Ben Ezechime, Enugu
A group under the umbrella of Catch them Young Community Initiative (CATYCOI), that promotes good governance, democracy, civic engagement, and human oriented policies, has trained scores of Enugu state youths on Multi-Stakeholders Engagement.
The training tagged ‘One day Community Action Simulation Plan for Enugu state,’ was attended by youth leaders and stakeholders, from the ages of 18-35, drawn from different parts of the state.
Speaking during the training in Enugu, the Executive Director, Mr. Nonso Orakwe, said the body was a youth focused non-profit, non-partisan organisation aimed at contributing to the global effort that advances “good governance, democracy, civic engagement and policy.”
He explained that the purpose of the the training was to acquaint the selected participants with the necessary tools to effectively lead Multi-Stakeholders engagements simulation.
Orakwe further state that the project was being carried out across the country and funded by Canada Fund for Local Initiative (CFLI).
He added that the Youth electoral reform project YERP Naija was aimed at increasing youth participation in Nigeria’s electoral reform.
The director disclosed that the training which had also been held in other South-East states of Abia, Anambra, Imo and Ebonyi, was equally designed to make the participants understand how to effectively engage with diverse stakeholders, including legislators, media, officials of the Independence National Electoral Commission, INEC, community leaders, amongst others.
He said: “Also, it would strengthen participants’ communication and advocacy skills through role play exercises and make them gain confidence in navigating real life stakeholders engagement and anxious to achieve the youth led electoral reforms priority recommendations which includes, Establishment of electoral offences commission.
“Other recommendations are, post election petition resolution, timely transmission of election results, INEC leadership selection process reform and interpretation and amendment of continuous voters registration provision.
“So, this training will spice up skills of the participants to advocate for these five top priority recommendations that I have mentioned which are also geared towards increasing youth participation in Nigeria’s electoral reform.”
According to him, the Youth electoral reform project Naija YERP, was also aimed at fostering a more transparent, inclusive and a countable electoral system.
