Nneka, Sasha, Eldee, Chimamanda Adichie, Banky W, Bez and More Give Up Profile Pictures and Statuses; Young Nigerians, At Home and Abroad, Join the Call for a Debate on Youth Issues

Joining the call for the first-ever presidential debate focused on youth issues, Nigerian celebrities are giving up their digital profiles to support What About Us, a collaborative effort from youth advocacy groups, Vote or Quench, Sleeves Up, Enough is Enough, Nigerian Eagle, StandUP Naija and others.

The campaign started March 3rd 2011, with more than 10 famous Nigerians raising their voices in support of the youth including Eldee, Sasha, BankyW, Bez, Naija Boyz, Four Kornerz, Lami, Tee A, Nse Ikpe Etim and Nneka Egbuna. In unison, 1000s of their fans also dedicated their profile pictures and statuses on facebook, Twitter and BlackBerry Messenger, inviting their network of friends and family to do the same? As a result, #WhatAboutUs successfully became a top trending topic in Nigeria – the most populous country in Africa.

“This is a movement and we’re excited to be a part of it. Young people represent 70 percent of the population. We deserve to ask “What About Us? and expect real answers from the presidential candidates. It’s about where these candidates stand on issues that matter to us. This campaign is about young Nigerians finally having seat at the table in our political process,” the group said in a joint statement.

The What About Us debate will be held on March 25^th at the Yar’adua Center in Abuja. Moderated by acclaimed novelist Chimamanda Adichie and hosted by TV personality Ebuka Obi-Uchendu, candidates will respond to questions posed by the youth on issues that most affect this critical demographic.  Since the launch of the campaign 10 days ago, thousands of young Nigerians have logged on to www.whataboutusnigeria.org to select their candidate and the topics they expect them to address, including security, corruption, power, unemployment, rent, education and more.

The united voice of the Nigerian youth was not ignored. Chief Dele Momodu (NCP), Mallam Nuhu Ribadu (ACN), Professor Pat Utomi (SDMP) and Reverend Chris Okotie (FDP) all accepted to participate in the debate, leaving the Mallam Muhammad Buhari (CPC) and President Goodluck Jonathan (PDP) as the last leading candidate hold outs.

So what can you do bring them on board? Join the movement.

1.      Donate your FB, Twitter and BBM digital profile (Picture and Status) to: #WhatAboutUs?

2.      Check out www.whataboutusnigeria.org and select the candidates and topics that are important to you.

3.      Like us on FB at www.facebook.com/whataboutusnigeria and attend the virtual event www.tinyurl.com/WAUEVENT

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About the “What About Us?” Campaign

“What About Us?” is a NON-PARTISAN campaign, calling for the first-ever presidential youth centered debate in Nigeria. The collaborative effort is driven by several youth empowerment groups and blogs, including Vote or Quench, Enough is Enough Nigeria, Sleeves Up, StandUP Naija and Nigerian Eagle. The group’s mission is to educate the Nigerian youth on the agendas and motives of presidential aspirants and it will continue to collaborate on various initiatives to drive voter awareness and participation.  More details on participating groups for the initiative can be found on our website, www.whataboutusnigeria.org or Facebook page, www.facebook.com/whataboutusnigeria

As part of the ongoing youth-stimulated revolution for change in Nigeria, a young man, Tyough Beetseh has founded a charity that is driven towards providing financial and material support in education and health in Africa. It also aims to support post war victims and contribute towards the overall empowerment of young people across the Continent.

The charity, which was recently founded in January 2011, is based in the United Kingdom, and reaches out to other citizens of Africa in the Diaspora for support.

On January 23^rd 2011, The Tyough Foundation debuted with a fund-raising fair at the Redeemed Christian Church of God, Jubilee Christian Centre, Coventry, UK. The theme was “Buy a Doughnut, Empower a Child”.

During the church session, TY (as he is fondly called by his peers) explained what the ‘doughnut’ stood for in his campaign. He said, “D = Dignity, O = Optimism, U = Uplift, G = Goodwill, H = Hope, N = Nurture, U = Understanding, and T = Tranquility”.

According to Beetseh, the sub-initiative of the “Doughnut Campaign” was to mobilize funds towards a primary goal-area of education. In a chat with him, he explained that, “the funds generated in the sales of the doughnuts are to be used for the purchase of basic infrastructure, stationary and furniture for impoverished schools in the rural areas of Nigeria. The schools to benefit are yet to be selected.”

The charity is currently setting in place plans to raise awareness and funds for the surviving victims of the recent Jos crisis in Northern Nigeria. The founder has announced that, “these important campaigns will hopefully run in the last quarter of 2011 and the second quarter of 2012.”

The Tyough Foundation is on Facebook, feel free to join the vision.

By Naijafaithful

Nigerians, please if you’re going to revolt, march to your nearest registration center and register to vote to participate in the upcoming elections.

