African Youth-Led Organizations to Hold Tweet Chat to Drive Youth Civic Engagement and Dialogue on Upcoming Nigerian Elections
Vote or Quench in collaboration with Connected Development, Red Card Movement, BloggingGhana and NaijaDC seek to drive a conversation on the upcoming elections in Nigeria during a Tweet chat with the hashtags #AirItOut #Nigeriadecides --- a constructive dialogue about the country’s future
A group of African youth-led organizations including Vote or Quench, Connected Development (CODE), The Red Card Movement, BloggingGhana and NaijaDC today announced the launch of “AirItOut,” a virtual conversation campaign leading up to the 2015 Nigerian Presidential elections.
#AirItOut
Beyond February 14th, we believe the youth voice is a powerful instrument for real, tangible change in Nigeria and Africa as a whole. We’re committed to amplifying our collective, yet diverse, voice
As Nigerians gear up for the polls, on February 14th 2015, #AirItOut presents the opportunity to assess the issues which they will use to choose their ideal candidate.
Like in 2011, the future of Nigeria is being debated in legislative halls, around living rooms and kitchen tables across the country and around the world. News from Nigeria has controlled the airwaves in Africa and globally – from the massacre in its Northeastern town of Baga in Borno State to the uncertainties that hover over the 2015 elections.
As the name suggests, the #AirItOut initiative provides Nigerians with an interactive platform to share their views, concerns and hopes about the country’s future via social media. Nigeria’s elections are watched beyond its borders, because of its effect on the African continent and the global economy. The first #AirItOut session kicks off with a tweet chat featuring young thought leaders who are influential in the socio-political conversations about Nigeria. The goal is to encourage intellectual, unfettered, objective debate and discussion on Nigeria’s state of affairs and issues impacting the core voting demographic of 18-35 year olds.
Voice of America’s UpFront Africa host, Jackson Muneza M'Vunganyi (@upfrontafrica) and Washington Post Editor Karen Attiah (@karenattiah) will be moderating the tweet chat along with members of Vote or Quench and The Red Card Movement. Nigerian youth thought leaders prominent on Twitter such as Japheth Omojuwa (@omojuwa), Tolu Ogunlesi (@toluogunlesi), Abang Mercy (@abangmercy), Chioma Agwuegbo (@chiomachuka) among others, will also join the conversations.
The group issued a statement saying, “We invite young Nigerians to #AirItOut with us and shed light on the issues that mean the most to them, why they are voting and where they see the country going post-elections.” The group continued by stating, “Beyond February 14th, we believe the youth voice is a powerful instrument for real, tangible change in Nigeria and Africa as a whole. We’re committed to amplifying our collective, yet diverse, voice.”
The tweet chat will be held on February 5th, 2015, from 9AM-11AM Eastern (3PM-5PM WAT). Using both“#AirItOut” and “#NigeriaDecides” hashtags, participants in Nigeria and around the world will be able to submit questions via Twitter before and during the conversation.
Vote or Quench and Connected Development (CODE) also collaborated to create a dedicated page for the 2015 Nigerian elections which the two organizations plan to formally announce new engaging features that will be on the site prior to the elections.
About Vote Or Quench
Vote or Quench (V.O.Q) is a Washington DC based, 501(c)(3) non-profit, non-partisan organization created to engage and involve Nigerian youth - at home and in diaspora - in the political process. Connecting through social networks and social media, our mission is to create a virtual living room for like-minded Nigerians anywhere in the world to join the conversation, express views, share ideas and have their voices heard. http://www.voteorquench.org
About Connected Development (CODE)
Connected Development is a non-government organization whose mission is to improve access to information and empower local communities in Africa. CODE strengthens local communities by creating platforms for dialogue, enabling informed debate and building capacities of marginalized communities which brings about social and economic progress, all while promoting transparency and accountability. http://www.connecteddevelopment.org
About The Red Card Movement
The Red Card Movement is a non-partisan approach campaign to encourage citizens to vote out bad governments and also boost their participation and engagement in post-election. The Red Card Movement also challenges the apathetic to take control over our nations’ great destiny, with a fresh, cool and sexy approach. The Red Card Movement also seeks to unite people to send badly behaved governments off the pitch using their voters card, simply because we deserve better.
About BloggingGhana
BloggingGhana, is a registered non-profit organization and Ghana’s biggest organization of bloggers and social media enthusiasts. BloggingGhana (BloGh) is a group of bloggers and social media users, writing out of Ghana or the Ghanaian experience. It is also an aggregator website that collects the latest posts and tweets from members. http://www.bloggingghana.org
About NaijaDC
NaijaDC is a global, socially conscious, collaborative community of emerging Nigerian leaders with their eyes on Africa. In order to cultivate leadership and passion within the Nigerian Diaspora for future advocacy, we harness the collective resources and knowledge of our members towards personal development and civic awareness. This focuses on online policy engagement, delivering professional networking opportunities, establishing connections with influencers and change makers, engaging in thought leadership and sharing other opportunities, news and events.
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