Yiaga Africa Commences Community Organising Training for Young Civic Leaders
- Yiaga Africa, on Monday, May 9, commenced a community organising training for young civic leaders in West Africa
- The program was adopted from the Leadership, Organising and Action curriculum from Harvard Kennedy School of Government
- The initiative had about 40 participants across the sub-region and is supported by the National Endowment for Democracy
FCT, Abuja - Cynthia Mbamalu, Yiaga Africa's Director of Programs on Monday, May 9 stated that one of the major problems of developing countries like Nigeria is leadership.
Mbamalu made the comment while delivering her welcome remarks at a community organising training for young civic actors and leaders in West Africa held in the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja.
Source: Twitter
She also stated that Yiaga Africa initiated the program because it believes in change through organised effort.
Her words:
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“One of the major problems of many developing countries is leadership. If we get leadership right in Nigeria, we will have solved 80% of the problem.
“A leader should often reflect on themselves, who they are, their values. That is why we make sure reflection is a huge part of the community organising institute.
“We believe that if we want to make any positive change, we need to work together and be guided by certain shared values and principles.
“For us, we have a bias for young people because we started when we were very young and beyond just believing that the youths are the future of tomorrow, we believe that we are the leaders of today and you can only build tomorrow, today.
“That is why the community organising program is very important to our work and it is very central to the work we will be doing.”
The program which will last for four days is expected to equip the participants with the requisite community organising, political organising, and advocacy skills needed to engage the government at different levels, especially to influence reforms and increase youth participation as candidates in political parties.
On the first day of the program, the resource persons include Jaye Gaskia, an activist and development sector professional with over two and a half decades of experience, and Dr. E.E Okorodudu, Head, Democracy and Good Governance, ECOWAS.
2023 Elections: GUTS unveils plan, takes sensitization to youths, others
Meanwhile, the Gina Unimke and Trisha Shine foundation has launched a massive plan ahead of the 2023 general elections.
In its unveiling statement issued on Thursday, May 5 in Abuja, the foundation stressed the importance of participatory democracy and a credible poll come 2023.
The statement signed by its media coordinator, Mr. Akuma Ukpo, said 2023 was critical for the future of the country and all stakeholders must be committed to ensuring that the future of the country is guaranteed.
2023: FCI to partner with other agencies to combat fake news
On its part, FactCheck Initiative (FCI) has created a team for a cause that will involve partnering with the government and other agencies in other to have free, fair, and peaceful elections in Nigeria void of any form of violence in 2023.
The main aim of this cause will be to spot, examine and respond to the impact caused by any misleading information ahead of the upcoming 2023 general elections in Nigeria.
Adeoye Temitope, country director, FactCheck Initiative says stopping fake news and misinformation is the inspiration behind the project.
Source: Legit.ng
