Nigeria: Youth Leadership Development Programme 2023

Deadline: 10-Feb-23

The Youth Leadership Development Programme is now open for applications to empower, equip, and support young change leaders who are Nigerian undergraduates under the age of 30, by providing them with the knowledge, abilities, and supportive environment needed for them to become self-leaders who bring long-lasting change to their communities.

The Youth Leadership Programme has never been more pertinent to the present problems being experienced in Africa today, especially those bordering on leadership, active citizenship, and sustainable development, as we approach an election year.

Programme Pathways

• The Youth Leadership Development Programme will take on two pathways this year:
  • The Youth Leadership Programme (Sustainability Pathway) addresses the need to educate, strengthen, support, and enable young people in Nigeria for leadership, activism, and social change through outcome-driven policy engagements and inclusive resourcing that will support youth in shaping and supporting medium and long-term national development.
  • Intercampus Leadership Debates (Advocacy Pathway) provides an avenue to reawaken student activism in Nigeria, demystify what leadership means, inspire active citizenship, and support them in collectively articulating their visions of the future while catalyzing pathways for them to decisively participate in that future themselves. This will be done through nationwide leadership debates.

Thematic Areas

• Education & Employment
• Health
• Peace Building and Security
• ICT and Entrepreneurship
• Climate Change and Environment
• Civic Participation
• Advocacy
• Diversity & Inclusion.

Pillars

• The Pillars are:
  • Leadership
  • Active Citizenship
  • Sustainable/Community Development.

Funding Information

• N200,000 – N1.5 Million up for grabs.

Programme Components

• Virtual Training on their Learning Management System (LMS): Participants are onboarded onto the LMS to gain access to the modules. The modules are developed under the three pillars of the Youth Leadership Programme; Leadership, Active Citizenship, and Sustainable/Community Development. Participants have 5 weeks to complete the modules.
• Virtual Community of Practice: Participants are incorporated into a virtual community of practice, an online community where learning materials, programme updates, and other opportunities for development are exchanged. Collaboration and information exchange are promoted here .
• Change Project Pitching Sessions, Mentorship, and Implementation: The participants will be encouraged to form teams of 3-5 persons who will pitch their proposals for community change projects that tackle social issues. 100 successful teams will be selected to receive funding/subgrants and will also be paired with mentors to further aid their development and influence the excellent implementation of their projects.
• Leadership Debates: Participants who choose to take part in the debates will also be asked to form teams and submit video entries for the debate competition. The competition will take place in 5 rounds which are:  Elimination round 1&2, quarter finals, semi-finals and finals. To further prepare them for the competition, participants will be taught policy accelerator courses by expert professionals, and the goal of this is to build their debating skills and boost their  knowledge of civic participation.
• Youth Leadership Conference: The Youth Leadership Programme will conclude with a physical Debate National Finale and Awards Ceremony. This will be an opportunity to reward participants/teams and institutions for their work over the course of five months.

Eligibility Criteria

• The Youth Leadership Development Programme (YLDP) is a 5-months Leadership programme for young Nigerian undergraduates aged 18 – 30years which aims to equip and empower them with the skills, knowledge and resources required to become transformative leaders and active citizens who will drive sustainable development in their communities.
• To successfully apply for the YLDP, an applicant should possess the following qualities:
  • A Male or Female Undergraduate in a Tertiary/Vocational Institution in Nigeria.
  • Aged 18 – 30 years
  • Passionate about advocacy, activism and community development
  • Interested in inclusion, diversity and civic responsibility and eager to exercise these interests
  • Eager to champion change projects geared towards community development & the SDGs
  • Eager to engage with government institutions and influence policy
  • Committed to attending the Online Training, Debates and is available for mentoring.

For more information, visit Youth Leadership Development Programme.