Nigeria has one of the world’s largest youth populations in Africa with about 60% of its population below the age of 35. Despite this overwhelming number, Nigerian youths  are still faced with limited capacity and opportunities for active citizenship and inclusion in governance.

A plethora of issues persists such as the monetization of the electoral process, exorbitant cost of party nomination forms, godfatherism, and age restrictions preventing young adults from running for the office of president until the age of 40, which was only addressed with the introduction of the  ‘Not Too Young to Run’, bill in  2018. Other issues include electoral rigging, ballot snatching and violence which has turned Nigerian politics into a process that is avoided by many for fear of coming to harm or worse. These multitude of challenges have given rise to political apathy and ignorance among young people which could prove detrimental to the country in the long run.   

Recognizing the importance of active citizenship in promoting accountability among our elected representatives, addressing societal challenges, and fostering a sense of community among citizens, CivicHive,  in partnership with Learn Politics Nigeria, created a space that provided participants with the opportunity to engage with some of the best and brightest minds in the Nigerian political space while encouraging collaboration among attendees to tackle pressing political and societal issues. 

The hangout which was held on May 18th, 2024 began with a civic education game led by CivicHive’s communications lead, Zahra Salawu, where participants were encouraged to test their knowledge on the past and present of Nigeria. Following the games, the meetup began in earnest involving interactive sessions addressing four crucial areas of governance citizens have to be aware of on their journey to becoming active citizens. 

The sessions covered Policy Analysis, Issue Analysis and Open Governance, Writing Freedom of Information (FOI) Letters and Youth and Participatory Governance. These session were taken by Victoria Oladipo, the founder of Learn Politics; Iyanu Bolarinwa, the head of open government and institutional partnership (OGIP);  Ayomide Ladipo, the head of Tracka; and Temidayo Musa, the head of operations and programs at CivicHive respectively. 

Victoria began the conversation with a thorough session on policy analysis breaking down the policy making and analysis process. She highlighted the importance of understanding the process as a means to identify policy that effectively addresses any existing challenges an individual might be facing. Iyanu followed this with a riveting conversation on holding the government accountable through active participation and engagement citing it as a prerequisite for building a better nation and a brighter future.

Ayomide led an interactive session where participants were taught the ins and outs of an FOI and provided the opportunity to draft their own in small groups. At the end of the exercise, Ayomide assured attendees that Tracka would assist in submitting efficiently crafted FOI letters on their behalf. The final session was taken by Temidayo Musa, an expert in civic tech and youth participation in governance, who spoke about promoting the role of youths in political and democratic spaces through mentorship, intentional and utilizing civic tech tools to foster engagement. 

The overarching goal of the Active Citizen Meetup was to address some of the issues in the Nigerian political space, including political apathy stemming from ignorance, the importance of youth participation in government and leveraging open data and tools of democracy to cultivate civic engagement. 

CivicHive is committed to continuously investing in the capacity of young people, harnessing the evolving technologies and open data to drive change in from the grassroots to the society at large.