Way Forward and Advocacy, emphasized on advocacy as key for communities to achieve their goals.

He therefore, tasked the youths in the communities to see advocacy as  the key to global change.

As part of activities to mark the celebration, the non governmental organizations had also, since Monday, commenced a training on implication of  land grabbing in respective communities in the FCT, for people in the participating communities.

The 5-Day training which is expected to be concluded on Friday, aims at designing  campaign strategies to mitigate the menace of land grabbing.

Abdulwaheed said the training became necessary because land grabbing has become a serious issue affecting the FCT people, some of whom have lost their lands, thereby, losing their livelihood as majority of them are into farming.

The Centre for Information Communication Technology (CITAD) has urged youth to engage in community development.

The Programme Manager CITAD, Salma Abdulwahid, who stated this on Wednesday, during the International Youths Day celebration webinar meeting with the theme: Youth Engagement for Global Action in Abuja, described youth as the leaders of tomorrow.

She said: “To make a great leader, we will have to start looking out for not only ourselves but for the people around us most especially the less privileged from our prime time. As youths, we should learn to volunteer willingly to contribute positively to our community and in return, the person in question will reach out, learn, and have experience in every activity involved in.”

She further urged youth to disengage from the monetary gain and engage in community service saying, “and all we need will surely come by eventually.”

Speaking, the representative of Actionaid Nigeria with the local right programme (LRP) Mr. Joseph Augustine, said the future Nigeria and the world at large is looking forward to is in the hands of young people. “We need to take charge, play roles especially in our local communities. The voices of young people have been subdued especially in those local communities due to politics, sidelining, cultural activities. These young people’s voices aren’t heard.

“The aim for this event is to create awareness for the young to know that they can drive change with their potentials wherever they find themselves. For instance, tungashere community didn’t have schools, but advocacy was used to acquire such by CITAD.

He urged youths to know their rights in their community, using such opportunity wisely to benefit all. Adding that, youths should harness their energies to have what is called the youth power.

“This power gives them the opportunity to speak on issues affecting them around rape, crisis, unemployment, gender base violence, not being included in decision making, drug abuse etc. Another important factor to note is for the youth to know their environment because one cannot solve a problem that one has no idea about.

Augustine advised youths to shun godfatherism and take example from the late South African leader, Nelson Mandela who is still celebrated till date for his selflessness.

Earlier, while presenting his paper on youths exploring opportunities from the grassroots, the CEO of Sarkin Noma foundation Mr. Hassan Sarkin Noma urged advised youth to leverage on the use of networking and ICT.

“Discover your advantage over others, be consistent, know the needs of your community, explore and offer something to your community. You should note that networking is paramount by thinking globally and act locally in order to change from what you’re doing. People in the rural areas are also of advantage these days in the sense that one can be anywhere and yet reach out to many anywhere. Like CITAD that has reached out to people in different communities, leveraging on what they are doing and making a change.”