We’re excited to announce the launch of our ONE Champions Program in Nigeria again! This year we will bring together 50 amazing individuals across the country who will work closely with the ONE team to support our advocacy and campaign efforts. We are looking for Nigerians from across the geographic divide and we strongly welcome activists in North East Nigeria to apply for this program. This is YOUR chance to become an advocate for the issues you believe in and help make the world a better place!
Our ONE Champions are volunteers with a passion for changing the world and are committed to ending extreme poverty in all its shapes and forms. We are looking for people who will mobilise their families, friends, and communities to fight extreme poverty and will ask their policymakers difficult questions to push for the change they desire to see.
Here are a few things our 2016 Champions had to say about the program:
Richard Chimezie Emerenwa – “My experience as a ONE Champion has been remarkably fulfilling. It taught me how I can positively change my country, Nigeria. I learnt the idea of lobbying to achieve a unified result, the concept of effective campaigning to have ONE Voice, ONE Focus, ONE Goal. I learnt what it means to stand out as a youth leader with a mission to hold the government accountable and demand transparency in governance. I am proudly a ONE CHAMPION!”
Chinasa Ude – “Before I became a champion, I was just a person full of aspirations on how things could be better – if only someone could make it happen. I was hidden; even when I spoke, it was always behind the curtains. However, becoming a ONE Champion opened my eyes to all the possibilities that I can work on as a person and as a group, advocating and working towards a better future. Every day, my fellow champions and I shape the world one day at a time. Sometimes when we look back at wonderful things we have achieved they even shock us!”
Philip Oluwayemi – “As a Champion, my eyes have been opened to the importance of citizen’s participation in policy development and implementation processes. The organization also offered me a platform to use my voice – while at the same time calling on others – to change the way government provides basic services to the people. One thing I also cherish about ONE is the way her activities are run – through the “public pressure” it exerts on the government, which returns power to the citizen. Through one-on-one advocacy, street campaigns, petition signing, I am delighted to be part of champions calling for a better and stronger Nigeria.”
McDuff Chimazu – “Being a ONE Campaign champion for 365 days has opened up my eyes to a completely new world of advocacy and campaigning, including budget advocacy and lobbying. It has also taught me the power of social media, I have come to believe that if we can incorporate ONE’s ideals and gospel into the collective black consciousness of Africa continent, then poverty, preventable disease and gender inequality will be far-gone. However, volunteering as a ONE champion was one of my smartest decisions in 2016.”
Celestina Obiekea – “This past year as a ONE champion has been very engaging and enlightening. Most exciting for me has been the opportunity to engage intimately with issues of national importance especially in the Nigerian health sector, which I have particular interest. I look forward to another great year of opportunities and engagement on other issues that affect Nigerians – and generally to continue to contribute my quota to eliminating extreme poverty from Nigeria and the world as a whole.
Simeon Christian Chukwu – “There’s a whole lot that comes with being a Champion. The tenacity, the intellectual activism, the passion, the selflessness, the doggedness are all encapsulated in a Champion. But very importantly, each person’s humanitarianism. How many young people can stretch their tenacity to the limit against all odds? If you can, then join us to become a ONE Champion. I am a Champion and I want to be a ONE Champion for life!”
