Formally registered as Youth Foundation for Development, Education and Leadership, YouthHubAfrica is a frontline youth advocacy and policy-oriented organization programming for Africa and beyond. It envisions Young people as catalysts of Africa’s sustainable development while serving as platforms for learning, linkages, and connecting young people to resources and opportunities that will help them take centre stage for Africa’s development. YouthHubAfrica has for years championed advocacies around youth development in Nigeria, which include its effort in ensuring the domestication of the Child rights law in key states in Nigeria and increasing funding for education through the UBE Act amendment campaign, amongst others. YouthHubAfrica championed the review of the National Youth development strategy and has continued to support local and international organisations, including UNFPA and African Union.

YouthHubAfrica has a formidable online presence, evident in its more than 200,000 followers across Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. YouthHubAfrica partners with reputable organizations to deliver impactful projects for young people. It currently implements projects and activities in 13 African countries. YouthHubAfrica hopes to continue to deepen its work on building platforms for young people to access education, information and skills that will enable them to be able to contribute meaningfully to sustainable development in their communities.

The #EndSARS movement forced national attention on unending issues of police brutality and poor governance. The response across levels of government provides a sudden opportunity to ensure aggrieved persons, especially youths and the vulnerable are heard. Through the judicial panels, justice may be served and social oppressions prevented.

The main objective of our project idea is to — Expand the civic spaces in 3 Nigerian States and the FCT leading to citizens increased tracking of the government’s #EndSARS promises and reduces human rights violations. Where petitions are still being received, this consortium proposes to back up the government’s effort in asking aggrieved youths to send in petitions and attend judicial panel hearings in 3 states — Ebonyi, Oyo, Bauchi, and the Federal Capital Territory.

In states where petitions are still being received, simplified public announcements on last-mile media outlets like radio and social media will be used with attention given to local languages. Women and persons living with disabilities who have been violated will also be targeted with the jingles and encouraged to file petitions. Violated unlettered youths and others will be supported to document their petitions and shown where to submit them. We will also facilitate legal support for petitioners through a partnership with the local branches of the Nigerian Bar Association.

The panel sessions will also be reported live through social media while feature stories on various cases will be published in Nigerian dailies and blogs. Radio airtime dedicated to giving publicity to the judicial hearings will also be committed to with contents on coordination of social movements neatly embedded. The radio programme will also review the major cases from the judicial panel helping to keep the goal of the EndSARS movement in mind, especially the benefits to the country, The fourth action includes relating with the government to document simple processes that youths can follow in reporting similar misdemeanour in future while also ensuring documentation of government’s commitments to promised reforms. This will be forged through organised dialogue sessions between government officials, the police and citizens, styled as town hall meetings. 100 Young people and PWDs will also benefit from 4 weeks of online sessions on social activism.

The desired change is that youths will not see the #EndSARS protest as another wasted effort. Through this, the number of petitions will increase in the states. A change also anticipated is that the government will see civil society organisations as partners, especially as the tone of the radio jingles (where applicable and done) will be one asking citizens to respond to the government’s call for solutions through the judicial panel or through the toll-free lines to report new violations. Clearly, this will lead to an expansion in the civic space. The print, social media and radio reports will further keep the government’s gaze on the need to truly #EndSARS thus making policies and legislations around this conceivable. Where instances of police brutality happen, there will be clear public channels for reporting such as against leaving it to run for years before being forced to burst to the fore after lives have been lost. The consortium proposes three solutions — ensure that the democratic demands of the movement are kept alive and promises of the government tracked to ensure its fulfilment; Mobilise actions that will track human rights violations particularly police brutalities in Nigeria and ensure that appropriate authorities are involved, and support Nigerian youths to be better organised and coordinated in demanding a better future.