A leadership debate has staked up to N1.5 million to be won across Nigerian tertiary institutions.
The Nigeria Youth Futures Fund (NYFF) announced The Youth Leadership Debate, its latest project, on Thursday.
It said the debate is meant to provide capacity building to select young people across tertiary institutions in Nigeria.
The NYFF also disclosed that the competition will shape the vision of the youth for Nigeria ahead of the 2023 election through dialogues.
The debate will engage undergraduate university and tertiary-level students across the six geo-political zones in Nigeria through an online campaign and campus tour that will foster policy conversations.
Its entries will focus on such areas as employment & education; media, sports, & entertainment; health; peace building & security; ICT and entrepreneurship; climate change & environment; and civic participation.
“The history of youth activism and political participation in Nigeria is not complete without honoring the strategic role universities played as spaces for molding leaders,” the organisers said.
“Universities served as spaces for intellectual debates and youth expression and were catalytic to the involvement and participation of youth in governance and leadership.
“However, university student activism in Nigeria has suffered a decline over the years due to continuous intimidation, unfavorable policies, and a lack of resources for sustainable engagement.”
The organisers said teams can apply by sending in a video of not more than five minutes with two debaters addressing any socioeconomic issue from the seven thematic areas.
The teams, the organisers said, can consist of a maximum of four individuals from the same tertiary institution.
The teams will advance through six stages and the final two teams will compete in the national finale.
Below are some of the cash prizes to be won.
- First position – N1,500,000 + other benefits
- Second position – N1,000,000 + other benefits
- Third position- N600,000 + other benefits
The deadline for application is July 18, 2022. The competition is expected to run from July to August 2022.
The programme is a component of the NYFF, a $5 million fund seeded by the Ford Foundation and MacArthur Foundation to support and strengthen the youth leadership ecosystem in Nigeria.
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