NGO empowers Youth Activists with Animation Skills for Activism

Posted by Mariam Ileyemi, March 2, 2020

A youth focused NGO, Inspired Youth Network (IYN), funded by CIVICUS, held a 3-day workshop tagged ‘Voice of the Voiceless’, for youth activists and media personalities to promote human rights through digital media and also equipped them with the use of video animations as a tool to advocate for human rights, from Thursday, February 27 to Saturday, February 29, 2020, at Inspired Youth Hub, Gbagada, Lagos.

The workshop which was themed “Empowering Youth Activists to Promote Activism through Digital Media” featured different advocacy and capacity building session from the first day of the workshop to the last day, making sure all participants, attempts a Pre-Test and a Post-Test after the training to ascertain their capacity.

Day 1

The first day of the training featured four sessions. The first session was facilitated by the Founder of Inspired Youth Network, Ayomikun Olugbode on the Nigeria Civic Space, using CIVICUS People Power Attack Report 2019 as a case study, he explained according to Civic Space Watch, that Civic Space is the political, legislative, social and economic environment which enables citizens to come together, share their interests and concerns, and act individually and collectively to influence and shape policy-making. He also gave the three pillars of civic space, which are; freedom of association, freedom of assembly and freedom of expression.

Founder of Inspired Youth Network, Ayomikun Olugbode

Furthering his presentation, he highlighted ten violations to civic freedoms, ranging from, censorship, harassment, intimidation, protest disruption, excessive force, protesters detained, restrictive law, attack on journalist, journalist detained and criminal defamation. Giving his recommendations, he said “Activists and policymakers should develop novel ways to strengthen cooperation beynd consultations, dialogue sessions, validation workshops and capacity development programs. Cooperation should be pragmatic, moving beyond contractual, participatory contributions and confrontation toward complementarity”.

The second session was on Advocacy for Inclusion and the Promotion of the rights of People with Disabilities (PWDs) at the grassroots, this was facilitated by the founder of Autism Awareness Foundation, Omotoke Olowo, who noted in her presentation the importance of inclusion, equality and respect for People with Disabilities.

Founder, Autism Awareness Foundation, Omotoke Olowo

“Inclusion means that all people, regardless of their abilities or health care needs the right to be respected and appreciated as valuable member of the community, learn with their peers in a regular classroom setting and belong in the workplace to achieve self-independence and build relationships”, she explained. Omotoke also gave tips on how to become voice for People with Disabilities, which includes, the use of policy and implementation, direct involvement, lobbying and so on.

Oluwagbenga Ajongbolo, the Executive Director of Open Sunshine Initiative ably facilitated the third session on Activism in the Social Media Age, where he highlighted the benefits of social media activism, which includes; influencing policies and politics, creating awareness about certain issues and connecting with people of the same ideology.

Oluwagbenga Ajongbolo, the Executive Director of Open Sunshine Initiative

Oluwagbenga in his presentation extensively shared his experiences as a social media activist, how he has successfully use social media to make impacts and advocated for human rights, the challenges of an activists and how he overcame them. He said, “To become a social media activist, you have to study and set out your targets, you have to observe the differences in races, gender, class and status, you also have to understand your audiences, ignore trolls, have real and genuine friends and families out of social media and don’t ever feel disappointed at any point in time”. While the last session was on Freedom of Expression, the Constitution and the People by Chineye Nwevo, who was ably represented by Ayomikun Olugbode.

The practical class on Animated Video Production came up the second day of the workshop. Participants were trained by an Animation Expert, Ganiyu Idris on how to use animations to create characters as an innovative tool to promote human rights.

Animation Expert, Ganiyu Idris

Also, the Manager of Civic Hive, Iyanuoluwa Bolarinwa trained participants on Community Mobilization and Non-Violent Activism as a Tactic for Social Change, he explained the benefits of Community Mobilization skills, and he further emphasized that activism doesn’t have to be violent, to substantiate his stand, he gave examples of some Violent Activism and their consequences. The Project Assistant for Voice of the Voiceless, Ridwan Adebosin also led a discussion titled ‘My Experience as an Activist’, where he shared his experiences as an activist and gave room for participants such as the 29th Speaker of Lagos State University, Student Union to share their experiences as activists.

Manager, Civic Hive, Iyanuoluwa Bolarinwa

                      The Project Assistant for Voice of the Voiceless, Ridwan Adebosin

On the last day of the workshop, participants were asked to present their Animated Video, showcasing their acquired skills and knowledge in the areas of advocacy and activism. This assignment was given to them by Ayomikun Olugbode the previous day after they have been empowered with the skills.

Speaking to YOSSY INFO, participants shared their experiences on how they have benefitted from the 3-day workshop. According to a female program assistant at NOPRIN Foundation, Omodara Oluwatomisin, “My experience at the voice of the voiceless workshop was an insightful one that I will never forget in a hurry as it made me better off. I met with amazing people with great and like minds. Before the workshop I never had any idea of animated videos but now I can boldly say I’m skilled in it which will help me in advocacy by being a voice of the voiceless”.

Female Program Assistant, NOPRIN Foundation, Omodara Oluwatomisin

Another female student of Lagos State College of Health Technology, Yaba; Health Information Management Department, Ademulegun Grace said “I had a great experience during the 3-day workshop. I don’t have any knowledge about advocacy or activism before, I can boldly say that I can and will stand as an advocate and an activist in my school and the capacity building session of the workshop was amazing. I learnt about video animations and now I can make videos to create an awareness and become voice for the voiceless”.

Ademulegun Grace, student of Lagos State College of Health Technology

Ashiru Ajibola, 400 level students of Lagos State University, Faculty of Education and the President of the Student’s Anti-corruption Vanguard LASU, said “It was a glamorous experience for me at the just concluded Voice of the Voiceless workshop. I was able to gain more experiences and new ways of advocacy and activism without violence. The presentations and facilitators were awesome. Dynamic skills and knowledge were acquired during the course of the training”.

Ashiru Ajibola, 400 level students of Lagos State University, Faculty of Education and the President of the Student’s Anti-corruption Vanguard LASU

An event Host and Youth advocate, Waheed Nurudeen Oluwaseun also noted that he learnt new skills, met people with like minds.

Event Host and Youth advocate, Waheed Nurudeen Oluwaseun

” I was made to understand how to easily solve difficult issues as an advocate, the workshop was engaging in areas of capacity building, non-violence activism and the use of digital media to promote the fundamental human rights and to advocate for an open civic space”, he added.