As part of the post-awards activities for its 10th season, The Future Awards Africa (TFAA) launched the Africa Citizenship School, beginning with a tour across secondary schools and universities in Nigeria.
The African Citizenship School which is focused on developing young individuals in leadership, career and active citizenship, began on Wednesday, 24 February, 2016 at the Baptist Boys High School, Abeokuta in Ogun State, Nigeria, and will run until May 2016.
"More than ever, young Africans need to be aware of their rights as citizens in a democracy and the hugely important role young people hold in shaping the future of the continent. It has been amazing to see the effect of a galvanized youth on the politics of a country and we at The Future Project are excited to spread the word,” said Chude Jideonwo, Executive Director, The Future Project.
"And beyond the awards, we are passionate about ensuring that TFAA alumni share their stories of inspiration, value-creation and belief in themselves and in Africa."
To kick off the tour, TFAA alumni, Olufunbi Falayi, winner TFAA Prize in Enterprise Support 2015; Tricia Ikponmwonba, Finalist TFAA Prize in Community Action 2014, and Emmanuel Ikubese, winner, Mr Nigeria 2014 contest; were present to share insightful career guidance to the students.
“We are glad to be chosen as one of the privileged schools to host some of the alumni of The Future Awards and other schools in the environs,” said Mr Adekunle Olanrewaju, Principal, Baptist Boys High school. "And we are grateful to the organisers for giving our students the opportunity on improving themselves and adding value to their communities."
The tour is scheduled to visit Abeokuta, Abuja, Calabar, and finally, Lagos.
About The Future Awards Africa
The Future Awards Africa has been called the ‘Nobel Prize for Young Africans’, and the ‘most important youth awards’ by Forbes. It is a set of prizes given annually to celebrate and accelerate innovation,
creativity and enterprise amongst young Africans aged 18 – 31. It has produced over 150 winners and over 1550 nominees since its first edition in 2006.
It is presented in conjunction with The Future Project, which has a mandate to build empowered citizens across Africa, through (inclusive) enterprise and (active) citizenship. This focus on Human Capital Development is informed by our value proposition: Africa's growth needs a generation of young people who are gainfully employed and able to demand and secure better leadership.
Our projects include Aiki.ng, an employability portal presented with Microsoft; the Nigeria Symposium for Young & Emerging Leaders, #StartupsAfrica, Intern4Jobs, The m-Hub, The Future Enterprise Support
Scheme and The Future Africa Awards & Summit, described as 'The Nobel Prize for Young Africans'.
With a network of funders and partners including the Tony Elumelu Foundation, Ford Foundation, the US Government, First Bank, MTN, The Canadian Embassy, HP, the Nigerian Government and the British Council, our work has spanned Nigeria, Ghana, South Africa, Tanzania, Liberia, Burkina Faso, Uganda, Malawi, Cameroon, Somalia, Equatorial Guinea, Ivory Coast and Kenya.
Founded by the Chude Jideonwo and Adebola Williams, TFP is supervised by a Global Board of Advisors drawn from Africa, Europe, North America and the Middle East, including the Senior Advisor at one of the world’s leading financial advisory and asset management firms, Lazard LTD, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala; Senior Economic Advisor with the Open Society Foundations, Dr. Obiageli Ezekwesili; co-founder of ONE, Jamie Drummond and the Chief of Cabinet with the Africa Development Bank, Anne Kabagambe.
