The State Chairman of the National Youth Council of Nigeria (NYCN), Olóyè Akolawole Shoremi, was an invited Guest at the highly strategic 2025 West Africa Civil Society Week (WACSW 2025) recently held in Accra, Ghana, between November 18-22, 2025.
The event themed “Redefining Civil Society and the Future of Democratic Resilience in West Africa” had as its participants civil society actors, including activists, policy experts, youth leaders, media, civic-tech actors, and development partners from more than 10 West African countries.
The week-long event offered a critical platform for strategic reflection, peer-learning, and co-creating solutions to the challenges facing democratic governance and civic space in the sub-region.
During the week, the Chairman engaged with young leaders from across the West African sub-region, exchanging developmental ideas on youth engagement and entrepreneurship. The key highlight was a significant meeting with Mr. Emile Bela, the Programs Officer of the African Development Bank (AfDB). Discussions focused intently on leveraging existing AfDB financial mechanisms to open pathways for funding opportunities for young people in Ogun State and Nigeria.
In acknowledgement of Shoremi’s advocacy efforts, Mr. Bela developed a clear, five-point strategic roadmap for action detailing how the youth constituency of Nigeria can proactively submit winning proposals and gain access to AfDB funding and technical support under the Jobs for Youth in Africa (JfYA) Strategy.
The AfDB official further encouraged the Youth Council to focus on submitting targeted innovation proposals, advocate for ENABLE Youth Expansion and Co-Management, Negotiate a Youth Employment Compact to guarantee accelerated youth employment interventions through the AfDB, and convene a Youth Employment Coalition, among others.
According to the West African Civil Society Institute, the overarching goal of the WACSW 2025 is to provide a safe and broad based platform to assess the state of civil society in West Africa and redefine its purpose — conceptually and operationally, with specific objectives including the mapping of the ecosystem for new actors on youth and social movements, informal networks, cultural collectives among others.
-OGUN YOUTH HOUSE MEDIA TEAM
