YCI Targets 2035 To Bridge Nigeria’s Women Leadership Gap

The Young Communicators Initiative (YCI) has unveiled a 10-year leadership development programme aimed at equipping young female students with leadership, communication and artificial intelligence skills to bridge Nigeria’s widening gender gap in political leadership by 2035.

Founder and Executive Director of YCI, Chinenye Priscilla Anaemena, disclosed this on Thursday during a courtesy visit by her team to LEADERSHIP Newspapers in Abuja.

Anaemena said the initiative, tagged: “Vision 2035,” was designed to prepare young female leaders to take advantage of opportunities in an increasingly digital economy and increase women’s participation in leadership and governance.

“This is Vision 2035, and this is our programme. Vision 2035. One may wonder, what is it about? Why 2035? The world is evolving. It is becoming part of things already, the digital economy.

“And when you look at the statistics, especially with the World Economic Forum, ranking at the lowest in women political leadership, living at 143 out of 145 party line margins. And if nothing is done about that, we will continue to experience this cyclical failure.”

She said the situation was reflected in the declining number of women in Nigeria’s National Assembly, noting that women occupied only 17 seats in the 10th Assembly.

“If you look at the 8th Assembly, we realised the political system. Out of 469 legislators, both the Green Chambers and the Red Chambers, meaning the House of Representatives in the Senate, we have just 27 women.

“And then moving down from 8th Assembly, which was in 2015, to 9th Assembly and now to 10th Assembly, we have just 17 women. That is alarming.”

Anaemena said the challenge was not a lack of competent women but the absence of adequate preparation, confidence and understanding of the strategies required for effective leadership in the digital age.

“Why is it no? It is not because we have women who have the skills, who have the capability. And it is also yes because these women are scared to take this bold step. And when they do, they do not understand the technicalities and strategies to effective leadership in a digital age.”

According to her, YCI seeks to address the challenge by exposing young female student leaders to practical leadership, effective communication and artificial intelligence.

She said the initiative held the maiden edition of its Young Initiatives Conference last year, attracting more than 200 students from 21 schools, where participants were trained in practical AI skills, effective communication and leadership.

Anaemena said the programme also encouraged students to develop community-based projects aimed at solving problems within their schools and immediate environments.

She cited the “Paints to Protect” project developed by students of Government Secondary School, Nyanya, to address road safety concerns around their school.

According to her, the students observed that the road and pedestrian areas were not properly outlined, resulting in frequent accidents, and developed a project in collaboration with road safety authorities.

She also highlighted the performance of public schools in the programme, noting that Government Secondary School, Nyanya, emerged first in the speech contest ahead of several top private schools.

“We’re trying to let them know that having a parental advantage is just an advantage, but never a limitation. You, with hard work, dedication, and commitment, can as well soar and thrive as well as others with parental advantage.”

Anaemena said the programme was not limited to a two-day training but included monitoring and evaluation to determine its long-term impact on participants.

She disclosed that YCI was working with the FCT Secondary Education Board to monitor the students and support their community development projects.

“We’re currently working with them to execute their community-based development project. Like the Government Secondary School, APO. Before they went on the summer break, we had their projects with them and their project is having a dedicated waste bin for part disposal.”

She said the organisation had also developed a database of participating students and maintained access to school principals to track the students’ progress as they advance through their education.

Anaemena further disclosed that YCI had written to state governments across the country and received responses from five states, with plans to expand the programme beyond the FCT from next year.

She added that YCI was jointly organising this year’s forum with the National Institute for Legislative and Democratic Studies (NILDS), which she described as the training arm of legislators in the National Assembly.

“We’re not just organising this year’s forum, we’re jointly organising it with the National Institute for Legislative and Democratic Studies because we are the training arm of the legislators in the national assembly.”

Responding to the presentation, the Editor-in-Chief of LEADERSHIP Newspapers, Azu Ishiekwene, commended the initiative and pledged the newspaper’s support towards achieving its objectives.

Ishiekwene said the objectives of YCI aligned with the values of LEADERSHIP, particularly its efforts to inspire young people and build capacity in an increasingly digital world.

“But I think that there are several points at which our values and yours meet and meet very wholesomely. I’m talking basically about desire.

“I’ve known you for a while, I’ve followed your work very closely. There’s this desire that you have to inspire a lot of people.

“I’m delighted that the work that you are doing among students, among educators, to build capacity is genuinely positive. It’s more than welcome, especially in a country that has about 65% of its citizens young people.”

He said LEADERSHIP Newspapers was also undergoing a transition from print to digital, describing the shift as important because the digital space is increasingly becoming the primary environment for young people.

“If you walk into our premises, you may not know that something momentous is going on. But you will feel it because we are actually on a journey to transition from ink to digital.

“Which is a very important journey to us because that’s where the world is going. That’s where the young people that you inspire and encourage, that’s their playground.”

Ishiekwene welcomed Anaemena and her team to LEADERSHIP Newspapers, assuring them of the organisation’s support.

“We look forward to the programme you have coming up and we will be happy to support you to realize the vision and money they say flows in the direction of value, we wish you the very best and our doors are always open,” he said.

The Head of Story at LEADERSHIP Newspapers, Adebayo Amodu, subsequently sought clarification on how YCI planned to monitor participants throughout the 10-year programme.

“I would just like to ask, since it’s a ten-year programme and you started last year, do you have any plan of monitoring the leaders you are producing?

“Perhaps after releasing them, after the programme last year, between that time and now, is there any way of monitoring what they have done so far?”

Responding, Anaemena said the organisation had a structured monitoring and evaluation system through its partnership with the FCT Secondary Education Board and participating schools.

“Yes, please, absolutely. We’re working with FCT Secondary Education Board, which I would like to say is more of a B2B, that’s a business-to-business partnership. So we monitor the students as a matter of fact.”

She said YCI would follow the students through tertiary institutions and after graduation to assess the impact of the programme.

The Managing Editor of LEADERSHIP Newspapers, Raliat Ahmed-Yusuf, commended the initiative and asked how the organisation funded its activities.

“Leadership is going to support you, I commend you for the work you are doing? But at least to let people know what you’re doing. And what you’re doing, I also think that it’s important. How do you fund the work you do?”

Anaemena explained that the organisation had relied on partnerships, self-funding and support from friends and family, adding that its approach was to prioritise value before seeking financial resources.

She said the initiative had largely relied on partnerships, self-funding and support from friends and family since its inception.

“For last year, what we did was a B2B partnership and then every other funding was self-funded. And then with the support of friends and family, there’s a passion that’s born from the desire to fill a huge gap in the community.

“So you have visions like this and you’re waiting for resources because you start and you never start. And the emergency becomes more emergency.”

She said YCI partnered with the Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC) and other organisations to secure facilities and multimedia support for last year’s programme.

Anaemena added that NILDS was supporting this year’s programme by providing its hall, while its Director-General had also pledged support for feeding.

She said the initiative’s vision had attracted institutional support because partners were able to see the value of the programme.

The YCI founder said the ultimate goal was to ensure that the leadership gap was not merely discussed but measurably reduced by 2035 through continuous training, monitoring and evaluation of the young women participating in the programme.