News Update
It was an inspiring moment at the just concluded 6th African Youth SDGs Summit in Ghana as the delegates of the Nigeria Youth Futures Fund took to the stage to present their works at the continental level.
At a special session dedicated to the NYFF, the team presented their innovative ideas which are shaping their respective communities.
Earlier in her opening remark, the Director of NYFF, Dr Onyeche Agbiti-Douglas, explained the 2020 EndSars protest that shook Nigeria to its root was the motivating factor for the establishment of the NYFF.
She said, “NYFF was born out of the desire to strengthen the next generation of changemakers to be able to handle the task of reforming the social changes by providing the knowledge, resources and the ability to connect with development partners.”
She said the organisation has supported 18 of the 70 tech tools operating in the civic space in Nigeria.
In his presentation, the Executive Director of Insight Initiative for Community and Social Development, Jare Ismahil Tiamiyu took the audience to the journey of opening up local governments in his home state of Osun.
Tiamiyu, while acknowledging the support of NYFF, said his team’s OsunOpenLG initiative has simplified information on LGs, trained LG chairmen and inspired civic engagement.
He said, “For those not familiar with Nigerian system, we have three tiers of government – the federal, state and local. Each of them have roles cut out for them by the Constitution of Nigeria. However, the local government was already failing despite hundreds of millions of naira available to each of them every month.
“To address this, we set up OsunOpenLG Project and with support from NYFF, we were able to bring changes and open up the local government system to the people. We trained young people across the 30 local government areas to be advocates of thr OpenLG.
“The masterstroke is the deployment of Nigeria’s first civic tech tool on local governance called Amoye. With Amoye, young people now have access to information on their fingertips and in their comfort zones.
Tiamiyu explained how Amoye works and urged young Africa to test it immediately. He added Amoye now helps in other civic areas such fact-checking, voters education, among others.
Another delegate, Fauziya Abubakar Kure, shared how her personal journey shaped her leadership and social impact work.
She spoke on the challenges she faced as a young person in accessing youth networks, mentorship, and opportunity platforms.
“Having experienced these challenges firsthand, I founded Women Advocating for Gender Solutions and Mentorship (WAGSM) to bridge the gap for young women and girls. With support from the Nigerian Youth Future Funds, we launched the Inspire Her Leadership Program, which has since evolved into the Inspire Her Leadership Academy.
“The Academy provides a three-month leadership and life skills training program, culminating in participants designing and implementing capstone projects within their communities. Today, about 90% of the Academy’s alumni have gone on to take up leadership roles, with many returning as volunteers and facilitators, creating a sustainable cycle of mentorship and community leadership.”
Also on the panel was Goodluck Eziokwu, founder of Ezihia Initiative for Community Development highlighted the transformative role of young people as active partners in sustainable development rather than mere beneficiaries.
Drawing from his experience leading the Ezhia Initiative for Community Development, Eziokwu emphasized that youth-led solutions are most effective when supported by collaboration among communities, governments, civil society, and development partners, with deliberate inclusion of women, persons with disabilities, and other underrepresented groups.
Speaking on the challenges facing youth-led initiatives, the NYFF grantee said, “I identified limited access to sustainable funding, institutional support, mentorship, and strategic partnerships as major barriers to scaling impact. I noted that while young people possess innovative ideas, creating an enabling environment is essential for translating those ideas into lasting solutions.”
Also speaking was Amina Abubakar, who spoke about her work funded by the NYFF transforming youth leadership at the grassroots across 21 LGAs in Adamawa State.