Yiaga Africa establishes hub for democratic consciousness at Imo varsity

Yiaga Africa, a non-governmental organisation, has established the “Not Too Young to Run” Hub at the Imo State University to promote political and democratic consciousness among the students.

Speaking at the inauguration of the hub in Owerri on Friday, the Senior Programme Officer of the group, Mrs Anthonia Onda, said the initiative aimed to promote leadership skills among the youths.

“The initiative gives students in tertiary institutions the opportunity to gather, mobilise and organise issues around democratic participation, human rights and political participation.

“The students are expected to garner leadership skills and how to mobilise themselves around issues of democracy and democratic participation.

“Onwards, they are expected to hold meetings, come up with innovative ideas and creative ways to engage and come up with project ideas that promote democracy and governance within the school and communities around them.

“For Yiaga Africa, leadership is not just about being the head and dishing out roles, it is accepting responsibility to help others achieve a purpose,” Onda said.

She said that the organisation, with the support from the Open Society Foundation, planned to establish the hub in two states in each geo-political zone of the country.

Also, Yiaga Africa’s Programme Officer, Citizens Engagement Unit, Mr Olaniyan Sanusi, said the initiative seeks to promote political education, democratic rights and transformative politics among the students.

Sanusi said the hub initiative was a follow-up to the “Not Too Young to Run” Act, which reduced age eligibility to contest for election in Nigeria.

“It is aimed at building a grassroots movement of young people and persons with disabilities, who are committed to promoting political education, democratic rights and leadership in Nigeria.

“While taking advantage of the young people, who are the largest demography of the population in Nigeria and 70 per cent in sub-sahara Africa, we hope to help them develop interest in politics,” he said.

Miss Chikwendu Chinazo, one of the participants and a 400-level student of Political Science in the university, said she would leverage the opportunity provided by the initiative to boost her participation in national politics.

A 200-level Law student of the university, Emmanuel Anyanwu, said: “today I resolve to involve myself in the future in order to help change the system.

“I learned that leadership involves leading and taking people through paths of uncertainty, which underscores difficulty, sacrifice and taking people along with you toward actualising a goal.”