A few days after it clocked 12, YIAGA AFRICA held a situational press briefing on the events that occurred during the 2019 presidential elections on February 23 and a journalist asked me, scornfully, “what becomes of YIAGA after these elections?” While I took some time to respond to his questions, I kept wondering: how is it possible that a journalist, who has “spent two decades covering politics” would not know what YIAGA AFRICA is, or that it has, for the last 12 years, been strengthening democracies across the African continent?
YIAGA is an African word, which means great things. It is not an acronym for Youth Initiative for Advocacy Growth and Advancement as is widely reported in the media, it is simply YIAGA AFRICA, a youth-based non-government organization empowering state and non-state actors with relevant tools and knowledge for enhancing sustainable democracy and development in Africa.
YIAGA AFRICA has continued to build and support sustainable democracy anchored on the principle of inclusion, accountability, and justice through research, advocacy and capacity development on the continent.
Today, we see young women like Zainab Sulaiman Umar, a 26-year-old state assembly candidate, from Kano State and Fadahunsi Afolabi, 25-year-old Lagos state assembly candidate run for elective offices, a reality that once was a distant dream. Through this dogged fight for inclusion of the young people and unprecedented campaign led by a handful strategy team and pushed by thousands of Nigerians, Nigeria’s history changed from one that only demanded greatness from young people, to a more inclusive and tolerant country that allows these young women and men showcase their greatness and we have YIAGA AFRICA to thank for that.
Four months ago, December 2018, Samson Itodo, the YIAGA’s Executive Director and Gates Foundation’s Goalkeeper (2018), received the rising political leader in Africa award from the Washington DC-based National Democratic Institute (NDI). It was an award that encapsulated his journey, but more important, that of the YIAGA AFRICA’s. The non-profit organisation which started from a tiny room in Jos, Plateau State, was birthed from an idea (Itodo’s) – youth representation in University of Jos (UNIJOS) – after certain Student Union president had woefully failed to convey the young student’s needs to a senate committee, which had asked for them.
Itodo, being a strategic leader, was elected the representative and “the face” of the movement, while his lieutenants remained to work behind the scenes. “It’s why you see often see him in the public eye,” one of the Not Too Young To Run strategy team and founding members of the non-profit told me recently. “We all chose him as our leader, and as the face of the organisation. But as you can see now, the organisation has expanded beyond our initial projection and so, the new strategy is to develop a group experts who will represent him as he gradually pulls out of the public eye,” the person said.
These experts include team leads of the organisation’s four thematic programs – Centre for Legislative Engagement (CLE), led by Yetunde Bakare; Youth, led by Ibrahim Faruk; Accountability and Social Justice, led Tracy Keshi; and Elections, led by Segun Ogundare; while Cynthia Mbamalu supervises these programs as the Programs Manager.
The evolution of YIAGA AFRICA from that small idea conceived in Samson Itodo’s tiny room from Jos to becoming a global phenomenon is driven by a vision, a vision that seeks to change the world.
And we saw that vision come alive in lifting the restrictive political law that excluded young people from accessing their fundamental rights of inclusive governance through the #NotTooYoungToRun movement. And through this movement, young people in Nigeria not only aspire for political offices, they now run and a few of them got the chance to win – for the first time in the modern history of Nigeria, 32-year-olds are heading to the 9th Assembly to represent their people, as they seek to push for laws that liberalise their constituents from poverty.
At the just concluded 2019 elections, we saw international community speak highly of YIAGA AFRICA’s work in not youth inclusion in Nigeria’s democratic governance, but also as the only non-profit in Nigeria that would verify the presidential election of Africa’s largest economy, using the scientific process known Parallel Vote Tabulation (PVT).
Having disrupted the political scene of Nigeria, and had, through sheer commitment to a common goal, paved the way for the youth candidates to run for office, a new movement emerged – the #ReadyToRun movement – through which YIAGA AFRICA continues to “empower state and non state actors with relevant tools and knowledge for enhancing sustainable democracy and development” in the historical convergence of nearly 500 youth candidates running for political offices back in December 2018; the training of 40 journalists in making youth candidacy a big story and other provision of strategic support to young candidates beyond the 2019 elections, and the media support to the young candidates in the Ready to Run Radio show and an ongoing Ready To Run TV show. It is worth noting that the three days event, tagged The Convergence: Power, Capacity, Politics, was the largest gathering of youth candidates who ran for elective offices in the 2019 general election and the history of Nigeria; to inspire and empower them with the necessary skill sets they needed to the Nigerian political environment.
To answer that journalist’s question on what becomes of YIAGA AFRICA as the election season wraps up, the organisation will continue to lead public integrity debate through its Accountability and Social Justice programme; continue to strengthen African legislatures through the CLE and will most definitely continue to empower and strengthen the capacity of youth candidates running for elective offices; and its achievements will continue to speak for it beyond the shores of Africa.
Beyond these, as a result of the Bounce Corruption project monitoring and tracking of corruption cases, YIAGA AFRICA has increased public information on the status of 116 corruption case, and has produced three (3) prototypes of anti corruption Apps known as Wikiruption, Influence and VigilantCitizens Apps. By securing partnerships from 23 higher institutions, three (3) Civil Society Organisations (CSOs), media organizations, as well two anti-graft agencies, the organisation continues on as the leading hub of change makers who are committed to the promotion of democratic governance, human right, accountability, and youth inclusion in Africa.
It’s been 12 years of empowering state and non-state actors with relevant tools and knowledge for enhancing sustainable democracy and development in Africa and YIAGA AFRICA is only getting started! We hope you will join us on this important journey.
Olurounbi sent in this piece from Abuja.
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