Unlike Tunisia & Egypt who have unfortunately suffered a totalitarian type government with no apparent sign of reform presented to its people, Nigeria has no reason to think of a violent approach at this point. President Mubarak of Egypt has been in power 30yrs while President Ben Ali of Tunisia, 24 yrs. Nigeria today is at a brink of being given their first real opportunity that many of these Tunisians & Egyptians haven’t had in over 2 decades – to elect a leader of their choice. For many Nigerians, young and old, it will be their first time ever voting. These 2011 elections in Nigeria, many have deemed the ‘make or break’ of Africa’s most populous country.

The Nigerian government, although a failed one still filled with wayward politicians, has shown to be making some effort to reform present electoral processes so that the Nigerian people have a part in who governs their nation. Unlike the Tunisian & Egyptian governments, there isn’t a deafening silence to respond to the issues the youth raise anymore. We may very well claim to have a better majority of government who, comparatively and as of recent, we have witnessed, is starting to listen. Dare I say, somewhat of an openness to change. Still a work in progress, but the youth should begin now to get used to the idea of demanding to know who their leaders are and their policies and vote them back into power if they choose.

Indeed – there have been many flaws we are seeing already that have come with this democratic exercise. Among them are the DDC machine malfunctions, NYSC corpers’ inability to operate the machines, corpers’ protests, violence in some states and several attempted thefts of DDC machines at registration sites by riggers. In addition, the major obstacles that have come with our failed state: electricity, lack of education, insecurity, poor infrastructure.

We need to take a step back and realize that these are inevitable issues bound to plague a newly instilled process by an inept system that desperately needs change. This year’s electoral procession is by far the most micro-managed & highly scrutinized one we have seen ever in Nigerian history.  We have already heard stories of some good Samaritan Nigerians, who in the process of registering, saw the opportunity to help some of these corpers as well as provide solutions to expedite the long wait and excessive lines of citizens in their respective sites waiting to register. We need this to be the attitude that Nigerians participating in this year’s election inculcate.

Register, Select, Vote & Protect should be Nigeria’s response to the recent upheavals in Tunisia & Egypt.  Exercise your civic duty. If the Nigerian youth come out in droves, similar to the numbers that came out in Tunisia & Egypt, but this time to participate in the elections, we stand a better chance of protecting our votes and stunting attempts by the riggers who try to steal our votes. We can’t afford to sit, complain or even start to compare ourselves to other African countries. The fate of Nigeria’s future is in your hands. Revolt on making your vote count and tell your friends & family the same.

This is a post from our newest guest blogger Naijafaithful. Contact us here for the chance to have your blog post published on Vote or Quench.

By Tonye Garrick

It is a crucial time in Nigeria as the 2011 elections are fast approaching.  Although the diaspora votes will not be included this year doesn’t mean those of us far from home will be at a standstill.  Hence, the Vote or Quench DC Chapter decided to host a Dial-4-Change Brunch Telethon.  Our goal?  To make sure that even though our votes would not be included this year, we could still call our wonderful friends and family at home to encourage them to participate and register on our behalf.  To further entice, we had some delicious brunch food to treat our volunteers. We all know wherever there is good food, there will definitely be Nigerians

So, with some mini croissant sandwiches, mimosas, light M.I and Ice Prince playing in the background and laptops for Skype, we all came together for a wonderful cause.

After enjoying a great brunch, everyone quickly got down to business, reaching out to family relatives and friends at home to make sure they were all registered to vote.  Even though we did get some funny responses – “una wey dey for America wan make noise pass us wey dey here or una want make we do wetin?”, the majority assured us that they had or would be going the following Monday morning to register to vote.  Overall, the telethon participants and even people we dialed were glad that we actually got together as a group to make these calls.  We had a great turn out and it was a fun yet very productive afternoon.   Thanks to everyone who sacrificed their Saturday afternoon errands to come share this positive experience with us.  The truth is we cannot move forward unless we unite and this is just the beginning of a unified movement.

Guest Blogger Tonye Garrick sharing her experience during the Vote or Quench Brunch Telethon held on January 22nd, 2011 in the DC, Maryland, Virginia area USA.

By Lola Adeyemo

If someone asked me what the best part of joining the chorus of people supporting #ifNaijaVotes movement was, without hesitation I would have answered “unity.” In a day and age when it’s so easy to separate yourself, to thrive on the similarities you share with some folks and shun the differences you see amongst yourself and others, the #ifNaijaVotes initiative elevated us above above all that. Across three continents, people of all ages, walks of life, beliefs and backgrounds, got together and spoke in one voice, over one issue: Regardless of who we support, what issue we take on or don’t, WE matter and our votes count. Nigeria is ours and we’re ready to exercise our authority. And we encourage every citizen to do the same.

As a lover of numbers, being able to say ‘this many people participated’ would be lovely. But quite honestly, the numbers don’t matter. Whether there were 50,000 tweets or 500, the point is, we were present on Tuesday. From all over the globe, we all had a chance to partake in something bigger than ourselves. Normally you hear about things like this and think it’s nice sounding but probably not meaningful in the larger scheme of things. But the #ifNaijaVotes movement is a real life, contemporary example of the power of the collective. If what took place doesn’t make you excited about the future, about the possibilities of what we can do, then I’m afraid you just don’t get it. For everyone else though…join the bandwagon. This is just the beginning…and it’s probably best not to get left behind.

