By Fortune Abang
Yiaga Africa and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) have awarded N1m grants to 13 young Nigerians, to mobilise at least 5,000 young voters to register in the ongoing Continuous Voter Registration.
They also empowered the young voters to collect their Permanent Voters Cards (PVCs), in order to vote in the forthcoming 2023 elections.
This is contained in a statement on Saturday in Abuja by Mark Amaza, Senior Communications Officer, Yiaga Africa and Alison Clement, Communications Specialist, UNDP Nigeria.
According to the statement, the young voters emerged through #ThePowerOf18 Challenge, which invited applications from young people between the ages of 18 and 30 in 15 states.
It said the states included Adamawa, Benue, Enugu, FCT, Gombe, Imo, Kebbi, Lagos, Nasarawa, Ogun, Ondo, Plateau, Sokoto and Yobe.
It quoted Samson Itodo, Executive Director of Yiaga Africa to have said, “a total of 2,503 applications were received in one week of the Challenge with one winner selected per state.
“The Challenge is part of the activities under the #SixtyPercentOfUs project aimed at mobilizing at least 60 per cent of eligible young voters to register, collect their PVCs and vote, using traditional and non-traditional tools of political mobilisation.
“The project also focuses on states with lowest voter registration and PVC collection rates according to data from INEC, as part of leveraging large number of potential first-time voters, who are young people to participate in the elections.
“#ThePowerOf18 Challenge is another testament to the creativity and innovativeness of young Nigerians, and also the passion and willingness they have for political participation.
“We are optimistic these winners will be instrumental in motivating their peers to make use of their power as citizens, in determining the next set of leaders for this country by voting massively in 2023. election”.
It also quoted Mr Mohamed Yahya, UNDP Nigeria Resident Representative as saying, “Increasing voter participation and making the voting processes accessible to young Nigerians is essential to ensure the country’s future.
“The #Powerof18 Challenge has proven that youth in Nigeria are not only ready, but that they have the ingenuity, talent and determination to make a significant impact in the 2023 election.
“The winners of the #ThePowerOf18 Challenge will work closely with the INEC, Yiaga Africa’s civil society partners in their respective states.
“They shall implement the projects from June to December 2022.” (NAN)
