A civil society organisation, Women’s Leadership Group, WLG, has challenged young people to redefine Nigeria by engaging in issue-based politics and promoting gender equality in the country’s politics. Speaking at the ‘Gender and Leadership: Youths redefining Nigeria” event in Umuahia, Abia State on January 19, 2019, Nkechi Eke Nwankwo, the WLG director,  advised the young people not to let anyone buy their votes and put their future in jeopardy. She noted that the large numbers of young people registered to vote in the elections and their ability to organize on social media presented a unique opportunity for them to push for the Nigeria of their dreams, with gender equality at its core.

WLG’s engagement with the young people in Abia State is part of the organization’s activities to prepare Nigeria’s electorate for the coming elections and change the narrative on youth, gender and governance. Women’s Leadership Group, an organization that has been promoting women’s political rights since 1998 believes that women have to be encouraged to actively seek political offices in more numbers in order to hold the men to the promise of reserving certain percentages for them.

In the interactive session during the engagement, the young people noted that they were all registered to vote. They pledged to take forward the meeting agreements by organizing in pressure groups to refine their demand list and use the list to determine support for aspirants whose antecedents and manifesto align with their vision. The event was organized in collaboration the ‘Let’s Talk with Dr. NG’ and was held at the Roots Restaurant Umuahia. It was hosted by Ngozi Uduma and attended by 60 young women and men from various walks of life.

– Jan. 22, 2019 @ 18:25 GMT |