Ford Foundation, in partnership with American Consulate, organised an empowerment programme in which the fellows of Carrington Youth Fellowship Initiative and Ford Foundation Grantees made group presentations on their pet projects. Senior Correspondent, ONYEWUCHI OJINNAKA, reports.
The figure of youth/graduate unemployment in Nigeria has become so alarming that even some concerned individuals and organisations have initiated various empowerment programmes aimed at reducing the endemic problem.
One of such organisations is Ford Foundation, which, in partnership with Carrington Youth Fellowship Initiative (CYFI), an initiative of the United States Consulate, crafted a fellowship programme for young Nigerians that are trying to build their skills to become useful to themselves, their communities and the larger society.
Ford Foundation is an independent, non-profit, non-governmental organisation which has provided about $10 billion in grants and loans. Established in 1936, the Foundation has the objective of strengthening democratic values, reduce poverty and injustice, promote international co-operative and advance human achievement. It has given grants to promote training, strengthen content development, promote research and knowledge, and support institutional development.
CYFI is a dynamic youth-based initiative, which brings Nigerian youths of exceptional vision together to design and implement projects that will have positive impact in Nigeria. It is named after Walter Carrington, a former American Ambassador to Nigeria during the military era in 1990, who supported pro-democracy groups and human rights struggle.
In the past, CYFI fellows had made meaningful contributions to diverse communities across Nigeria in education, public health and sustainable development.
In line with its objectives on youth development and empowerment, Ford Foundation, in partnership with CYFI, organised a forum in Lagos on Wednesday, June 24, which brought 2015 CYFI fellows and alumni of Ford Foundation Grantees together to showcase their pet projects for assessment.
The presentation was made by four groups which has four CYFI fellows in each.
According to the Regional Representative for Ford Foundation, West Africa, Innocent Chukwuma, the programme is structured in such a way that about 15 to 20 fellows are admitted every year. He told TheNiche that Ford Foundation “pays them in groups to develop their pet ideas”, rather than sit down and complain about one problem or another.
“We challenge them (CYFI fellows) to think about what they can contribute to solving the problems.
“This is our third year of engaging with them (CYFI) in this programme. We prioritise work on youth development, youth empowerment and we see this fellowship as a pipeline for training young Nigerian leaders that would go on to join others to better the society.
“There are also other sectors of society. So partnering with them is goodwill for us as a foundation,” he said.
Selection of Fellows
Ford Foundation does not select or determine who gets the grant or becomes CYFI fellow, Chukwuma added. “We actually do not do the selection. It is an initiative of the American Consulate. So they have a structure for selecting the fellows through a very competitive process where people apply and then they screen them, and at the end of the day, they select 15 to 20 of these youngsters who they think have the right motivation and interest and more importantly time, because it is also time-consuming.”
He said the Consulate does the selection, the preparation, and works with them to develop their pet projects; but Ford Foundation provides the platform where the fellows come to present their project before a group of experts who are knowledgeable on the issues they are dealing with and offer them useful feedback that will enable them to develop their pet projects well.
The Consulate is not only there to offer feedback, but also to support the fellows in terms of mentorship, resources, social networking and connections in the larger society which would enable them become successful at the end of their internship.
Presentation
The 2015 CYFI fellows made their presentation in teams before the grantees, who are experts in their respective fields and who had also gone through formative stages of organisations and know where the problems and challenges are.
During the presentation of their pet projects, the experts listened to the fellows and provided feedback on where they need to do more work and applaud them in areas where they have done well. It was an enriching and interactive framework
The convening of the fellows and their presentation would also enable the grantees to offer mentorship opportunities for them in their various organisations, provide them with necessary responses and connect them to the people who are working in the areas they have taken interest in. Invariably, during their one-year fellowship programme, they would not lack support base that will enable them achieve the objective of the project they chose.
The projects/expressions
The CYFI fellows, who are in groups of three or four, chose any project of their choice to work on. While Team One made a presentation tagged ‘Moneytor’, Team Two’s presentation anchored on health and safety plans. Team Three made a presentation on education, while Team Four’s presentation was on civil liberty/child abuse.
Some of the CYFI fellows expressed gratitude to Ford Foundation and the American Consulate for enlisting them into the programme. For Chibuike Emmanuel, a CYFI fellow from Port Harcourt, it is an empowerment programme he is benefiting from.
He said: “We take the projects that we have crafted and present them to the stakeholders that will be able to help them push out projects and make the projects a very huge success.”
Although he admitted that his team has not be given any grant, he was hopeful that they will get it very soon. He added that the fellows have a period of one year to complete their projects.
Another CYFI fellow, Hope Ogbologugo, said the CYFI programme is for one year period for fellow members who come together to work on community project. Her team, which is civil liberties team, embarked on a project to create awareness on reducing the menace of child abuse, using Shomolu Local Government Area of Lagos as catchment area.
On funding, Ogbologugo said the American government through the U.S. consulate in Lagos funds the project, adding: “We are hoping to partner and get support from other organisations like civil and liberties organisations working in Nigeria.”
She admitted that her team has already received funds for the first quarter, adding that the project is for one year and funds are released quarterly. “This is the first quarter; that is why we are here for the presentation. We came up with a budget for one year programme and it was approved, and so we work on that.”
Another 2015 CYFI fellow, Godson Nwosu, was very happy being a part of the team. He said the American Consulate has, by the programme, roused the hidden potentials of young Nigerians. It is an empowerment on economic, health, education and other sectors.
Achievements/impact of CYFI
CYFI has executed a four-month vocational training programme for youths in Ibadan, Oyo State, in shoe making, film, photography, and entrepreneurship skills, resulting in new small businesses and creative start-ups; a radio drama series educating the population on civil liberties and human rights, which is currently aired on radio networks daily and a host of other activities recorded.