The party/rally call continued way after January 11th, so rather than re-highlighting tweets fellow advocates have already, below are just three of my favorite tweets that came in after midnight on January 12th.

@AfroPuffette: “Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter”. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.#ifnaijavotes

@fatboy27ng: #ifnaijavotes politics will no longer be a profession but strictly a call to service.

@solazo69: #IfNaijaVotes….my 1yr old niece won’t be shouting #UPNEPA

Though all captured poignant points, the third stirred me the most. My vote in April determines what type of Nigeria my children will inherit. Whether their studies will be interrupted by NEPA, their days made longer and unproductive because of bad roads, or whether they will have to look outside for adequate healthcare. These thoughts alone are enough motivation; enough of a reminder that we can’t let the responsibility slip. We simply have to register to vote and go out on voting day. Our kids, grand kids and great-grands depend on it.

Lola Adeyemo is the Editor of Afiive which aims to be your innovative liaison, connecting, informing and entertaining its avid readers and frequent visitors from around the globe.

Gospel-sensational act, Lara George has dropped a new music video, “Chibuzo (Get Up)”. It is dedicated to the movement for a better Nigeria. The former member of the now defunct gospel trio group, KUSH, spurred Nigerians not to give up on situations no matter how poor they may seem today.

GET UP revolves around an able young Nigerian man from a poor background called Chibuzo. He is representative of any typical Nigerian youth. From the opening of the video, the artiste sonorously urges to listener to pay close attention to the story as “it fit be you, it fit be me”.

Chibuzo leaves his poor-looking apartment early in the morning, hustles to get on the bus and finally arrives at his ‘workplace’. He is a roadside CD-vendor. Along the way, a better-dressed man approaches him, but Chibuzo is not willing to engage in this conversation. The audience is left to imagine what exactly the exchange between the two is, however, not for long. As Chibuzo returns home that day, we see the ‘posh’ dressed guy being led away by two men in handcuffs towards a patrol vehicle. Thus, one can deduce that the guy was attempting to draw Chibuzo into illegal dealings earlier in the day.
“Get up off the floor, get your feet back on the ground” is the resounding message in the chorus in this song.

Lara George uses Chibuzo to illustrate that “there is a story before the glory and a light after the night”. She is asking Nigerians not to give up hope, but get up in solidarity for our future and our children, especially if you believe that Nigeria will be better.

You could start by getting up, and going to register to vote from January 15-29 – a bright future awaits Nigeria, we are hopeful.

An attempted bombing last year placed Nigeria – and more importantly, Nigerians – on a watch list, with rather unfortunate consequences. At the time, and in months that followed, Nigerians hoped that the attempted flight bombing would be revealed to be a one off. Aren’t we after all, among the world’s happiest people? Read the rest of this entry →

This is a post from a guest blogger that prefers to remain anonymous. Contact us here for the chance to have your blog post published on Vote or Quench.

I recently received an invitation to attend a Red Carpet Gala to celebrate Nigeria’s 50^th Independence day on October 1^st,2010.

I’ve paced back and forth, pondered, scratched and nearly picked all the hairs on my head, trying to sum up at least three good reasons why I should attend this event.
Read the rest of this entry →

In Nigeria’s electoral history, a distinct element that has plagued the system, has been the buying of vote. Citizens give away their golden ticket to the highest bidder.

It makes sense. The cash they give out allows people to send their kids to school, put food on the table, power their generators, or attend to sick loved ones. When you’re in a bind with money, any offer no matter how little can go a long way.
Read the rest of this entry →

Nigerians on ground and all over the world, of all backgrounds and ages, can attest to having the most delectable conversations with fellow Nigerians in the living room. The “parlor” conversations as some would call it, covers topics ranging from Nigerian politics to people in the social spotlight or unraveling the puzzle behind the present aberration of Nigerian football. Undoubtedly, the dynamic of these conversations is worthy to behold. I had the pleasure of indulging in one similarly with some Nigerian friends this past weekend, and the topic of our discussion was Greed.

Here’s my POV in short:

Many individual Nigerians you and I know or have encountered are likely very opinionated and innately prideful. A Nigerian’s pride is one that demands honor and respect. Now, how is this pride conveyed and displayed to others? In Nigeria’s case, starting from the very top of the hierarchy, judging from past woes with our government policies, constant instability in power, ethnic and religious disintegration, even up until the recent melee that occurred in the House of Rep gathering in Abuja, it is most certainly safe to conclude that to a degree, pride has also caused us extreme hurt and misdirection. This pride that resides within the Nigerians has been clearly exercised more negatively than positively in our nation’s politics and hence a reason to ponder if this will be a constant cycle.

(These are our leaders!)

This harmful strain of pride breeds greed, selfishness, scorn, conflict, ignorance and the oft used synonym to Nigeria, corruption. Greed is what I believe spurs all the other destructive traits. Pride, all in all, with its good and bad, has been a gift and a curse.
Nigerians, as a unit, we need to challenge ourselves to uphold our nation as the Pride of Africa but on an individual level turn our show of this Pride to others as one that steadily breeds humility, selflessness and solidarity.

What’s your take?