One Room, Many Stories, Shared Awakening: Blessing Olarewaju’s Civic Engagement Breakthrough:

Guided by the Emerging Political Leaders Fellowship pillar on Civic Engagement, Blessing Olarewaju, 2025 EPLF Fellow, brought her vision to life through the activity titled “From Apathy to Action: Igniting the Civic Flame in Nigerian Youth.” On Sunday, September 7, 2025, she convened 25 young participants for an intensive dialogue designed to challenge political apathy and spark a renewed sense of responsibility among Nigeria’s next generation of leaders.

Objective of Activity

In today’s Nigeria, the greatest threat to democracy is not always corruption or poor governance, it is the silent withdrawal of young people from civic life. The From Apathy to Action initiative was born to confront this challenge head-on. The session set out with a clear mission: to transform passive disillusionment into purposeful engagement. It aimed to create an interactive space where young Nigerians could interrogate the roots of civic apathy, uncover how culture and family dynamics influence participation, and explore practical strategies to become active, accountable citizens who drive change from their communities upward.

This was not designed as another lecture on democracy, but as an awakening, an opportunity for young people to see themselves not as victims of a broken system, but as custodians of a renewed one.

Key Outcomes

The session drew 25 vibrant young leaders from diverse communities, each carrying stories of frustration but also seeds of hope. What unfolded was not a routine conversation but a transformative civic dialogue. Participants boldly confronted uncomfortable truths about disengagement, tracing political apathy to learned helplessness, the hierarchy of needs, and deeply ingrained cultural and religious influences that often teach resignation rather than resistance.

Yet the atmosphere shifted as the dialogue turned from diagnosis to solutions. Practical pathways emerged: holding leaders accountable in small but consistent ways, organizing at the grassroots level, and redefining citizenship as a daily responsibility rather than a four-year ritual of voting. By the close of the session, a remarkable shift had occurred, over 70% of participants declared a renewed determination to step forward as active citizens, committed not just to voicing concerns but to leading initiatives that demand accountability and inspire others.

The key highlight of the session was this collective awakening, a room once filled with silent frustration now alive with energy, ideas, and commitments to action. What began as a conversation ended as a call to arms for civic renewal.

Lessons Learnt

The session revealed a profound truth: youth apathy is rarely about indifference. Instead, it is the weight of economic hardship, persistent inequality, and generational patterns of helplessness that paralyze young people into silence. But the dialogue also proved that apathy is not destiny. When given platforms to voice frustrations and envision solutions, young people rediscover their agency.

Another crucial lesson was the power of starting small. While systemic change may feel overwhelming, participants realized that community organizing, local accountability initiatives, and even consistent civic education within their peer circles can create ripple effects of transformation.

For future engagements, it is recommended that such dialogues expand their inclusivity, intentionally drawing in women, underserved groups, and rural youth who are often the most excluded yet the most affected by civic neglect. These voices must not only be included but amplified, ensuring that civic renewal is broad-based and representative.

Next Steps

The journey from apathy to action is not a sprint, it is a sustained march. Building on the momentum of this inaugural session, the movement will grow through a series of Apathy2Action webinars, designed to deepen civic awareness and maintain continuous engagement.

Participants will also leverage social media platforms as civic classrooms, spreading awareness and mobilizing their peers in ways that resonate with the digital generation. Beyond the virtual space, partnerships with grassroots organizations will be explored to create blended engagements that bring the message into local communities, where apathy is most entrenched.

The vision moving forward is ambitious yet urgent: to transform the 25 voices from this session into hundreds, then thousands, of young Nigerians who see themselves as architects of democracy rather than bystanders to its failures. By sustaining advocacy, amplifying diverse voices, and creating spaces for accountability, the flame that was ignited on September 7 will not burn out, it will spread, fueling a new era of youth-led civic renewal in Nigeria.