NGO Launches Anti-Vote Buying Campaign Across 16 Kwara LGAs…Targets North Central Expansion… Urges Youth To Protect Future

The Independent Youth for Grassroots Movement (IYGM) has embarked on a grassroots sensitization campaign across the16 Local Governments in Kwara State which is aimed at combating vote buying and empowering the young people to make informed political decisions.

Speaking with Team@orientactualmags.com in Ilorin, Coordinator of the NGO, Comrade Olorunniyi Christopher Kehinde, emphasized that the core mission of the NGO is to clean up the electoral process at the grassroots level.

‘Our objectives include creation of awareness about elections, correcting negative perceptions and attitudes of the young people towards elections and urging people to shun vote buying. We also aim to enlighten citizens on the actual agendas of the leaders aspiring to govern us’ he said.

Comrade Kehinde, who strongly condemned the culture of financial inducement during elections, added that the practice directly undermines democratic development and violates national laws.

‘Definitely, vote buying is not good, and it is completely against the Nigerian Constitution.

The youth nowadays often don’t realize where they are heading, which is why most of them take money from individuals and politicians to vote against their true choices. We want to change that mindset’ he added.

Explaining why the NGO is heavily focused on the younger demographic, the 43-year-old coordinator, an alumnus of Kwara State Polytechnic, who resides in Adabata area of Ilorin, explained that the sustainability of the nation depends on its youth.

‘It is often said that the youth are the leaders of tomorrow. Therefore, they must be fully engaged and made aware of this responsibility right now. That is why our focus is typically on them’ Comrade Kehinde added.

To maintain total neutrality and guard against political hijacking, Comrade Kehinde said the group completely self-funds its activities which will be extended to other states in the North Central

‘We generate funds ourselves to finance our activities to avoid negative situations. We know our capacity across the North Central, so, we intentionally avoid any external funding to prevent political opponents or external sides from claiming they are sponsoring us. No one is sponsoring us’ he clarified.

IYGM urged stakeholders and partners to support the vision, emphasizing that investing in the Independent Youth for Grassroots Movement is an investment in a transparent, empowered, and prosperous grassroots ecosystem for Kwara State and other states in the North Central geopolitical zone.

Comrade Olorunniyi , who said the IYGM  has a comprehensive strategic framework aimed at transforming civic participation and leadership, added that the non-partisan, people-powered organization is dedicated to driving sustainable community development, civic education, and active youth governance ahead of upcoming elections.

Despite Kwara State possessing a vibrant and energetic youth population, structural and economic barriers have according to him historically limited their active involvement in grassroots leadership adding that IYGM’s new proposal directly addresses these gaps by creating an inclusive roadmap to mobilize, equip, and integrate young Kwarans.

This initiative, he added, spans across the entire state, reaching from urban hubs like Ilorin to rural communities across Kwara Central, Kwara South, and Kwara North.

He also said the core mission of the IYGM is to bridge the existing gap between young citizens and responsive community governance and to achieve this, the NGO has outlined three primary strategic objectives:

‘Civic Awakening: Educating and sensitizing young people across all 193 wards in Kwara State regarding the importance of grassroots participation, civic rights, and community accountability.

Capacity Building: Equipping the young people with critical digital, vocational, and leadership skills to drastically reduce economic vulnerability and curb unemployment.

Inclusive Mobilization: Uniting young people across ethnic, religious, and social divides to champion community-driven development projects’.

The Coordinator added that IYGM aims to directly enhance the political and civic literacy of at least 50,000 young Kwarans and also seeks to build a resilient, cohesive network of youth groups capable of solving local grassroots problems independently, reducing exclusive reliance on government interventions.

‘The future of Kwara State rests on the active energy, creativity, and resilience of its youth’ Comrade Olorunniyi submitted-Team@orientactualmags.com  Do you have any information you wish to share with us? Do you want us to cover your event or programme? Kindly send SMS to 08035023079,  08059100286, 09094171980 or get in touch via orientactualmag@gmail.com.  Thank you