“A functioning, robust democracy requires a healthy, educated, participatory followership, and an educated, morally grounded leadership.”
Chinua Achebe
(Nigerian novelist and poet)
Dear {{First name|Active Citizen}},
About a month ago, we set out on a mission - get one million Nigerians ready to vote by 2027, and we told you why we were doing so.
Nigeria’s 2023 elections recorded a voter turnout of less than 27%. Year after year, fewer people register, fewer people show up, and critical decisions get left to a shrinking number of voters.
We decided that wasn’t going to be the story of 2027. So we launched a voter registration campaign; a ten-month, two-phase drive across all six South-West states, built on a simple idea: prioritize accessibility by taking the process directly to the people.
For more details, please see the campaign drive.
UNILAG Showed Us Exactly What We Suspected
We kicked off our campaign’s inaugural campus CVR activation at the University of Lagos on June 11.
Over 1,500 students and campus residents engaged with us on the spot. More than 600 people joined the queue to be attended to. The demand on the ground outpaced INEC’s capacity, and the number of completed registrations fell short of what we had planned for. That gap is not a reflection of low interest, if anything, it is proof of the opposite.
Our commitment persists beyond the initial outreach. For those unable to finalize their registration on-site, we gathered contact details and are providing direct assistance to ensure they reach the Yaba INEC office before the July 10 cutoff.
Two days later, on June 13, we hosted - Full House. It was built to be a hangout first; games, a short film screening, then an open conversation about youth and governance.
What we learned reinforces something we already believed; pairing cultural programming with direct INEC presence creates entry points that formal registration drives alone cannot. People who came for the film stayed for the conversation. People who came for the conversation walked away informed about CVR and the electoral processes. That format is now the blueprint for our next cluster of activations.
Tomorrow, we will be at Freedom Songs; a live musical cabaret blending theatre, music, and real conversation about Nigeria and identity. And on Saturday, we will be at a stage play themed “Love is Sweeter Where the Grid Works”.
Our civic desk will be available at both events to assist attendees with voter record updates, polling unit transfers, and pre-registration.
If you will be at either event this week, come find our desk. Leave with your hurdles sorted.
Next Stop: Covenant University and MAPOLY
We’re not slowing down. On June 23, we’ll be at Covenant University at the University Chapel from 10am - 3pm. And on June 24, we’ll be at Moshood Abiola Polytechnic (MAPOLY) at the Sports Complex from 10am - 3pm. Same mission; bring INEC directly to where young Nigerians already are, and make the process as frictionless as possible before the July 10 deadline.
If you’re a student at either institution, or you know someone who is, come through. Bring a friend. Bring your roommate or anyone who has been “planning” to register since January.
The Can You Give ₦5,000 Today?
UNILAG showed us the demand is there. Covenant University and MAPOLY are next, but six South-West states and one million voters is a long road, and we can’t walk it without support.
Today, we are asking you for one thing specifically: ₦5,000, going directly into the work you just read about. Every naira raised for this campaign goes directly into;
Providing the technical and logistical resources needed to make voter registration more accessible.
Promoting educated engagement through targeted civic education programs.
Connecting registration to actual voting through community outreach in religious centers and markets.
Strengthening local democracy by empowering regional networks of volunteers.
Creating digital tools to ensure long-term accountability from representatives.
If 1,000 of you reading this newsletter gave ₦5,000 today, we would raise ₦5 million for this campaign and take a significant step toward reaching one million voters before 2027.
In service of the #OfficeOfTheCitizen
The EiE Nigeria Team.
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Enough thinking. Enough ranting. Let's build.